Aquascope

Facts


Sand beach

They are wonderful

Some of those creatures that use tixotropi when they dig, are worms, gasteropods and mussels. They flush water onto the sand and make many small penetrating movements whilst they push down into the sediment. In this way, sediment resistance is decreased by 90%. When they anchor themselves, the opposite phenomenon is used.
   See what the mussel does.

Sand beaches - organisms

Those organisms and creatures that are most noticable when you visit the beach are those amongst the vegetation in sand dunes, casual visitors (birds, mammals and insects) and organisms that have been washed up and left stranded on the beach; (seaweed, shellfish, mussels and jellyfish).
    Stranded organisms and organisms that the waves have washed up, give us a splendid opportunity to observe and catch many of the Marine organisms that are otherwise inaccessible to us because of their depth or distance from the shoreline. Furthermore, the more permanent inhabitants are affected by these casual visitors, in that they provide a foof source, they themselves became a source of food and change the physical environment.
    Many of the permanent inhabitants are not noticed directly, because they are either dug down into the sediment or are very small.
   Take a look at how it can vary in appearance both over and under the sediment on a sand beach.

Plants

Amongst the sand dunes grow mostly lichens, herbs and bushes. The sand is a very poor source of nourishment, but seaweed and other organisms that are washed up onto the beach can supply a certain amount of nourishment. Certain specie are totally dependent on this source, and survive only on or close to these banks of washed up seaweed. This source of nourishment is also utilized as a fertilizer in gardens and fields, but it is necessary that the seaweed does not have contact with the sea long enough so the rain has time to rinse out most of the salt. Vegetation that grows amongst the dunes and these banks of seaweed must tolerate high salt concentrations, most terrestial plants do not.

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Waves, bottoms and construction

Sand movement and erosion

Sand bottoms as living environments

The art of digging

Sand beach
organisms

Food web

Change and variation

Swedish beach life


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Bo Johannesson | Martin Larsvik | Lars-Ove Loo | Helena Samuelsson