Reefs

Inside the shelter of the Plymouth Breakwater, limestone rocky reefs are home to rich communities of sponge, hydroids, anemones and rock boring species. It is one of only two coastal areas in the South West with Devonian limestone which is up to 390 million years old. Rocky reefs play host to forests of kelp (such as Laminaria hyperborean and Laminaria ochroleuca). Because of the wide range of conditions, currents, salinities, and a tidal range of up to 5.85m, the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries are home to a wide variety of reef species and habitat types.

Designated as a feature of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC)

Image © Keith Hiscock