Tide Pools at Point Loma

On the western side of Point Loma lies a rocky intertidal zone, a window into the ocean ecosystem. During low tides, pools form along the shore in rocky depressions.

 Tide pools can be huge, deep holes nearer the ocean. These pools are below the low tide line and are filled with ocean water most of the time.

 Some tide pools are small,shallow puddles found high up on the beach. These pools are above the low tide line and are exposed to air much of the day. This poses a special challenge to the organisms living there. They have to survive in both wet and dry conditions. Animals often hide under cool damp rocks and moist seaweed so their bodies do not dry out before the tide comes back in.  During a big rainfall, the pools may  fill with fresh water, a sharp contrast to the usual salt water environment. 

 These are park rangers. Rangers and volunteers monitor the tide pools. The tall ranger on the right is from Helen, GA...our home state. She said the boats in the pic on the right were whale watching boats. A whale had been spotted, but we missed it.

The cliffs are quite pretty too and make for interesting backdrops. There were shells embeddied into the rocks there.

Low tide was at 4:00 PM when we went. It was a beautiful day at the ocean. I love the exploring and Joe loved sitting and watching. I will say, the rocks were way slippery. I got stuck at on spot and had to take a minute to figure out how to get out....right side up.

From here we headed to Sunset Cliffs... a short 4 mile ride. It was perfect timing as sunset was at 5:44 pm.  That will be the next post.

Thank you for visiting...