The predominantly wild and unspoilt coastline within the survey area lies on the north-eastern side of the Irish Sea, between the expansive sediment shores of Morecambe Bay in the south and the more enclosed coast of the Outer Solway Firth to the north. The area is transitional between the Lake District massif to the east and the Irish Sea basin to the west. The shoreline has a natural grandeur, with spectacular sandstone cliffs at St Bees Head, sandy beaches backed by low boulder cliffs, rock scars and vast areas of wave-exposed mobile sand. Twenty-seven sites were surveyed on both rocky and sedimentary substrata. Open coast areas were dominated by mobile fine sand, with associated crustacean and polychaete dominated communities. These fine sands were interspersed with boulder scars (glacially derived boulders and cobbles) which increased habitat diversity and the range of species present. The polychaete Sabellaria alveolata was a major constituent of boulder scar communities forming extensive reefs in some of locations. Rocky shores were very limited in distribution. At St Bees Head, the northern limit of the survey area, a wide range of rocky littoral habitats were present, including horizontal rock platforms, crevices, pools, rockmills and overhangs. Beware ! the infauna has been put in the epifauna window Habitat diversity on the Cumbrian coast is limited leading to a limited range of species being recorded during the present survey. The nature conservation importance of the area has been assessed, with a number of habitats and species considered to be of local, regional, national or international importance.
