Marine Biology in Erquy
A couple of weeks ago, I packed my bags for a new adventure. Magnifying glass, rubber boots and a lot of sunscreen were the staple pieces in my baggage. We woke up at 4 o’clock in the morning and drove through dark villages. As the sun began to rise, we slowly started to recognize the landscape.
“This has to be beautiful France,” I thought to myself. After several hours of driving, chatting and carpool karaoke, we arrived in Erquy.
Erquy is a small fishing village in Brittany. Due to the extreme tides which occur here, it offers a unique insight into marine life. My university offers this one-week field trip every year and it is perfect for people who are interested in Marine Biology. The aim of the week is to get an overview of all organisms living in the so-called littoral zone. The littoral zone is influenced by tides: the rise and fall of sea levels. When the sea level falls, we can get a glimpse at the zones which are normally covered by water.
After an initial introduction and some general facts on this zone, we walked along the shore, where we found eels, crabs and even some baby rays! But if you think animals are the only thing to find here — you are completely wrong! If you take a closer look, you can find lots of hidden organisms.
I was most fascinated by the seaweeds. Our professor told us that there were over 780 different seaweeds found in this region between France and England. After the first two days of introduction, we formed into groups and thought about a specific aspect we wanted to learn more about. As you might have already guessed, I chose seaweeds.
Our group’s objective was to find as many different seaweeds as possible. We wanted to get an idea of how the different seaweed zones were split up and why exactly they would grow at their specific location. Besides collecting seaweed, my group and I wanted to have something to remind us of this extraordinary week, which is why we planned to make a herbarium.
So you can get an idea of our project, let me first explain some terminology. The littoral zone is split up into several smaller zones: the supralittoral zone, the eulittoral zone and the sublittoral zone. This is the order of the zones when you would walk from the beach into the direction of the ocean. The supralittoral zone is only covered with water at high spring tides. The eulittoral zone is mostly influenced by the high and low tides. The waves strongly shape this habitat and it offers lots of places for organisms to live. The sublittoral zone is permanently covered by water and does not get exposed even during low spring tides. However, at low spring tides it is possible that some organisms get washed up and you can find them on the shore line.
Seaweeds are really interesting plants to study. In comparison to higher plants they have a much simpler internal structure: The vascular system is absent and their roots only serve as anchors. Unlike in terrestrial plants, they do not take up nutrients or water.
Prominent examples for seaweeds from the supralittoral to eulittoral zone are Pelvetia canaliculata and Fucus spiralis. We discovered that Pelvetia canaliculata would only grow on the side of the stone facing towards the ocean while Fucus spiralis only grows on the opposite side. Thinking of reasons for why they would grow this way, we came to the conclusion that it must have something to do with the water flow. However, much to our regret, our professor let us know that these same seaweeds, just some kilometers away, did not show this growth pattern. So that was our first lesson to learn!
Do not rely on observations in just one region: always look at several.
In the course of our trip, we continued our search for algae in the eulittoral zone and were fascinated to see how the biodiversity increased continously. The vast number of organisms that can be found on this little beach in Brittany was just astonishing to me.
The professors not only supported us on our projects but also made an effort to show us around. We visited Cap Fréhel — a must see of this region! It is a picturesque scenery with jaw-dropping cliffs and two gorgeous light houses. Cap Fréhel is also an important nesting ground for several birds, such as the European Shag or the European Hering Gull. In short: you will be blown away by the beauty of this nature and you should probably pack more than one SD card for your camera.
If you already study at our University and are interested in going to Erquy next year, be sure to like the Facebook Page for updates. You can also find it in the course directory of the University of Basel. Just look for “Biologie des Litorals (Erquy)”. I highly recommend that you attend this field trip and I can guarantee that you will have a week full of adventures.
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