Channel Island Marine Life by Sue
Daly
Introduction
The Channel Islands
lie over 100 miles beyond the South coast of England in the bay of St
Malo and are subject to one of the largest tidal ranges in the world.
During the greatest spring tides the sea drops 40 feet from high to low
water, exposing many square miles of seashore.
This huge tidal range,
and the warming influence of the Gulf Stream, means that the seas around
the Channel Islands are rich in marine life, both in terms of diversity
of species and number of individuals. Whilst none of these species is
unique, there are a number of species that are at the northernmost limit
of their distribution and are rarely, if ever, found around the coast of
the British mainland. 
I've been watching these wonderful creatures for over eighteen years and, even after many visits to exotic coral reefs, I remain enthralled by what I see in the waters around these islands. The following pages represent just a tiny fraction of the vast variety of marine life found in the waters around the Channel Islands.
Picture above by Stuart Philpott
Most of these images are from the book Marine Life of the Channel Islands by Sue Daly
All text & images copyright Sue Daly
