Rays of Tope – A Great Eggcase Hunt in West Sussex

41 eggcase hunters, 249 eggcases found!

In early October, we headed to Ovingdean beach in West Sussex for a Great Eggcase Hunt in the autumn sunshine. We joined forces with Sussex Wildlife Trust, along with The Rock Pool Project who were running a bioblitz alongside us.

With 41 of us on the lookout during the two-hour event, we found a total of 249 eggcases!

Our finds included:

·         112 Smallspotted Catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) eggcases

·         78 Undulate Skate (Raja undulata) eggcases

·         56 Thornback Skate (Raja clavata) eggcases

·         2 Spotted Skate (Raja montagui) eggcases

·         1 Blonde Skate (Raja brachyura) eggcase

This Great Eggcase Hunt was run as part of Rays of Tope - a three-year project led by the University of Plymouth and funded through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme. This collaborative project aims to unlock the secrets of where Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) and Undulate Skate (Raja undulata) live, travel, and reproduce.

While Tope are ovoviviparous, meaning embryos develop inside eggs that hatch internally before they are born as live young, Undulate Skate are oviparous, meaning they deposit eggcases on the seabed. Each eggcase tells a story. These tough, distinctive capsules are left behind when young sharks and skates hatch, offering valuable clues about the species living in our waters and where they may be reproducing.

This is where the Great Eggcase Hunt comes in. By searching for, identifying to species, and recording finds, citizen scientists can help build a better picture of egglaying species. As our long-standing citizen science initiative, the Great Eggcase Hunt gives people of all ages the opportunity to explore their local coastline, discover evidence of sharks and skates, and contribute to marine conservation. It strengthens community engagement and shows how small discoveries can contribute to a bigger picture.

We’ll be hosting more events as part of Rays of Tope, but in the meantime, if you’re interested in getting involved with the Great Eggcase Hunt then we have plenty of resources on the dedicated project pages at www.sharktrust.org/greateggcasehunt to help you get started. These will give you tips on how to Search for eggcases, Identify your finds and Record the details. You can also explore the Discover section which links to our results dashboard where you can see what other eggcase hunters have been finding, and read the annual project reports.

So, what are you waiting for? Get to the beach and see what you can find!