Baked bean sea squirt among weird marine life found in UK's 'blue belt' zones

Canny conservationists are celebrating the revival of the baked bean sea squirt and a raft of other oddly named sea creatures.

The fried egg sea anemone has had a cracking return, along with the hot cross bun jelly fish, prawn cracker sponge, curled octopus and undulate ray.

A whole host of creatures which were dwindling have made a comeback in 91 marine conservation zones around the UK – called “blue belts”.

The zones cover 85,000sq miles, from the Northumberland coast to the Isles of Scilly, and form vital sites for nursing underwater habitats back to life.

The undulate ray sweeps the bottom of the ocean near the UK (Peter Tinsley/Dorset Wildlife Trust)

Banned activities in the blue belts include trawling, scallop dredging and other commercial fishing – along with wave or wind power development, flood defences and naval manoeuvres.

Thousands of volunteers help gather information and monitor marine protected areas for the Wildlife Trusts, which look after 2,300 nature reserves.

Fried egg sea anemones are also making a comeback (Chris Wood)

The number of blue belts has risen by 41 in the past month.

The creatures get their weird names because they literally resemble baked beans or fried eggs, because of their comical shapes or, in the case of the undulate ray, the way it rolls its body through the water.

The rare short-snouted seahorse is another creature on the up after fishermen in Dorset reported sightings.

The short-snouted seahorse can often be seen bobbing along in a blue belt (Paul Naylor)

Nudibranch, also known as solar-powered sea slugs for their ability to convert the sun’s energy into sugars and other nutrients, have also made a comeback.

Joan Edwards, director of Living Seas for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “It’s fantastic news that we now have 91 Marine Conservation Zones.

“They will form a vital series of special under-sea places which can be nursed back to health.

Scientists playfully named this creature the prawn cracker sponge (Claire Goodwin)

“Sometimes people find it hard to believe we have magical animals like seahorses and sea squirts beneath the waves off our beautiful coastline.

“My favourite is the prawn cracker sponge.

“We all need to make sure these amazing creatures and the places where they live are protected from damaging activities, such as beam-trawling or dredging for scallops and langoustines, because this kind of fishing really harms our fragile marine wildlife.”