Families learn about seals, tides and beach litter

Families from the Penzance 'Home Ed' Group took part in an interactive session recently to learn about the Grey Seals that visit our coasts. Children and adults alike showed masses of interest by asking a huge range of thoughtful questions on a range of topics that included seal identification, behaviour, origins, lifecycle, food and threats. To put their newly acquired knowledge into context and their seal spotting skills into practice, the talk was followed up with a walk to visit the seals. Braving cold temperatures and biting winds, the party headed up to the clifftops above the haul out beach. Despite there being a good number of seals on the beach, it was the partly moulted white-coat pup that grabbed the limelight! Everyone soon learned to use the binoculars and telescope so they could get the best, close up views of the fluffy 'blob' on the beach.

Seal watching (Left) : Learning to use a telescope (Mid) : Pup attracts the most attention (Right.)

After their visit to the seals, the group headed down to the public beach for a group activity run by Sara and Emma of the National Trust to show how tides work. We thought this would be enough, considering the wintry conditions, but no... the group wanted more! Everyone explored the beach-combing box that Sara had brought along and guessed how long each item would take to break down. We learned that some beach litter will live longer than us, whilst other things never break down. All very shocking! Thanks to everyone who took part.