Afternoon

Last night we went to Holbeck to witness the lowest tide we have ever experienced since starting uni at Scarborough, and thankfully it didn't disappoint! I did get a nasty cold as a present for my foolish dedication but oh well 

The first interesting find on the beach though was snow, as we had timed our journey right in the middle of a moderate snow shower...

By the time we had reached the rockpools, it was even beginning to settle on the sand next to them...

The snow eventually stopped and we meandered around on the shore, slowly following the tide out. To give an illustration of the constrast between Holbeck and Scalby, here is a typical scene that greets you when at Holbeck...

I have lightened the photo a bit but it's still too dark. However you can at least see that Holbeck has generally flatter terrain, with less frequency of large barnacle encrusted rocks that jut out.

Now, for the find of the night.......it's another spider crab! It is Hyas araneus, ie the Great spider crab, and is only the second time we have seen one, both occurring at very low tides. This one was small, with a carapace length of 3cm...

You can really see the triangular shaped carapace on this next photo...

Here is a short video of the spider crab, notice how it moves, very ponderously! Quite a lot different to crabs such as the Swimmer crab which is much faster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gHwsqLDC6A&fmt=18

After getting back off the rockpools we were greeted with a nice dusting of snow, which has been accumulating since this morning

Taken at 12:45am this morning...

Thanks for viewing! 

Steve

You really get out and about for your midnight forays. Another very interesting account Steve.

Nick.

Another nice set of photos.

We get spider crabs here but a different type I think, they migrate, coming into shallower water to breed and shedding their carapaces to grow. They should be starting to turn up about now.

Great photos again Steve.