It was my pleasure to join retired Marine Biologist, Dr Roger Herbert of the Isle of Wight Natural History & Archaeological Society on a seashore meeting at Bembridge recently. The objective was to view the abundance of alga, Padina pavonica (also known as Peacock’s Tail), which is one of only a handful of algae listed as Species of Principal Importance (The Marine Life Information Network) in England and is a designated specie within the Bembridge Marine Conservation Zone.
Walking along the shore to the north of the RNLI lifeboat station we were very lucky to find broken up pieces of Padina drifting in the sea, which is quite unusual, and was probably caused by the recent easterly onshore wind. I was able to collect these precious pieces to take home and press. I will publish these shortly.
Padina pavonica is an extremely rare type of seaweed. Out of thousands of brown algae, it is one of only two groups that deposit calcium in their fronds from sea water, making them appear chalk white.
When young it appears thin, leafy, flattish and entire, but often concave or almost funnel-shaped in mature specimens. The inner surface is covered with a thin coating of slime, and the outer surface is banded with zones of light brown, dark brown and olive green. Small, fine hairs form concentric lines from the outer margin continuing down the outer surface.
Roger has a particular interest in Padina pavonica having carried out extensive research of this alga over the years and created a herbarium which is now with the Natural History Museum.
As mentioned, Padina pavonica remains rare in England today, as the species is at the northern edge of its European range. However, this might change with our warming climate. Padina and other algae are at risk from pollution and habitat loss from coastal development. Severe storms can also harm populations. As with other attractive algae, the popular Victorian past-time of seaweed pressing, may also have had an impact on some populations.