On the 29th August, the FoSB Rock Pooling with a Microscope Session in the Nissen hut at Shoreham Fort was attended by about 45 children and adults and it was a pleasure to welcome existing members and many others who joined FoSB on the day.

This year FoSB tried a new format of encouraging the children to collect their own rock pool fauna from the nearby pools exposed as the tide fell and then to display through the microscope cam. It created a personal connection with their findings and generated a wealth of further questions as the children wanted to know more about “their animals” once they had seen them on the big screen.

The fauna were kept safely in large sea water tanks before and after examination and Marine Biologist Steve Savage gave in depth analysis and explanation of each of the finds. To facilitate this, each specimen was placed, in turn, into a small dish for examination under the microscope with the resulting image shown on a computer screen which provided the most amazing detail. All were safely returned to the rock pools.

All involved agreed that it was a very enjoyable morning with a great effort from the FoSB team. The morning flew by with a constant supply of people bringing their rock pool finds up from the beach for identification. Many families took their own photos and  good memories, le’ts see what can be found next year!!