Natural England

From the Humber to Kent the underwater landscapes of Eastern England include great plains of sands and gravels which creep southwards in the currents, ranged over by plaice, rays and other fish. There are also wave-cut chalk gullies and reefs such as those off Thanet and Sheringham, home to many types of crab, sea anemone and sponge. Herring spawn on gravels in the Thames Estuary, colourful sea slugs and wrasse haunt wrecks and ‘white weed’ hydroids carpet muddier seabeds. Worms form vast living reefs in the Wash, where lobsters also burrow in sandbanks.

This area is home to:

• Large, flat, open plains used as hunting grounds by dog fish and thornback rays as well as seals, porpoises and the occasional dolphin.
• The ‘burning’ – a name given by the fishermen of North Norfolk to algae glowing with phosphorescence at night.
• Dogger Bank – a vast network of enormous underwater sand dunes, some as tall as Nelson’s column.
• The wonders of the seabed off the Suffolk coast, including colonies of striped venus clams and ‘heaths’ of burrowing brittlestars.
• More than 220 wrecks, dating from Anglo-Saxon times to the 21st century. Many have developed a rich wildlife similar to that of rocky reefs.
• The Sheringham Chalk Gullies – home to a fascinating variety of algae, sponges and anemones as well as lobsters and conger eels.
• Dense shellfish beds of cockles and mussels amongst the expansive mud and sand flats of The Wash.

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Panorama

Click the numbers on the image below to find out more about the diverse range of species and habitats.

E Marine Panorama

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