Wembury Marine Centre is situated in the small village of

Wembury Wembury is a village on the south coast of Devon, England, very close to Plymouth Sound. Wembury is located south of Plymouth. Wembury is also the name of the peninsula in which the village is situated. The village lies in the administrative dis ...

, near

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. Run by Devon Wildlife Trust, it holds rockpool rambles throughout the summer months, educating some 20,000 people each year about the importance of

marine life Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, aquatic plant, plants, algae, marine fungi, fungi, marine protists, protists, single-celled marine microorganisms, microorganisms ...

and the need to protect it. The area is designated a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

and a Voluntary Marine Conservation Area. Wembury Marine Centre lies at the heart of the Wembury Voluntary Marine Conservation Area and stretches for four miles from Bovisand in the west to Gara Point in the east.

Species to look out for

Low tide gives the best chance of seeing the rockpool creatures. Some of the likely suspects include the common shore crab ''

Carcinus maenas ''Carcinus maenas'' is a common littoral crab. It is known by different names around the world. In the British Isles, it is generally referred to as the shore crab or green shore crab. In North America and South Africa, it bears the name Europe ...

'', the common prawn ''

Palaemon serratus ''Palaemon serratus'', also called the common prawn, is a species of shrimp found in the Atlantic Ocean from Denmark to Mauritania, and in the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. Ecology Individuals live for 3–5 years in groups in rocky crevices ...

'', the common blenny or shanny ''

Lipophrys pholis ''Lipophrys pholis'', commonly known as shanny, also known as the smooth blenny or common blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny. It matures at two years of age. Distributed in the Eastern Atlantic from the southern Norway to Morocco and Madei ...

'', the cushion starfish '' Asterina gibbosa'' and the hermit crab '' Pagurus bernhardus''.{{citation needed, date=May 2025

External links

Wembury Marine Centre
Tourist attractions in Devon Environment of Devon Nature centres in England Buildings and structures in Devon Education in Devon