Natural England

Chalk reefs and extensive gravel beds, some of them ancient flooded river valleys, characterise the regional undersea landscape off the South East. These, such as the Hastings Shingle Bank, host carpets of sponges and anemones and are rich feeding grounds for fish. At Mixon Hole off Chichester, the seabed plummets suddenly into a sunken Roman remain where large lobsters and fish shelter. Around the Isle of Wight there are pupping grounds for several species of shark, and caves with dead men’s finger sponges.

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This area is home to:

• Shark central – all around the Isle of Wight there are nursery grounds for sharks such as tope, smoothound, the rare porbeagle and the thresher. The truly ‘electric’ electric ray is also found here.
• Mantis shrimp warrens. These are small but feisty shrimps which burrow in muddy seabed areas - in captivity they have been known to break aquarium glass, but out in the wild, cod somehow manage to catch and eat them.
• Kelp forests sheltering cuckoo wrasse and sea urchins
• Chalk and sandstone reefs encrusted with kelp, red algae, ‘boring’ sponges, baked bean sea squirts, dead men’s fingers . Cuttlefish live here as does the cute tompot blenny
• Seagrass meadows - home to the enchanting sea horse that bobs around in the swaying fronds of seagrass
• The mysterious Mixon Hole – a deep incision in the clay seabed off Selsey Bill. It is filled with lobsters, sponges, anemones, tope, thornback ray.
• Communities of anemones and sponges forming meadows on large furrowed gravel beds.

What's happening and when

If you can't make it in person, why not try out our activities ?

Regional activities (linked)	Date	Location (and directions linked)
South East	8th June	Brighton & Hove Springwatch Festival, Stanmer Park
South East	13th and 14th September	Thames Festival, Potters Field by City Hall (tbc)

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

SE Marine Panorama