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| Eggcase Hunt Events |
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 If you are hosting an eggcase event and would like us to advertise it on our website fill our Eggcase Activities Form to become listed on the events calendar.
Eggcase Events Calendar
Eggcase events are listed on the calendar. Click on the link above or on the right hand bar to see all eggcase hunt events. We also have a great deal of downloadable resources available. Click on the link above or on the right hand bar to see all resources.
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Event Reports
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Adriatic Eggcase Expedition Razanj 16 July 2009
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Adriatic Sea Eggcase Expedition Makarska Rivijera 02 April 2009
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Eggcase Hunt Expedition Razanj 26 June 2008
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| The Deep Eggcase Hunts 2008 |
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Bovisand Eggcase Hunt - 13 December 09
Tom Young and Natalie Hooton - Shark Trust volunteers - conducted an Eggcase Hunt at Bovisand Beach, near Plymouth, and came home with a huge haul!
Tom said: "...One Sunday afternoon we decided to take a trip to Bovisand and chill out on the beach in the sun for a while. A massive strand line had been washed up on shore after the recent stormy weather, so we decided to have a quick rummage for egg cases. Bovisand has only got a small beach, and is fairly sheltered, so we didn’t expect to find too much...
...Nat found 6 egg cases as soon as we stepped onto the beach. We carried on hunting for just over an hour and ended up finding 68 egg cases in total, with at least 6 different species. Very exciting stuff! We took them into the Shark Trust where Ali was very surprised we found so many, especially since she has only found a couple there before! We had a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake."
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Paul Castle of the Highland Council Countryside Rangers - a regular recorder for the Great Eggcase Hunt - held two Eggcase Hunts over the Easter weekend. 29 people found a whopping 85 eggcases from 4 different species over the two days.
Well done everybody and thank you very much!
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Kate Burgess from Denbighshire County Council ran an Eggcase Hunt on the 12th of April with 30 people, mostly children, turning up to help hunt a half mile of Gronant Dunes.
The intrepid hunters found an amazing 73 Thornback eggcases plus a further 11 Spotted Ray and Catshark eggcases.
Well done and thanks very much!
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Naomi Biggs of the Thanet Coast Project ran an Easter Eggcase Event on the 12th of April. 37 people turned up to, not only hunt for eggcases, but also learn about marine life and create some beach art too.
The group found lots of eggcases and generally had a fabulous time - just look at these pictures! Thanks very much!
In Naomi's own words: "We didn't get quite as many people turn up as we did last year, but with 37 people it was still a big success and a whole lot more manageable! Amongst the egg hunters we had an Easter playscheme from Birchington turn up.
We bagan with a talk about the egg cases, explaining what they were, how they ended up on the strandline and why it is important to identify and record them. The event started off slowly with only seaweed and hornwrack to be found, but as we made our way across the beach the children soon uncovered scores of egg cases, with some individuals finding up to 13 each. As usual they were predominantly egg cases of the Thornback ray.
We weren't sure what we might find at this event; although we did find lots of egg cases last year that was at Ramsgate Main Sands which sits at the end of the English Channel. Margate, however, faces the North Sea and the end of the Thames Estuary so it could have been a completely different result. But it was good to see that the North coast of Thanet appears to be as much of a skate and ray breeding ground as the south coast.
After a good rummage looking at the mermaid's purses, whelk eggs and even knotted egg wrack we set about designing a large egg case on the sand from all the natural things washed up on the beach. The children took their egg cases home to identify, along with ID leaflets and a form to send back to you - I'm hoping that the children from the playscheme will run it as an activity today so that you get lots of records in!"
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Some Recent Events...
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 November Shark Trust Eggcase Hunt at Wembury!
As the stormy weather buried Wembury beach in washed up material, three of us got out of the office and headed down to the beach to rummage for washed up eggcases. See what we got up to here.
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Common Skate Eggs in Scotland
It’s the middle of January, and already the Great Eggcase Hunt is forging full steam ahead. We have received details of 6 eggcase hunts to be held over Easter right across the country. See below for details.
We were delighted to receive our first reports of Common Skate eggcases from the mainland this week. Paul Castle, North Sutherland Countryside Ranger, and Paula and Davey, our dedicated skate-lovers and eggcase hunters from Scrabster found 17 Common Skate eggcases. The only other reports we have received of this species are from Orkney, so it’s very exciting to see them slightly further afield. There will be a number of eggcase hunts being held in the north of Scotland over the coming months so keep an eye on the diary or visit www.caithness.org
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Thanet CoastOn the 12th of April, Naomi Biggs of the Thanet Coasts Project held a Great Eggcase Hunt that a massive 90 people attended!The group had a great time and found a good haul of eggcases. However, as Naomi was so busy she didn't have time to take any photographs... So, if you attended this event and took some photo's could you please contact either the Shark Trust or the Thanet Coast Project so that we may get a copy of your pics.
A big thank you to Naomi, the Thanet Coast Project and everyone else who attended this event!
EASTER EGG HUNT PROVIDES SOME FISHY CLUES
There was something fishy about a recent Easter egg hunt in Thanet.
More than 90 members of the public netted a sizeable haul of empty skate and ray eggcases at Ramsgate Main Sands during the first search of it kind organised by the Thanet Coast Project.
The Great Egg Case Hunt, held on Wednesday 12 April, was set up to help the Shark Trust’s hunt for information about these sharks that are native to British shores. The Trust fears that the number of species of skates and rays are declining dramatically around our coast and this project was aimed at providing valuable clues about the species.
During the hunt, a massive haul of Thornback Ray eggcases was collected – which shows the shores around Thanet are a breeding ground for this type of Ray. Children joined in the fun by finding out about other flotsam and jetsam washed up on the strandline, including Whelk and Dog Fish eggcases as well as a variety of shells and seaweeds.
Naomi Biggs, Thanet Coast Project’s Education Officer, said: “We are thrilled at how many people joined us for this exciting event. It is important we know about the different species of sharks that can be found in the shores off our coast. Results from this recent hunt shows that the seas off Thanet are a common breeding place for skate and rays and I am sure our results will be well received by the Shark Trust.”
For more information, contact the Thanet Coast Project on 01843 577 672 or email thanet.coast@thanet.gov.uk
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Bad weather, no problemDon't let the weather put you off looking for eggcases. This intrepid lot turned up for an organised Eggcase Hunt at Felpham Beach, nr Bognor, West Sussex led by Dee Christensen, Nature Coast Project Officer. The weather was terrible so she was quite impressed to have 4 adults and 6 children attending! They surveyed 1/2 mile and got a total of 13 cases: 11 Thornback and 2 Undulate.
Thank you to everyone who took part, we hope you didn't get too wet.
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