A Year of Explore Your Shore

Recording The Biodiversity found along our shores

The Best of Rockpool Biodiversity

In 2024, Galway Aquarium visited the Rockpools of Grattan Beach every month to record the wonderful biodiversityfound amongst the rocks and seaweeds. All this work is a HUGE part of Citizen Science, and all the species were recorded to The National Biodiversity Data Centre.

This year we recorded over 100 Species, but it was lower in 2024 due to awful weather conditions. So it is really important that more people become Explore Your Shore Champions in 2025.

The NBDC (National Biodiversity Data Centre) supports Citizen Science through its dedicated Explore Your Shore website, a fantastic resource for budding Citizen Scientists. And we have gotten some amazing help from the team to identify a host of species on the shore, and how to record safely for humans and species too.

One of the COOLEST Species we found was the Star Ascidian, and we believe it was the first ever recorded species of this type in Salthill, Galway City. More images of the species discovered can be viewed on our social media channels.

Galway Atlantaquaria hosts regular Explore Your Shore and Clean Coasts Beach Cleans every month, so please keep an eye on our website for the next experience on the shore.