horizontal photo of a beadlet anemone actinia equina in a rock pool on the Scottish coast
a photo showing the contents of a tidal rock pool on the north west coast of scotland with snails, stones, shells and a beadlet sea anemone with its tentacles out hoping to catch passing prey. Tide pools (also tidal pools or rock pools) are rocky pools by oceans that are filled with seawater. Tide pools can either be small and shallow or large and deep. The small ones are usually found far back on the shore and the large ones are found nearer to the ocean. Tide pools are formed as a high tide comes in over a rocky shore. Water fills depressions in the ground, which turn into isolated pools as the tide retreats. This process, repeated twice a day, replenishes the seawater in what otherwise might be a stagnant pool. The area that is covered by high tide and exposed by low tide is called the intertidal zone, or foreshore. This area is often further divided into different zones based on the life forms that live there. Organisms that have made tidepools their home must be well adapted to adjust to the drastic changes in environment that come with the changing of tides each day. Organisms living in this environment must have adaptions for both wet and dry conditions. Hazards include being smashed or carried away by rough waves. Typical inhabitants include sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, limpets, mussels, sea stars, snails, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and whelks. The tides bring fresh oxygen and food to the pools twice a day. Between tides, some of the smaller pools become warm and begin to dry up. In order to survive, the animals hide under rocks and seaweed. Sessile creatures such as the barnacles can seal themselves off or retract their appendages, the better to conserve water while exposed to air. Some deeper pools will not dry out completely between tides, and can even harbor small fish. It should be noted that disturbing the animals in a tide pool can be hazardous to them. Even moving seaweed can expose small creatures underneath that can die i
Size: 5067px × 3374px
Photo credit: © Michael Sayles / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: actinia, anemone, anenome, beadlet, biology, coast, equina, life, littoral, marine, pool, predator, red, rock, rockpool, scotland, sea, seashell, shell, shore, snail, tentacle, tentacles
