Harbour Seal - Phoca vitulina
The Solent has a resident population of between 20 and 25 Harbour Seals. At low tide they haul themselves out of the water onto mud flats, sandbanks or even rocks to rest. One of these haul out sites is in Langstone Harbour, and as many as 10 individuals can be seen there on a regular basis. The seals eat fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and molluscs, regularly travelling to Southampton and the Isle of Wight to forage. They are believed to have evolved from Bear-like ancestors around 23 million years ago.
Glasswort - Salicornia europaea
Glasswort, sometimes known as Marsh Samphire, is a fleshy annual plant found growing below the hight tide mark in areas known as Saltmarshes. Like all Saltmarsh plants, Glasswort is becoming increasingly rare in the UK as Saltmarsh habitats are put under pressure from factors including coastal squeeze and increasing recreational pressures. Glasswort gets its name from long ago when its ashes were used as a source of soda ash for glassmaking. It is also edible (another of its common names is ’Poor Man’s Asparagus’), although this is strongly discouraged due to the increasing rarity of Saltmarsh habitat.
Brent Geese - Branta bernicla
Familiar winter visitors to Langstone Harbour, Brent Geese begin arriving during October in large, V-shaped skeins. These charismatic birds travel to the harbour from Siberia where they nest and raise their chicks during the Spring and Summer. Their breeding success is largely determined by the numbers of lemmings on the Siberian tundra during the breeding season. Many lemmings mean lots of food for the Arctic Fox population. Fewer lemmings mean that the foxes will prey on Brent Goose chicks to feed their own families. Brent Geese feed on Eelgrass, seaweeds and grasses, and can often be seen in large groups on the playing fields and open spaces around the harbour at high tide. The urge to migrate becomes strong in early Spring, and during March the birds begin leaving for Siberia once more.
Bass - Dicentrarchus labrax
Highly prized as food fish, these silver beauties use Langstone Harbour as a safe place to breed. Much of the harbour’s seabed is inhabited by Eelgrass - a group of flowering plants which form dense meadows below the waves. These meadows provide an excellent place for juvenile Bass to hide and hunt for prey (as well as many other fish species). As such, Langstone Harbour is designated as a Bass Nursery ground, and fishing for Bass is prohibited between 30th April and 1st November. Bass can grow to over a metre long, and live for up to 15 years.
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