Читать книгу Seashore - Nick Baker - Страница 12

Around areas where there is a fishing business, you may well come across large rope and wooden structures used to catch crabs and lobsters. You can borrow this idea and make your own rock pool version.

The trap is made from a container, which lets the smell of your bait escape into the water. When the creatures come searching, they find their way in via a funnel. This then acts as a one-way valve, trapping them inside. The cheapest way to do this is with an old plastic drinks bottle.

With the aid of your scavenger trap and a field guide you will soon be able to identify many different rock pool creatures.

Nick’s trick

In an area where netted dog whelks are found, try dragging your bait around on a sandy bottom and watch what happens. These scavenging snails will follow the trail, siphons up, as they pick up the smell of the bait.

YOU WILL NEED

> old plastic drinks bottle

> scissors

> bait

> gaffer tape

> string

> plastic tank

1 Take the bottle and cut off the top about 10cm down (you might need to ask an adult to help you as this can be difficult). You will be left with a funnel and a trap box. Then make lots of small holes in the main part of the bottle.

2 Put some bait into the trap and insert the top of the bottle, neck end down. Fasten in place with strips of gaffer tape.

3 Search out some large, flat stones and attach them to the bottle using string. They look like little packages and will weight down your trap, which is important as a drifting trap spells death for all those caught inside. Plastic bottles are also one of the worst kinds of litter.

4 Position the trap in a rock pool and then leave for a few hours.

5 You will want to take a closer look at what you’ve caught, so carefully place your captives in an observation tank to study them.