Creatures of the Tidepool

I took all of these picture in tidepools along the beautiful rocky coasts of the Northwest, either in Oregon in Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area or Seal Rock State Park, or in California in Redwood National Park. I don’t know much about the identification of these creatures, so I’ve used common names for them instead of their specific species name.

Anemone

Keep Your Friends Close, Your Anemones Even Closer When the tide is out and they are exposed to the air, sea anemones appear as an unattractive lump of mush and pebbles. When the tide is in and they are submerged once more, the anemone opens up and extends its beautiful tentacles. Beautiful, but deadly to the little creatures that get trapped by them. Taken at Yaquina Head in Newport, Oregon. Yaquina Head is not only my favorite tidepool spot on the coast, but my favorite spot on the coast period.

Hermit Crab

Neighbors Tidepools provide a glimpse into the lives of some exotic creatures, all packed into a very tight space. Here, a hermit crab walks along an empty mussel shell towards a sea anemone, with a sea urchin buried underneath the shells.

Crabs

I’m not sure what type of crab this is that the gull has captured, but I thought it provided a nice example of how life in the tidepool doesn’t always stay in the tidepool.

Opportunity As the tide comes in and fills the tidepools with water, the little ecosystems come alive as animals come out to feed. Sometimes the larger world intrudes, however, and an opportunity for a crab to feed is also an opportunity for a gull to swoop in and snare a quick meal.

Mussels

Not Much Elbow Room It’s a good thing mussels don’t need much personal space, as they spend their lives in a dense pack attached to a large rock, such as this group exposed by low tide at Seal Rock State Park. Seal Rock is my second favorite spot on the Oregon coast, my favorite is Yaquina Head but the tidepools at each park have a different feel to them.

Tool User Birds have evolved different strategies to solve the same problem. Oystercatchers have a long thin bill dedicated to cracking open shellfish and extracting the flesh inside. Gulls have a varied diet (to put it mildly) and so have more general purpose bills. That didn't deter this gull, however, from trying for a mussel meal. It would hold the shell in its mouth, fly up high, then drop the mussel onto the agate beach to get the shell to crack open. Mussels must have a pretty tough shell as the gull never managed to crack it despite several attempts.

Starfish

Known as both starfish and sea stars, I grew up calling these starfish. Since it's my website, I'm going with starfish ;)

Ochre Starfish

	Is the Tidepool Half Full or Half Empty? The answer to the age old question depends not on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist, but on how fast you can move with the changing water levels. If you’re a starfish, it’s half empty.
	Framed I found this orange starfish in a tidepool at Yaquina Head and liked the way the dark seaweed framed the orange star.
	Brothers in Arms The receding tide left these two high and dry above the tidepool, arm in arm, their forbidden starfish love exposed.

Legs Crossed, Holding Tightly Pity the starfish that does not take advantage of the cover of high tide to relieve itself. This poor fellow clinging to a large boulder was left high-and-dry by the receding tide and could do naught but cross its legs and hold it in. Waiting for the inevitable return of the sea but tortured always by the sound of splashing water …

Sunflower Sea Star

Sea Urchin

Urchincy A group of sea urchins in a tidepool at Yaquina Head. The urchins are hunkered down in circular depressions in the rock, little homes they slowly carve out over time to keep them from being blown about by the tides. There’s not much they can do about the little pieces of driftwood that get blown on top of them though. Most urchins in Oregon’s tidepools are purple, but every once in a while you’ll find one of the rare red ones.