Tidepooling

We just started offering a tidepooling tour to our guests. If you're not from a tidepool area, this word probably doesn't mean a whole lot, so we thought we should give our friends a little more information on tidepooling.

Tidepooling is an outdoor activity which involves visiting the rocky intertidal zone along the coastline. The intertidal zone is the area between the mean high tide and mean low water line. It is the home to a vast number of species that create a balanced and very diverse marine ecosystem that can be closely observed and enjoyed by humans. When people go tidepooling, they explore the area, looking at the organisms they find and often photographing them.
Rocky coastlines create the conditions for tidepooling, with depressions in the rock forming pools which hold seawater after the ocean recedes, allowing animals to survive until the rising tide floods the area again. Each of these pools can form a microcosm of life, hosting incredibly diverse creatures and seaweed. A number of interesting creatures can be found, including limpets, mussels, young crustaceans like crabs, sea anemones, starfish, barnacles, urchins, sea cucumbers, and chitons can be found in tidepools.

Here are some of our local tidepool areas:
Crescent Bay
Shaw's Cove
Picnic Beach (Heisler Park Reserve)
RockPile (Heisler Park Reserve)
Bird Rock (Heisler Park Reserve)
Moss Point
Treasure Island

If you are interested in setting up a tidepool tour, our Activities Coordinator would love to assist you!
Jill Morgan, jmorgan@jdvhotels.com; 949.281.5705.

Tidepools are fragile ecosystems that take many years to recover. Please do not take any living or non-living items from the tidepools. Be cautious of where and what you step on while on the rocks. Tidepoolers should never try to pry organisms off the rocks, as this can hurt or kill them, and they should watch their step to avoid crushing the animals which call the intertidal zone home.