BUDE-Stratton Town Council and the Bude Carnival Committee have generously funded the purchase of microscopes for the Bude Marine Group.

The group celebrated with a rockpool and microscope workshop on Sunday, November 25 at the fantastic sea pool hub room. Seaweeds revealed their true beauty, a little dead fish became a fascination, and tiny creatures whizzed around defying identification.

After a walk around the pools of Summerleaze beach, children and adults returned to the warmth of tea and cakes to try out the new equipment.

Common everyday things like limpets became ‘confused’ (they change from boy to girl), mussels turned on their predators tying up dog whelks and barnacles took life easy — lying on their backs and waving their legs in the air.

Over 30 species were found by teams from Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Bude Marine Group, many of these spotted by the very keen eyes of the future scientists. The children peeked into cracks in rocks to find sleeping blennies, learnt how to pick up crabs and discovered how they wee. They were amazed by spiny starfish eyes being on the end of their legs and how a green bit of paint on a rock was actually a living thing.

Chairman Mark Fellows said: “The young scientists made the day, with endless questions and enthusiasm, challenging the experts. How do starfish breathe they asked? I need to go and look that one up ready for next time.

“A huge thank you to Bude-Stratton Town Council and Bude Carnival for helping to give local children and parents a fun day out. The equipment we have brought will enable us to run lots more science days and rockpool events next year.”

Bude Marine Group can be found on Facebook or by visiting www.budemarinegroup.weebly.com