Triggerfish - Porth Trecastell

Description

Winter 2015/16 was particularly memorable for me because of the persistent storms which swept across the country. Storm Eva had hit on Christmas Eve and the beaches were already strewn with all sorts coming in from offshore from the previous storms. I remember vividly parking up at Porth Trecastell and walking onto the dune path. The scene in front of me was a beach absolutely covered in plastics, some from olden days, others from far away – I remember feeling the need to weep it was so bad. However, I did know that there was a good chance of finding some natural treasures and as some of the plastics were covered in goose barnacles I knew that things from further offshore had been dumped onto the beaches. I was looking for sea beans (seeds of tropical vines) when I came across two triggerfish. They were in good condition so hadn’t been dead long. They tend to shelter under floating debris and the thing that stood out to me was how amazing the ’trigger’ is. I’ve not seen any since.