PEGWELL BAY NATURAL HISTORY.

By Richard Kinzler.

Kent’s Rare Chalk Habitat.

Coastal chalk exposures are rare in Europe with the greatest segment and many of the best examples of chalk habitats located on the coast of England.
The erosion of chalk on the coast has resulted in the formation of vertical cliffs and gently sloping inter-tidal platforms with a variety of micro-habitats of biological importance. If you walk along the chalk cliffs and sea caves at Pegwell Bay you can see the various algal communities unique to this soft rock type such as Blackish, Brownish or Orange bands of algae.
68% of the UK’s chalk reefs are found in the South East and the 23km of coastal chalk at Thanet represents 12% of the European total of coastal chalk.