Marine Biodiversity Data Portal - NI
Sandy Bay, Outer Ards.
Survey number: 555 Event number: 19860619/21 Date: 1986-06-19 GPS: 54.66483,-5.57000. Depth: 3.5 to 0.2 m. [ View map ]
Site Description: A moderately exposed pocket beach on the outer Co. Down coast. The beach is between highly ridged irregular sandstone headlands and divided into two halves by another smaller headland. The ridges have regular fucoid zonation with a distinct patellobarnacle zone in the mid shore. The SE half of the beach has relatively clean sand with some Ascophyllum/fucoid dominated boulders in the mid and upper shore. The other half which was surveyed was smaller and stepped in profile. The shore is backed by concrete and block boulder walls behind which is a steep grass bank to a road (main A2). Houses occur on each of the three headlands. A steep upper shore of dry sand (medium) with a large drift of Ulva (originally recorded as Enteromorpha). A convex middle shore of dry sand (coarse) and shell gravel with a flat upper area and steep lower. The sand was compacted. The steep area had many small Arenicola casts. Drift algae occurred in the lower steep area, mostly Ulva (originally recorded as Enteromorpha). The lower shore is flat and very wet with medium and coarse sand and widely dispersed boulders with fucoids and barnacles attached. The sand surface here is covered with various algae generally attached to the boulders although Ulva (originally recorded as Enteromorpha) which has near total cover binds with the sand.
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Species list (45 species recorded)
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