Among its many interesting activities the Nature Coast Marine Group undertakes regular shell surveys of the local beaches to acquire shell data over time.
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The range and variety of species of shell can provide much information about the health of a beach, climate change and the arrival - and disappearance of - species.
Accordingly, at 10am on a fine September Sunday morning, an enthusiastic group of young, and less young, shell surveyors followed out the lowering tide at Shelly Beach, Moruya.
David D, Wayne King and Jenny Edwards led the group, each with some familiarity with the local shell species.
The group spent one hour collecting shells, and a subsequent hour sorting and identifying them at the picnic area.
The shell surveyors variously scanned the sand and crawled along the tide line finding shells large and small.
In just one hour the group found almost 100 species, including shells from three classes – Gastropoda (snails), Bivalva (clams) and Cephalopoda (squid and cuttlefish).
This was a very good diversity of species to find in one hour and is testament to the health of the bay and also to the keen and discerning eyes of the surveyors.
One young surveyor was lucky enough to find a specimen of the Nodose Coral Snail (Corallophilia nodosa) – a pretty pink species so uncommon that it is not even represented in Patty Jansen’s excellent field guide “Seashells of South-east Australia”.
Among the many other interesting snails were several 3cm specimens of the Green Turban Shell (Turbo undulatus).
This animal has been a food source for people in Southern Australia for many thousands of years. In Tasmania, where it grows to 6cm, it is known to the local Indigenous people as ‘warrener’. The Green Turban Shell is still harvested and sold in fish markets today.
The shell surveyors also found a small non-commercial variety of abalone (Haliotis coccoradiata) and a number of clams and cuttlefish, the animals of which are also edible. It was clear that this beach remains a very productive stretch of coastline.
The group was glad that they found no obviously tropical species making their way south and displacing the local South Coast species. The group was also pleased to find no specimens of the New Zealand Screw Shell (Maoricolpus roseus) – an invasive species approaching from the south which has already reached Twofold Bay at Eden.
As the beach is a national park, at the conclusion of the survey, all shells were returned to the beach from where they came.
- The Nature Coast Marine Group promotes the protection, enjoyment and understanding of coastal, estuarine and marine environments on the far south coast of NSW. Details: www.ncmg.org.au.
