Go to the tide pool in California

A wave breaks on a rock encrusted with numerous white volcano-shaped shells, and from these shells articulated legs emerge and sweep up food particles from the seawater. On shore, a crab in a small pond plucks off some of these volcano-shaped barnacles and pops them into its mouth. The crystalline surface of the pool ripples when a wave washes over it. Also in that pool, it looks like someone left the sole of their shoe in the water, but that’s a chiton. The five-arm starfish, also known as starfish, is also often there, crawling on its dozens or hundreds of tube feet. “Starfish” is now considered the correct name for this animal, yes, it is star-shaped, but technically it is not a fish.

The tide is rising. And for the many organisms exposed to the dry wind and sun, each advance of the waves means that relief is ever closer. Some, like barnacles and anemones, are stuck in place, while others, like starfish, sea urchins, and chitons, move very slowly, while others, like the sculpin, a small fish, they move quickly in the blink of an eye.

Along the California coast, where the shoreline is rocky, you can go into the tide, looking for plants and animals that live between high and low tide, the intertidal zone. Curiosity and keen eyesight are the most important tools for this activity, and a field guide can add to the enjoyment. A good beginner’s guide is “Pacific Intertidal Life” by Ron Russo and Pam Olhausen. Ron Russo also wrote a guide called “Fishes of the Pacific Coast” that might be helpful in identifying the smaller fish he might find in a tide pool. If you’re only interested in shells, then “A Field Guide to Shells of the Pacific Coast and Hawaii” by Percy A. Morris may be the book for you. A good reference book with lots of pictures is “Intertidal Invertebrate of California” by Morris, Abbott and Haderlie. Finally, if you’re also interested in observing other types of wildlife, consider the “Complete Field Guide to the Wildlife of North America (Western Edition)” published by Harper and Row. And if you have a smartphone, you can download a tide pool app called “California Tidepools” to use as a guide. Just make sure you don’t get your phone wet.

When planning a tide trip, first check tide tables, available at boating and dive stores, online, and as a smartphone app, and find out when the lowest tides will occur. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website lists tide tables for the United States.

California’s two low tides per day are not the same. The lowest tides during the summer are usually very early in the morning. On the other hand, the lowest tides in autumn and winter tend to be in the afternoon or at night. In any case, try to get to a rocky spot well before the predicted low tide, like 1 ½ to 2 hours before, so the tide is still going out when you get there, exposing more area to explore and giving yourself more time to explore. With so many people using smartphones, you can set alarms on your device to let you know when it’s time to hit the pool and when it’s time to leave, to help ensure your safety. And with that smartphone in hand, you have a convenient way to get pictures of the plants and animals you find so you can identify them later.

The WikiHow website has an excellent article on how to use tide tables. One thing to note about the tide chart is that the zero indicates the average low tide, not the sea level. You can see low tides listed with a positive number, which simply means that the current low tide is not as low as average, while negative low tides are lower than average. In this system, high tides are always positive numbers. A low tide shown as zero is right on average for the area the tide chart refers to. Negative low tides are especially good for viewing tide pools because there will be more exposed surface area to explore. Tide pools that are not normally accessible may also be available.

With today’s sports/action camcorders, which come in their own waterproof case, you can use a camcorder on the end of a selfie stick to record video of elusive critters in the pool for examination later . These cameras can have different degrees of wide-angle recording, so you’ll want to lower the angle as much as your action camera allows to make objects appear closer.

Seven tips will help you get the most out of tide pools:

1. Rocks in the intertidal zone can be slippery, especially when covered in algae. Watch your steps.
2. The water in the waves and in the channels will be cold, so it may be worth buying neoprene shoes and gloves to protect your feet and hands from the cold. Neoprene can also protect you from sharp rocks and sea urchin spines.
3. Every once in a while, the ocean kicks up an unusually large wave that could sweep you away. Watch for these “rogue” waves.
4. Don’t let the incoming tide block your outflow, such as when the shoreline has headlands that form cliffs on either side.
5. Treat all life with respect. Many good tidal accumulation areas are found on state beaches, where intertidal organisms are protected by law. Beyond that, remember that these critters are not visitors like you, they live here. Searching for them under rocks is fine, as long as you replace those rocks as you found them.
6. If you are trying to see fish swimming in a tide pool instead of hiding, try to approach the pool in a way that your shadow doesn’t fall on the pool and scare the fish away. You can also try approaching from a crouch instead of standing up straight.
7. Although names are important, don’t get hung up on them. As one biologist wrote: “Names… hold such a satisfying magic that we often delude ourselves into thinking that to label something correctly is to know all about it. ‘That’s Arbacia, a sea urchin!’ we say, and move on, satisfied that we have dealt with the beast properly and now understand his niche in the cosmos.”

Let go of your curiosity and see each “beast” for the wonder it is. If you go often enough, you will find that these animals become familiar to you and each trip will be like visiting old friends.

According to the California Beaches website, the best places to see the tide pools are:

Southeastern California:

Cabrillo and La Jolla National Monument, San Diego County; Little Crown of the Sea, Orange County; Abalone Cove and Leo Carrillo, Los Angeles County;

Central California:

Montaña de Oro, North Point Beach and Shell Beach, San Luis Obispo County; Asilomar, Moss Landing, Natural Bridges, and Point Lobos, Monterey County; Half Moon Bay and Moss Beach, San Mateo County;

Northern California:

Agate County Park, Marin County; Sonoma Coast State Beach, Salt Point State Park, Fort Ross State Historic Park, Sonoma County; Russian Gulch State Park and MacKerricher State Park, Mendocino County; Patrick’s Point State Park, Humboldt County, and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Del Norte County.

Learning to read a tide chart is well explained in a WikiHow article.

This website dedicated to California beaches has information on places to go for the surf: http://www.californiabeaches.com

The California State Parks system has a website for teachers who might be taking classes on tide pool tours: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24075