ISRA FACTSHEETS
ISRA FACTSHEETS
EUROPEAN ATLANTIC
Hannafore
Summary
Hannafore is located near Looe Island, Cornwall, on the southern coast of England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This area is characterised by a coarse sandy beach, a rocky reef, and seagrass beds. It is influenced by freshwater input from a nearby estuary, causing variation in nutrients. Within this area there are: threatened species and reproductive areas (Nursehound Scyliorhinus stellaris).
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Hannafore
DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT
Hannafore is located near Looe Island, Cornwall, on the southern coast of England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This area is characterised by a coarse sandy beach, a rocky reef, and seagrass beds (Parry-Wilson et al. 2024; Cornwall Wildlife Trust 2025). It is influenced by freshwater input from a nearby estuary, causing variation in nutrients.
This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 30 m based on observations of the Qualifying Species.
CRITERION A
VULNERABILITY
One Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occurs in the area. This is the Vulnerable Nursehound (Finucci et al. 2021).
CRITERION C
SUB-CRITERION C1 – REPRODUCTIVE AREAS
Hannafore is an important reproductive area for one shark species.
Opportunistic sightings of Nursehound egg cases are regularly and predictably reported from this area by citizen scientists undertaking recreational snorkelling and diving activities, although no specific surveys dedicated to this purpose have been undertaken at this site (Shark Trust unpubl. data. 2025). These reports are compiled into a dedicated database, and egg case identification is confirmed through species-specific guides (Shark Trust unpubl. data. 2025). Overall, 79 in-situ egg cases of Nursehound have been reported from 19 observations. These observations were recorded in 2015 (n = 4 observations; n = 6 egg cases), 2016 (n = 3; n = 4 egg cases), 2017 (n = 3; n = 5 egg cases), 2018 (n = 4; n = 40 egg cases), and 2019 (n = 5; n = 24 egg cases) (Shark Trust unpubl. data. 2025). There is no apparent seasonality to these observations. Records are associated with the rocky reef habitat in the area. This is one of the largest known regular and predictable clusters of observations of in situ egg cases of this species within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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