Lihou Island in the distance

We went to the early service at 9.30 am this morning and afterwards we went up to the headland overlooking Lihou Island with a coffee. Lihou is a small island situated just off the west coast of Guernsey and accessed by a causeway at low tide for about two weeks every month. Today was a very low tide so access was good. Lihou island has had a fascinating and varied history as well as having interesting wildlife, both above and below the high water mark.
As a result of the low tide today was also an ormering tide. There were lots of folk in their welly boots and wading gear ready to collect a feast (hopefully)! Ormers are considered a quintessential delicacy in the Channel Island of Guernsey, Guernsey ormers are a type of shellfish, a gastropod mollusk that's been traditionally collected on the island for centuries. This native shellfish (also known as European abalone) is reminiscent of a flattened Pacific abalone (sea snail) but smaller in size. The Ormers cling to the rocks and have to be prized off with a hook. They have to be a certain size otherwise you could be fined.

Its flesh is succulent and has a unique, mild, and slightly meat-like, but still distinctively molluscan flavor. A decline in ormer numbers has led to a strictly controlled harvesting of the island's delicacy, limiting the ormering season to only 24 days in a year between January and April, on full and new moon.

This restriction has made ormer cravings escalate even more since the local seafood delicacy is available only when in season. After they've been tenderized by beating, ormers can be savored in many different ways - stewed, rolled in flour and fried till crispy, dressed, or pickled - but the most traditional way to consume them is as a part of Guernsey's signature ormer casserole. I have to say that hubby loves them but I don’t!