A Chesil Beach Recce (Preparing for Future SCIENCE!)

Afterthoughts & Addenda Methodology notes... Use sieves - It's a 10 mile (16km) slog along a gravel beach, measuring rocks that range from <5mm to >25mm, in very small increments; I don't know how many sieves that would require, but it will not be practical to carry them 10 miles. Measure by volume/displacement - Probably not a bad idea in principle, but I think it would increase the time taken per sample. Also, whilst there may appear to be a ready source of water (the sea) nearby for this method, the surf zone on this beach is quite hazardous and people lose their lives there (A combination of factors: the smooth rounded pebbles provide no footing when a wave breaks; the beach slopes steeply into deep water and there are significant currents just offshore). Also I do actually want the length, width and thickness measurements as the overall oblong shape of the pebbles might have a trend in it. Bring the rocks home to measure them - Couple of problems with this; firstly it would mean that, at the end of the 10 mile walk, I would be carrying maybe 12 to 15 kilos of rocks, but also, it's illegal to remove rocks from this beach and people do get prosecuted for it. Why the cup? - We're testing the local legend that fishermen beaching here at night or in fog could tell their exact location by picking up and looking at a handful of stones. The cup is my attempt to standardise a 'fisherman's handful' - thus we get that rocks-per-handful estimation as well as the average weight and dimensions. Do it in phases - Chesil beach is only accessible on foot from the two ends, so this has to be done in one trip along the beach. Other factors I have considered but didn't mention here: There is a military firing range that crosses the middle of the beach, so I have to check that isn't in use before my trip (the firing times are published online). Also this has to take place after the end of August to minimise risk to ground-nesting birds. Discarding outliers - This might seem like it would introduce an arbitrary bias in the measurements, but it's a valid thing to do in statistics. The fishermen whose legend we are testing, would be looking at the sizes of the most common stones in their hand, not the unusual ones. EDIT: Measure by photo - just not likely to be sufficiently accurate to discern sub-millimetre measurements this way, using portable equipment, with no control over the lighting conditions.

I don't think we can overstate the importance of this vital scientific research. Its contribution to the wellbeing of this Shrimp devotee can not be quantified.

“That’s not an invader, that’s Jenny” 😂

If you're interested, over here in Ecology we use a random number generator to randomly place a quadrat within a set of coordinates, in which we count the present species (of plants and invertebrates). Using a random location eliminates any human bias in selecting a survey site. Even if we don't have access to a number generator we'll close our eyes, spin around a few times, and throw the quadrat somewhere in the area blind. For example when you picked your spot at the start of the video, you actively selected against places which included "too many" what you determined to be outliers. That's a bias based on unscientific observation, and will affect your data set.

In addition to potentially recording the sound of footsteps crunching on the different parts of the beach, you could also record the different timbres of Eva's borking when faced with a series of different sized stones. All in the name of acoustic geology of course.

😂 “thats not an invader thats Jenny” 😂

My mum used to sing “chesil beach, faraway in time”… nostalgic seeing this!

thought it said 'cheese beach' and i was terribly excited still, will watch regardless

You could get an approximate average volume for each stone by measuring the volume of the container you have the stones in, and when you have filled it with stones topping it off with fresh water. The weight difference of pot with stones and pot with stones and water can be used to calculate the volume of water (divide by the density of water) pot volume minus water volume gives total stone volume. Hopefully that makes sense, obviously there would be errors here but larger container and more stones gives a better average (larger sample size and minimise relative measuring problems) but then time constraints with couning

Man wanders the beach, picking up seeds, weighing rocks, and wandering in ww2 pillboxes. Living more than most.

You may not be making scientific breakthroughs, but these types of videos make me incredibly happy and are arguably more important for 99% of the population. ❤

I ’m soo much admire your wifes patiense…😂

I use this stretch of coast to demonstrate the globular nature of planet Earth to my students. View Portland Bill from the Cobb at Lyme Regis, then walk up the hill to the car park and look again, Portland Bill will have joined the mainland ;)

Fun seeing which plants are here in US as well as UK, and hearing what the common name is and how it pronounced. I enjoy your rambles💮

Looks like our brown beans

I found a small patch of wild strawberries recently. Utterly delicious things with an almost artificial strawberry flavour followed by a syrupy sweetness. I was heartened to see a little girl and her mum picking some too.

"Escaped Leeks" is now my new favourite phrase. It really put a smile on my face...😂😂

A detailed survey of gravel, you say? I'm up for that!

I came here initially to suggest sampling by volume and found your addendums. I then saw your mention of how this idea has been living in your mind for years now, which I think highlights such an interesting point for us as viewers. Often, you have been thinking and chewing through ideas for years while we as viewers are digesting the idea for the first time. I think many of us viewers get excited by the idea and proceed through a rush of ideas as it percolates. Of course in our excitement Its very easy as a viewer to forget that you have likely already considered many of these solutions and already deemed them unsuitable. Your ideas often capture our imaginations and you get the collective free flowing consciousness of thousands of people.

Interesting, I can tell the difference between salt and sugar by the sound it makes when I shake the container, it makes sense that different sized gravel makes different sounds when walked on