The return of the Dog Whelk

[Evadne]

I can't find any web references yet, so you may have heard it here first.
An article in our in-house news sheet carries an article about the recolonisation of the Solent, as far up as Calshot, by the little beast as TBT levels gradually fall in the Solent. So if you're depressed at the ineffectiveness of your TBT-free antifouling at the end of this season, at least one wee timorous beastie is grateful for your sacrifice.

 

[jhr]

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as far up as Calshot

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Interesting. Is this because they're gradually making their way up Southampton Water, or because Fawley and Southampton Docks are full of big ships with you-know-what plastered all over their bottoms and it's stopped them in their tracks at Calshot?

 

[Clive_Rigden]

It's amazing; one can hear them barking from Lepe beach /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[sarabande]

A-mazing ! According to Wiki, they are carnivorous, and after drilling the hole [...] feed upon the soft flesh of its prey. Cross them with a gribble and we'd have real problems sleeping at night. Do I feel a horror movie coming on ?

 

[Clive_Rigden]

I'll never go paddling again ! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Evadne]

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s this because they're gradually making their way up Southampton Water, or because Fawley and Southampton Docks are full of big ships with you-know-what plastered all over their bottoms and it's stopped them in their tracks at Calshot?

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Apparently it's because they are voracious predators, more able to take advantage of man-made habitats such as sea defences and pipelines than was previously thought. Before this, the nearest population was at Hengistbury head, now they have made their way up the Western Solent shore along the New forest, being found near Lepe I believe. The scientist's name is Andy Nelson, of Southampton University, and I would expect he'd be more than pleased to hear of other sightings.
More on the Common Dog Whelk for anoraks like me

 

[Toryboy1]

Can you eat them- I'm very fond of a nice whelk, with pepper and vinegar, yum!

 

[Clive_Rigden]

Very interesting, thank you - and I mean that! I'll keep an eye open for the little devils from now on.

 

[jhr]

Agreed; interesting.

They'll get to you before they get to me, so let us know when they're knocking on your hatches, and we'll batten down.

They sound like vicious little buggers and, whilst I've no objection to them trashing all the local barnacles, I'm a bit concerned about their liking for moules....

 

[Evadne]

I'm not sure about how edible they are, "dog" or "cow" in front of an English name usually means "of inferior quality" (e.g. dog violets, cow parsley, etc.)
But I did find this. It is insistent on you only eating what they call "the edible part of the dog whelk", and even then you have to boil it for 45 minutes or more, so I imagine most of it is a bit chewy.

 

[Clive_Rigden]

I have to say, you are a mine of information! I love what I suppose to be ordinary whelks, when you find the few that haven't been exported to Korea.

 

[Evadne]

I love almost all shellfish as well, tho' I wasn't so sure when I tried gooseneck barnacles, but I got the recipe from Google. I didn't expect to find dog whelks on any menus, but there you go. They look to be a lot smaller than edible whelks (or whatever they're called) so you probably need more, and given that they are rare because they're good at concentrating things like TBT in their bodies, I'd fight shy of eating any from the Solent for another few decades!