How to handle sea creatures safely in rockpools

Rockpooling is a privilege, not a free-for-all

There are few better ways to spend a British afternoon than crouching over a pool on a falling tide, nose inches from the water, watching a blenny dart between the weed. Our coastline offers some of the richest rockpooling in Europe, from the granite gullies of Cornwall to the cold, clear pools of the Hebrides. But everything you find in that pool is already having a hard day. The tide has gone out, the water is warming, and predators are circling. The last thing a shore crab needs is to be scooped up and held in the air while somebody counts its legs.

The golden rule is simple: look more than you touch. If you do handle something, keep it wet, keep it brief, and put it back exactly where it came from.

Pack the right kit before you go

A little preparation makes handling safer for the creature and easier for you. You do not need much, and most of it is already in the cupboard.

• A small net with fine mesh – the sort sold for tropical fish, not a coarse shrimping net that will tangle legs and gills.
• A white-bottomed tray or shallow tub – pale plastic makes small creatures far easier to see and gives them a pool of sea water to sit in.
• A bucket of sea water, filled at the start. Never use tap water, and never carry creatures in a dry container or a plastic bag.
• A magnifying glass or hand lens – you will see ten times more without disturbing anything.
• Old trainers or wellies with proper grip, plus a towel and a basic first aid kit. Wet seaweed on rock is genuinely treacherous.

Leave glass jars at home. They heat up quickly, they smash, and they make it almost impossible to release a creature gently.

Handling fish, crabs and other creatures gently

Never pick up a fish by its tail or with dry hands. Fish are coated in a protective slime, and dry hands strip it away, leaving them open to infection. Use your net to guide them into the tray rather than chasing them around the pool, and keep them in water the whole time. If you must move one, slide a hand or the net underneath and support the body.

Crabs should never be lifted by their back legs, claws or tail end. Scoop from underneath with a flat hand, or simply usher them into your tub with the net. Shore crabs give a surprisingly sharp nip, and velvet swimming crabs are quick and bad-tempered. If a crab grips your net, lower it back into the water and let it walk off rather than pulling.

Other residents need their own care:

• Anemones – never poke, prod or prise them off rock. Pulling damages the base they anchor with, and they can take hours to reopen.
• Starfish – never bend the arms or lift one by a single limb. Support the whole body, or leave it alone.
• Limpets – if you must remove one, twist and slide rather than pulling, and return it to the exact same spot. They grind their shell to fit one particular patch of rock.
• Barnacles and mussels – razor sharp. Handle with care, or not at all.
• Shells with something inside – a shell on the move belongs to someone. Leave it be.

Keep handling sessions to a minute or two at most, and shade your tray from direct sun. If the water in the tray warms noticeably, it is time to release everything.

Tide times and staying safe on the shore

Rockpooling is best on a falling tide, ideally in the two hours either side of low water. Check a tide table for your specific beach before you leave, not just the nearest big town, as times vary along the coast. Spring tides expose the best pools but also fill them again quickly.

Never turn your back on the sea, and keep an eye on the water rather than just the rock in front of you. Watch out for:

• Wave surge at the outer edge of a reef – a single larger wave can knock you off your feet.
• Sandy bays and estuaries where the incoming tide can cut off a channel behind you.
• Slippery weed, loose boulders, and wet rock covered in barnacles.
• Weever fish buried in sand, and sea urchin spines in deeper gullies. A weever sting needs hot water and medical advice.

Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back, and carry a phone in a waterproof pouch.

Returning everything as you found it

Put creatures back in the same pool you took them from. Moving animals between pools can spread disease and shift the balance of a tiny, fragile community. If you lifted a rock, put it back the same way up, with the dark, damp underside down. Never stack rocks into towers or roll boulders down the beach – each one is a roof for something underneath.

Return your sea water to the pool rather than tipping it up the beach, and leave empty shells and mermaid's purses where you found them. Take photographs home instead of creatures. Collecting live animals is restricted for many species, and plenty of us have learned more from a good photograph than from a jam jar on a windowsill.

Small habits that make a big difference

Go in small groups, keep your voice low, and let children take the lead with the net while you carry the tray. Wet your hands with sea water before touching anything, and keep suncream off your palms. If you spot something unusual, note the date, the beach and the conditions, and pass it on to a local marine recording scheme – those records genuinely help.

Do all of that and the pool will be just as lively next time you visit. That is the whole point of rockpooling: not to collect the sea, but to borrow it for a few quiet minutes and hand it back exactly as it was.