12 Biology Field Trip to Warrington Mud Flats

On a picture-perfect early autumn day the Level 2 biology students ventured to Warrington to collect data for their internally assessed task investigating interrelationships in a mudflat community. This is a field trip that has been a regular occurrence over many years. Some trends remain constant, such as the large number of cockles at the low water mark. These cockles typically give way to wedge shells and then bamboo worms. Despite sampling at roughly the same time each year there are always some surprises. In recent year this has included sightings of octopi, sea hares, and multitudes of ice cream cone worms. This year there were a large number of Micrelenchus huttonii (a type of sea snail) feeding on algae and also some VERY large examples of cat's eyes.