No stone left unturned
by Matt Shardlow from on (#F98K)
St Ouen's Bay, Jersey The mount overlooks weedy pools. Further out, the pools are shallower and packed with boulders, asking to be peered under
Low tide and a broad expanse of beige barnacle-encrusted rocks surrounds the mount that demarcates the northern limit of the sandy bay dominating the west coast of Jersey.
The mount is topped with a large, rounded, second world war German defensive turret; it overlooks weedy pools, under a cloudy sky. Here, in a deep lagoon, its vertical sides carpeted with a thick, mossy pile of algae and bryozoans, shanny (blennies) rest on top of slate-grey cobbles, surveying their watery domain with large eyes and glum mouths; one of these mottled denizens is huge, more than 15cm long. Glassy matchstick-sized fry swim near the surface, a pair of dark eyes followed by a thin, snaking, iridescent green line.
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