Beach Combing

Take part in our Beach Combing challenge

Lots items to collect and be creative with

See the slide show and descriptions below for ideas

Driftwood, sea glass, stones, fossils, plastic, mermaids purses, bones, shells, and stones

Driftwood

Drift wood is part of the strand line ecosystem as it provides shelter and breeding places so please collect in a sustainable way.

However collected in small amounts there are no ends to the creative ways it can be used.
Here you can see bathroom curtains,

lampshade, signage, ornaments, coffee table, pieces of wood as ornaments, large drum beater, frames for pictures and containers.

There are many many more ways to let free your creative self. Would love to see what you have done.

Seaweed

There are over 10,000 different types of seaweed and if you are lucky a dolphin might gift you with a lovely bouquet of them, which is their way of showing they care.

They are used in a whole range of food stuffs outside of sushi, used as mulch and fertiliser, and even used for thatching roofs.

You can create seaweed prints by placing a strand in a tray of water with some watercolour paper underneath, then sliding the paper out so the seaweed sticks to it. Leave it to dry.

Here seaweed is being used to create a bowl. Wash it in water and then drape over the bottom of a glass bowl where you can leave it to dry taking the shape of the glass bowl. Once dry give it a coat of PVA glue.

Because it comes in so many shapes and sizes, you can also create natural sculptures - this one was used for Halloween.

Sea Glass

Sea glass is an example of how nature has an ability to create something beautiful from the discarded waste of humanity.

She spends many years - sometimes up to 200 - washing the shards of broken glass and gently buffing them into sparkling gifts of smooth coloured light reflectors.

It is said that sea glass also forms from the tears of mermaids - shed by those who are doomed to never be with their human love.

There are many examples of wonderful creations with sea glass as it calls to the artist in us all, but one simple method is to place it in a mason jar along with a candle.

Fossils

Nature Therapy is based in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Isle of Wight. It also has Biosphere status. One of our unique island assets is the ability to easily find fossils along the cliffs and shores.
This ranges from beds of fossilised marine life such as cockles (pictured) and large oysters, to an ancient fossilised pine forest, sponges, ammonites, crocodile poo, and even dinosaur footprints and bones.
There are regular guided walks with experts who really know what they are looking for and can guide you. You are guaranteed to come home with at least one fossil.
You can display your finds individually or group them together

Plastic

One of the biggest destroyers of beach wildlife is discarded fishing line.

When it becomes entangled it tends to get snipped off.

It can then lead to creatures drowning, starving, being vulnerable to predators, infections and loss of limbs as the animal struggles against the line or embedded hooks.

So, when beach combing one of the most important things you can do is pick up any fishing line you come across (look out for any hooks).

Here is an idea of what to do with any line or plastic twine. An illuminated jelly fish as a night light.

Wrap the plastic round a piece of dome shaped cardboard to create the head and then pull out the tendrils. Finish off with some delicate lights to give the illusion of underwater bio luminescence.

Mermaids Purses

These are the empty egg capsules of a variety f sharks, skates and rays.

They have a remarkable ability not to break down through contact with sea, air or bacteria. So scientists continue to study their unique material.

Each species can be identified through their different egg casing.

As they are hard wearing and empty they are ideal for a variety of uses - you can place messages inside them, paint them and hang them up or pass onto friends.

They can be used as part of an artistic and therapeutic approach to journaling.

Stones

Have you found a stone with lots of small holes in it and wondered how this happened? Well the holes are caused by a small sea creature called a Piddock.

You can create a variety of art work with these, however the Piddock doesn't do a bad job or being an artist itself. No two stones have the same pattern.

The other stone worth a mention is the Hag Stone. This stone comes with just one hole and a mix of myth.

One myth has it that if you light a candle and stare through the hole you will catch glimpses of other dimensions.

Another saw sailors collecting these stones to place around the door to their house to protect them from drowning.

You can use a thin metal rod in the ground to place your hag stones on via the hole to create a beautiful natural garden sculpture. (watch out for eyes)

Shells

Each beach will be unique in the range of shells you can find there.

There are numerous ideas for decorating items with shells from boxes, mirrors, candle holders and such.

However it is always good to bear in mind that although one creature has vacated their shell home - another might take its place.

Thus shells are essential to the ecosystem of any given locality, so please take only a few.

One item you can create with shells is a game of matching pairs.

Paint matching symbols inside pairs of shells. Turn upside down. Take it in turns to flip over two shells on each go. If the symbols match then you get to keep them and have an additional go. Winner is the one with the most shells at the end.

When finished return the shells to the beach.

Bones

It is inevitable that at times you will come across the carcasses and bones of animals.

If you find a carcass of a bird then always check to see if it ringed - if you can obtain information from the ring then please do report your find.

Marine mammal carcasses and bones may also be found. It is important to report any such findings to uk.strandings.org. Take photos and details of where they were found.

Of course the prize amongst finds is ambergris - whale vomit. It can be worth a great deal of money.

Identifying your finds is part of the interest of beach combing. There are specialised FB groups that can help with this.

One idea for your beach combing finds is to clean the bone by soaking in bleach and leaving to dry. You can then cover it in copper leaf like the two skulls in the centre of this image, paint it, or just leave it bare.

If it is a rare find then you might consider donating it to a local natural history group