Rocks on Worm’s Head Causeway (3)

The rocky causeway that separates the headland from the Worm’s Head on the Gower Peninsula presents a dramatic and alien landscape. Close to shore, the sharp and jagged limestone strata thrust up at angles covered with lichens. The lines of orange, yellow and black lichen demarcate distinct areas with varying exposure to wave action, each of which is suitable for colonisation by a particular group of seashore plants and animals – this is known as rocky shore zonation.