Working in collaboration with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT), Deep Crew recently carried out two shark egg case hunts at Spurn Point. The visitors who took part became citizen scientists for the day, scanning the coastline for shark egg cases and recording their findings. Data from these annual events is submitted to The Shark Trust as part of their Great Eggcase Hunt campaign, helping to pin-point exactly where native sharks and skates are laying on our UK coastline, and build a clearer understanding of species presence and diversity.
Some sharks, and all true skates, reproduce by laying eggs. These are surrounded by a tough leathery capsule, known as mermaid’s purses, which protect the embryo as it develops inside. After several months, these are ready to hatch and a fully-formed shark or skate will emerge. Once empty, these egg cases often wash up on the beach and this occurs all year round. One of the best places to find them is among the strandline, where the seaweed washes up.
Each egg case is distinctive in its colour, size and shape, so it is possible to identify which species produced it. Across both hunts in July and August, a total of 29 egg cases were found on Spurn Point’s beach by visitors. 28 of these were Small-spotted catshark egg cases, one of the most commonly recorded on our coastline. We were also delighted to find a Spotted ray egg case on our first hunt.
This data has been fed into The Shark Trust's campaign, providing scientists with a valuable insight into where potential nursery grounds are located and their population numbers. This information is crucial to informing marine conservation strategies around the UK coastline.
The North East coastline is significantly lacking in data submissions in comparison to the rest of the country, but through our collaboration with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, we are working towards changing this. You can also help by taking part in your own shark egg case hunts; find out more here.