Coastal Waters
The county's coastal waters are home to large populations of seals. Porpoises, whales and sharks are not uncommonly seen. St Ives recently made newspaper headlines after a reported sighting of a Great White Shark.
Porbeagles inhabit the coastal waters but the etymology of the word is obscure. A common suggestion is that it combines "porpoise" and "beagle", referencing this shark's shape and tenacious hunting habits. Another is that it is derived from the Cornish porth, meaning "harbour", and bugel, meaning "shepherd". The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word was either borrowed from Cornish or formed from a Cornish first element with the English "beagle"; however, none of the proposed Cornish root words are fully satisfactory. Squalus cornubicus (Gmelin, 1789); Squalus cornubiensis (Pennant, 1812) and Lamna cornubica are other Latin names for the Porbeagle.
Swanpool is the only location in the British Isles in which the bryozoan Victorella pavida is found.
Read more about this topic: Flora And Fauna Of Cornwall
Famous quotes containing the word waters:
“To possess your soul in patience, with all the skin and some of the flesh burnt off your face and hands, is a job for a boy compared with the pains of a man who has lived pretty long in the exhilarating world that drugs or strong waters seem to create and is trying to live now in the first bald desolation created by knocking them off.”
—C.E. (Charles Edward)