Return of the baked bean sea squirt and fried egg anemone
Weird and wonderful sea creatures make a comeback Diggers flushed to find gems lost in loo 1,800yrs ago
CANNY conservationists are celebrating the revival of the baked bean sea squirt and a raft of other oddly named sea creatures.
The fried egg sea anemone has had a cracking return, along with the hot cross bun jelly fish, prawn cracker sponge, curled octopus and undulate ray.
A whole host of creatures which were dwindling have made a comeback in 91 marine conservation zones around the UK – called “blue belts”.
The zones cover 85,000sq miles, from the Northumberland coast to the Isles of Scilly, and form vital sites for nursing underwater habitats back to life.
Banned activities in the blue belts include trawling, scallop dredging and other commercial fishing – along with wave or wind power development, flood defences and naval manoeuvres.
Thousands of volunteers help gather information and monitor marine protected areas for the Wildlife Trusts, which look after 2,300 nature reserves.
SLUGS
The number of blue belts has risen by 41 in the past month.
The creatures get their weird names because they literally resemble baked beans or fried eggs, because of their comical shapes or, in the case of the undulate ray, the way it rolls its body through the water.
The rare short- snouted seahorse is another creature on the up after fishermen in Dorset reported sightings.
Nudibranch, also known as solar- powered sea slugs for their ability to convert the sun’s energy into sugars and other nutrients, have also made a comeback.
Joan Edwards, director of Living Seas for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “It’s fantastic news that we now have 91 Marine Conservation Zones. They will form a vital series of special under-sea places which can be nursed back to health.
“Sometimes people find it hard to believe we have magical animals like seahorses and sea squirts beneath the waves off our beautiful coastline. My favourite is the prawn cracker sponge.
“We all need to make sure these amazing creatures and the places where they live are protected from damaging activities, such as beam-trawling or dredging for scallops and langoustines, because this kind of fishing really harms our fragile marine wildlife.” TWO precious gemstones that fell out of rings and down a loo 1,800 years ago have been unearthed at a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall.
The Vindolanda Trust in Hexham, Northumberland, said the glue used to fix the gems was often not strong enough. Chief executive Dr Andrew Birtley said: “These stones were recovered from the thirdcentury bath house toilet drain.
“Their owners either did not initially notice they had fallen out of the rings and into the loo, or they could not face climbing down to try to recover them.”
Other finds by a team of 400 volunteers included a size 11 soldier’s shoe and a gaming board used in the bath house at Vindolanda – one of 14 forts along Hadrian’s Wall. Dr Birtley added: “The Romans played a very tactical game like draughts called little soldiers, or Ludus latrunculorum.”
The finds are being analysed and will eventually go on display at the fort’s museum.