What is a Tide Pool?

The ocean water is always moving and so are the things that live there. The tide is how the ocean water moves and everyday beaches are covered with more or less water. Tide pools are little pools of salt water that you can see when the ocean tide goes out. They are covered with water when the tide is high and then when the tide gets low, they are not.

Many different things with really interesting adaptations live in the tide pools. They have to be able to live when the water is covering them and also when the tide goes out and they are in direct sunlight. In some places, tide pools are exposed to very cold winds or really big waves. I have explored tide pools with my family and also learned about the different things that live in them at SeaWorld. Tide pools are a really great way for us to learn about the ocean and animals.

The animals and plants that live in tide pools are different depending on where they are in the world. Some tide pools are very colorful and have many different things living in them.

Seaweed and algae is usually in tide pools with invertebrates. Those are animals without a spine like starfish, jelly fish and sea worms. Sea anemones are really pretty and make the tide pools bright and colorful. Other animals like octopus and eels might be in tide pools too. The really neat thing about visiting tide pools is that the pools are always different.

I like to go to Dana Point in California and visit the tide pools with my family. When I was five years old, we went on an interactive tide pool hike with a guide from the Ocean Institute. I learned how important it is to keep yourself and the plants and animals safe while exploring. It’s really neat to see the tide high too because it looks very different than when it did while we were walking around looking at the tide pools.

At SeaWorld, you can learn about different plants and animals found in tide pools. I like the urchins and sea hares. You can touch them in the Aquaria Touch Pool. There are other animals you can touch there too like anemones.

Pollution is very harmful to the plants and animals that live in the tide pools. Always throw trash away so it doesn’t end up near the ocean. It’s really important not to take anything away from tide pools because they belong there and works together with other plants and animals. It’s also against the law to take anything from a tide pool without a special permit. Barnacles sometimes look like hard seashells, but really are living. Other shells sometimes have something living in them in tide pools. Always put everything you touch exactly back how you found it to keep the animals safe. There is so much for us to learn from tide pools and the plants and animals that live there!