Day 8: Finding Shipwreck and Jellyfish on the Beach

 Not all beaches are the same. There are some beaches that seem to collect all manner of things that we have lost or thrown away. On these beaches you can often find treasure if your willing to look. I can't tell you which beaches to treasure hunt on as their features and treasures vary; for example, you might find things from far away places on a storm beach; a shoe from Spain, a box with labels that tell you its from France. A storm beach is one which is at the mercy of particularly fierce waves and are often long and open. On the other hand a small cove beach may secretly collect passing sea debris as tides circle in and out of them. The beaches I like best are those on which you can find pieces of shipwreck; each piece you find holding a mystery and a story.  

Chris took this photo. This iron work has obviously been there a long time as it  has buried by the relentless sea.  Not all the pieces are from boats ,as we know there were some old buildings linked to the lighthouse, that were destroyed near the shore too, but they are all wrecks of one kind or another.

There was a very famous shipwreck on a beach nearby, a Spanish flag ship storage vessel called El Gran Grifón, was driven ashore by rough seas in 1588. The Islanders rescued them but there was little food on the island and it was difficult to find enough to feed those who lived there nevermind the 300 crew and soldiers on the ship. At least 50 died on the Island either from starvation or their injuries. 

There are many other things to find on the beach. As I scrambled and slid across the rounded stones, I found this beautiful clear jellyfish. I thought at first that is was a moon jellyfish but they have blue or purple rings in the centre, this was completely clear - all the colour you can see is on the rocks underneath it. I am hoping it is the rarer Crystal Jellyfish - rare in this part of the world anyway!