The Torquay Museum in Torquay, Devon, is hosting a public talk on Tuesday, 24 March 2026, to showcase the most exciting wildlife sightings from across the region over the past year. Naturalist John Walters will lead the session, which focuses on unusual natural events and sightings recorded across the South West during 2025.
The presentation will cover several rare local phenomena, including the appearance of hair ice. This is a rare ice formation that looks like thin strands of candy floss and grows on rotting wood due to a specific fungus during freezing weather. Walters will also discuss the Dark Giant Horsefly and the rise in humpback whale sightings near Cornwall, which the Cornwall Wildlife Trust has described as a significant increase in recent years.
This event is part of a larger series of 28 talks organised for the spring season by the Torquay Museum Society. The society was founded in 1844 and currently operates as a charity with around 250 members who meet to discuss the history and natural environment of the local area.
The talk will take place in the Pengelly Hall lecture theatre on Babbacombe Road, starting at 10:45 AM. Members of the public can attend for a fee of £5, while museum society members can enter for free. Tea and coffee will be served from 10 AM before the presentation begins.
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