Show Us Your Mussels – View Findings

Show Us Your Mussels - View Findings

You’ll see below details of the blue mussels found around the Forth of Forth so far. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. We’ll continue to share insights into this as more sightings come in. Headings with up / down arrows beside them can be used to sort the records.

N.B. exact blue mussel locations are not being publicly shared as we have had reports of them then being taken for food. Given their scarcity, we have taken the decision to leave their locations around the Forth private and just for our individual volunteers. We hope you understand. 

WHAT BLUE MUSSELS DID YOU FIND?
TYPE OF SURFACE WHERE YOU ARE REPORTING?
PHOTOGRAPHS - please upload any photographs you took (up to 3 photos per record)
ANY OTHER USEFUL INFO YOU CAN SHARE?
Date / Time
X - None
18/08/2024 14:00
X - None
Rocky surface
No evidence of mussels
03/11/2024 09:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Lots of old dead shells around here
23/08/2024 12:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Rocky surface
Live mussels absent. Rocky substrate with many gullies, crevices etc looked like ideal mussel territory.
'Normal' sort of density of limpets and barnacles, some periwinkles.
Luxuriant growth of Acsophyllum seaweed, some mixed fucoids, mainly serratus on lower shore.
08/10/2024 10:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Rocky surface
23/10/2024 13:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Artificial - sea wall surface
No obvious locations for mussel beds. Nothing found on sea wall (the sea is very far away at this point). Some clusters of small rocks which were checked.
07/07/2024 11:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Sandy surface
Tyninghame beach which would be square 91 if assigned! Sandy beach and rocky shore comprising bedrock and boulders. Very few single mussel shells on the upper shore
13/09/2024 17:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Sandy surface
Also rocky shore including boulders and bedrock. A single blue mussel shell noted on the strandline
16/09/2024 16:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Sandy surface
Not much in this small harbour area at low tide.
30/08/2024 20:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Sandy surface
There were two areas close to each other which had a number of single unhinged shells.
ending.nicer.quits
sulk.unicorns.arriving
30/08/2024 20:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Sandy surface
There were a few single unhinged shells on this small beach. Each location only had 1-2 shells so I have grouped them into this one entry.
nutrients.vented.badminton
bloomers.acrobatic.glorified
revise.outbid.beaten
copper.both.grad
cartoons.crimson.should
extreme.worthy.brisk
30/08/2024 20:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Rocky surface
Intertidal rocks dominated by barnacles with frequent limpet and beadlet anemone.
26/08/2024 13:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Rocky surface
Very few shells in strandline. Although very small numbers overall slightly more towards west end of this square.
16/08/2024 18:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Rocky surface
Very small numbers of broken mussel shells in this square founds on beach or strandline. Rocks covered in abundant barnacles with limpets and frequent beadlet anemones
26/08/2024 13:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Rocky surface
Very few mussel shells in strandline. Although very small numbers of single shells overall most were towards West end of the square.
16/08/2024 18:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
I walked the whole of square 47 and the part of 48 that has coastline, and even though the surfaces looked perfect for mussels - lots of crevices between rocks, and cracks in the seawalls, all of which would be covered at high tide - found not a single live mussel. There were a lot of limpets and barnacles, and quite a lot of beadlet anenomes, and plenty of seaweeds, so not a desert!
24/08/2024 13:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
23/08/2024 13:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
This was only mussel shell we found nearer top of shoreline
23/08/2024 12:00
Unhinged Dead blue mussel shell - (just one side)
Huge numbers of dead mussel shells - all unhinged.
23/08/2024 12:00
Individual Live Mussel
Artificial - sea wall surface
The only individual live mussels I found today were attached to rocks close to the sea wall, there were hundreds of unhinged dead blue mussel shells.
28/08/2024 17:00
Individual Live Mussel
Rocky surface
There were old half shells at two other locations on the upper shore at:
///matter.nags.knees
///joggers.backs.shadowing
10/10/2024 12:00
Individual Live Mussel
I initially went down to check out the site on July 13th, before receiving this email. I wasn't sure if empty shell numbers were wanted so I didn't count them, there were many. I counted only 8 living mussels at low tide, individuals scattered along the stretch.
13/07/2024
Cluster of live blue mussels
Artificial - rope surface
There were clusters growing in the end of a metal pipe and all along it inland up to 56.20947N 2.95300W. These were the only large mussels we found at a very low tide. It is unlikely we will be able to monitor these
17/10/2024 09:00
Cluster of live blue mussels
most were individuals or a few, quite deep in rock clefts and all very covered in barnacles. only one patch/cluster, but they were across the whole of my square. Difficult to get into the middle of the huge rocks but seemed to be more in there too.
12/08/2024 14:00
Cluster of live blue mussels
Rocky surface
You will note from the date this is a retrospective photo from 2023.
I had noticed we had old mussels and babies but nothing in between. I took photos here in the latter part of 2023 until they disappeared in October.
My plan is to monitor this area again as there are new mussels on the rocks again- see further reports.
18/06/2023 09:00