Broughty Ferry Beach - A Walk on the Wild Side

Last week I ventured out for a walk along the beach.  I don’t usually go on the beach itself, but it was such a lovely, warm and sunny day that I decided to get onto the sand.  The beach at the Ferry is a very long one and is mostly very soft, fine sand.  The warm weather had brought out families with children who were all enjoying the brief interlude of summer.  When I do wander along the beach I don’t usually bother too much with what lies at my feet.  But this time I was astounded at the amount of objects to be found.  The beach was covered with a rich array of dead creatures of one kind or another.  It all made for a wonderful mixture of shape, colour and texture.

I was first attracted by a couple of jelly fish which had found themselves stranded on the beach.  Some of children were rightfully fascinated by them.  As I continued my walk I encountered more and more jelly fish.  There was quite a variety both in size and colour and the patterns on their surface.  Here are a couple of the larger ones.

Most of jelly fish were of the smaller variety, and some of them carried lovely patterns as well as some very bright colours.  The bright sunshine probably helped to bring out these colours.  Here are another two jelly fish.

Various types of seaweed made up most of the contents strewn along the beach.  It was amazing to actually take the time and look at just how different seaweed can be both in terms of shapes, sizes, colours and texture.  Below are some single strips of seaweed, three in green and one in brown.  All are partly covered with sand to make a rather striking striped pattern.  A couple reminded me of cave type drawings of animals.

Here is a completely different kind of seaweed, more like straw or hair.  Though it was lying on the sand, it just has a hint of hanging in the air.

Some of the seaweed was in a lovely pinky purply colour as in this example below. 

Seaweed looks very different when wet, which is of course its natural state.  Here are a couple of brightly coloured slippery pieces.

In addition to seaweed there were lots of other things to see lying about, including the ever present little pebbles as here.

Twigs and sponges are other typical objects which can end up stranded on the beach.

I end my beach collection with this slightly less common example.  Crabs can often be found on beaches, but usually either the tiny varieties or just bits and pieces.  Here is an almost complete mid sized crab.  Must go down to the beach more often.