What's in a tide pool?

Inside there is an indoor tidal pool with many creatures such as sand sharks, starfish, anemones, sea urchins and a wide variety of fish. Salt water circulates through the tide pool to give the effect of waves and also to move small pieces of food around the tide pool.

How do tide pools change?

Tidal pools are small pockets of water that form during the tidal cycles. Each day, the gravitational pull of the sun and moon causes changes in sea level called tides.

Why is a tidal pool a unique habitat?

Benefits of Living in a Tide Pool Some animals live their entire lives in a tide pool because tide pools are full of life. Many of the animals are invertebrates, but there are also marine algae, which provide food and shelter, plankton in the water column, and fresh nutrients regularly delivered by the tides.

How deep is a tide pool?

Although the amount of water, the size of the low-lying area, and the depth of the low-lying area can vary from a few inches to a few feet deep, and the size can be as small as a backyard pool or as large as several city blocks, most tidal pools are only a few centimeters deep and less than a block long.

Where does the water of a tidal basin come from?

Tide pools are formed when the tides of the ocean or sea move from the rocky coastal areas, leaving crevices and holes with seawater trapped in them. The remaining water when the tide moves out forms a series of shallow or deep pools along the coastal rock crevices.

What happens to the water when the tide goes out?

The remaining water when the tide moves out forms a series of shallow or deep pools along the coastal rock crevices. When sea or ocean water rises below high tide, the tidal basins are refilled again, in what is a continuous cycle.

Some may think that tide pools are simply puddles along the coast. This is a huge understatement! Just as our oceans are divided into different depth zones, the same is true of tide pools. Three main zones are present in all intertidal basins – the splash zone, intertidal zone and subtidal zone.

Below the splash zone is the intertidal zone, which has more marine life. The intertidal zone has high, medium and low tidal zones created by the varying strength of the tides daily. The high tide zone below the splash zone is only covered by water during the highest tide.