For details about the pink seafan work carried out by MCS and others in the UK - please visit our website which we manage in collaboration with the Wildlife Trusts http://pinkseafan.wildlifetrusts.org
The pink seafan Eunicella verrucosa is a coral, related to the soft corals that you might think grow only on tropical reefs. Pink seafans are found in UK waters, but are a "protected species". MCS has led research to find out more about this fragile and rare species and proposes local conservation measures to protect it from harm through, for example, fishing.
CLICK HERE to see a movie of a pink seafan.
CLICK HERE to see a movie of the seafan nudibranch Tritonia nilsodhneri
Description
Whilst they resemble a branched plant, seafans are in fact animals. Each pink seafan is made of up of thousands of tiny identical 'polyps'. These polyps have tentacles armed with stinging cells, much like the sea anemones found in rock pools, but are much smaller. These are used to paralyse passing prey and pass it to the mouth in the centre of each polyp. Seafans are one of the largest invertebrate structures in British waters and can grow to 100cm and may be over 50 years old.
Conservation
Pink seafans are protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981) and are also listed as priority Biodiversity Action Plan species. But they are threatened by trawling, and surveys along Chesil Beach in Dorset have recorded 328 dead pink seafans washed up on the beach in one day. Some seafans were still attached to monofilament fishing net and MCS is concerned that the seafan population in the area could be seriously damaged.
What you can do
To help increase our knowledge of this beautiful animal please inform MCS of any pink seafans you see either whilst diving or washed up on the beach. You can also take part in Seasearch dives to record all marine habitats and species and increase our understanding and therefore ability to protect seafans and other marine life in UK waters. Contact MCS for a copy of the Pink seafan leaflet and report form.
