Once, I visited "my" tide pool about two hours after high tide and discovered that it was necessary to wade through waist-high water in order to reach the site. I chose a one-meter-by-one-meter area to observe since it would not be feasible to observe the entire tide pool. Fortunately, there is a large rock outcropping that allows me to sit and observe without fighting the tug of the tide. Since it is located nearer the actual breaker line, it has an even more limited viewing period, and spends a great deal of time in the splash zone, with swells flooding the area around the pool more frequently.
The tidal pool that I chose for this project has always appealed to me, primarily because it is a bit further out than some of the other areas. Thus, visitors determined to view the pools must check up on the tides.
#Sea world tidal pools full#
Fortunately, nature has provided the tide pools with a sort of buffer from curious visitors, since the pools at Laguna Beach are only truly visible for about an hour and a half twice a day, at full low tide. Most tourists are respectful of nature and visit the pools with caution-caution that probably stems as much from a fear of falling from the rocky shoreline into the frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean as from a spirit of conservation. Heisler Park, right near Main Beach in the heart of Laguna Beach, is an ideal spot for observing tide pools despite the fact that it is in the most heavily visited tourist area of the city. Strict environmental laws, and a raised level of consciousness provided by marine specialists and park rangers, have led to a flourishing intertidal zone once again.Īs an amateur marine biologist with a special interest in tide pools, I have spent countless hours watching the ebb and flow of life in the pools in Laguna Beach, California, near my home. At one time, the tide pools were in danger of becoming extinct, primarily due to over-harvesting of animals by over-enthusiastic tourists. Full of tide pools, visible only for that brief period of time between full low tide and perhaps a half hour before and after low tide, the intertidal zone has its own unique creatures, both flora and fauna. Since second grade, I have been fascinated by the zone between land and water, the area commonly known as the intertidal zone.
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