Pickle collecting 2007 and 2008

During the summer of 2007 and again in 2008, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery collected specimens of marine life from in and around Plymouth. The projects were supported by funding from Renaissance in the Regions. Permission was sought from the landowners and other authorities before any sampling began.

Summer 2007 Littoral project

Chris Ayre and Hayley Bishop were employed to carry out sampling of marine animals (fauna) at Mount Edgcumbe, Mount Batten and Jennycliff.

The collecting work was carried out between the high tide and the low tide, also known as the littoral zone. The collection contains over eight hundred specimens representing more than ninety species. This modern collection signifies the important marine fauna at these three sites. Researching this collection and comparing it to the older collections held at the museum, will allow researchers to see how species have changed in and around Plymouth.

Summer 2008 Seaweed project

Chris Ayre and Neil Jones were employed to carry out sampling of the seaweeds (marine algae) at Mount Batten, Jennycliff and Cawsand Bay.

This is a collection of over two hundred specimens. It includes wet preserved specimens ('pickles'), and dry mounted specimens (herbarium sheets). Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery holds several bound or loose herbaria of marine algae, including an early important collection made by Sir John St Aubyn and a detailed bound collection by George Carter Bignell. This project has produced a modern pressed seaweed and spirit collection, which can be used to identify old specimens in the museums collection and compare a species preserved in different ways.