This is where the water is normally permanent, only the twice a year exceptionally low tides expose these zones. To live here requires a range of strategies. Many creatures move in and out with the incoming tides, some are dependent on the current such as the jellies and combs, others are self-propelled like the fish and crabs. Exposure is the biggest problem here, predatory fish like bass and mackerel will come very close inshore and take anything that cannot escape. Brittle stars wave tentacles while hiding in the sand, molluscs leave trails as they search for food and then retreat to rocks or dig under the sand. Flatfish and cuttlefish blend in with their background.
The best way to explore this habitat is to get in with a snorkel and mask, just hang around a weed rich area and eventually, the creatures will appear. One hour before and after low tide is best. Look for spider crabs migrating up shore often in huge groups, catsharks (dogfish) scanning the seabed for crabs, and blizzards of jellies in plankton-rich water or swim with shoals of sand eels as they flash silver and change direction as one unit. The plankton you will find as particles drifting is the larvae of crabs and jellies, fish, algae and others, if you can take a sample and put this under a microscope it is fascinating.
The tideline (strandline) can provide an insight into what lays below the waves, increasingly due to the floating plastic and fishing waste this can be from very distant shores. Goose barnacles are becoming frequent finds along with columbus crabs, unusual isopods form tropical waters and barnacles from the equatorial zones. The sea is constantly changing and here where it meets the land we are allowed to see not only our own marine life but the consequences of our impact on it on a global scale.
If you are on a sandy section watch out for weaver fish lying in the sand. The spine on their back holds a nasty shock for anyone who stands on them so wear something on your feet. Lots of small creatures live in the sand at the water's edge including isopods and shrimps. many of these can bite but are tiny so they are like light pinpricks. Run a net through the edge of the sea disturbing the sand and see what appears. Check out any shells rolling around, look for hermit crabs.
The best way to explore this habitat is to get in with a snorkel and mask, just hang around a weed rich area and eventually, the creatures will appear. One hour before and after low tide is best. Look for spider crabs migrating up shore often in huge groups, catsharks (dogfish) scanning the seabed for crabs, and blizzards of jellies in plankton-rich water or swim with shoals of sand eels as they flash silver and change direction as one unit. The plankton you will find as particles drifting is the larvae of crabs and jellies, fish, algae and others, if you can take a sample and put this under a microscope it is fascinating.
The tideline (strandline) can provide an insight into what lays below the waves, increasingly due to the floating plastic and fishing waste this can be from very distant shores. Goose barnacles are becoming frequent finds along with columbus crabs, unusual isopods form tropical waters and barnacles from the equatorial zones. The sea is constantly changing and here where it meets the land we are allowed to see not only our own marine life but the consequences of our impact on it on a global scale.
If you are on a sandy section watch out for weaver fish lying in the sand. The spine on their back holds a nasty shock for anyone who stands on them so wear something on your feet. Lots of small creatures live in the sand at the water's edge including isopods and shrimps. many of these can bite but are tiny so they are like light pinpricks. Run a net through the edge of the sea disturbing the sand and see what appears. Check out any shells rolling around, look for hermit crabs.