Swami’s
More than just a good place to surf.

Splash Zone/ High Tide Zone

            Life in the splash zone must survive for extended periods exposed to the air, often without the benefit of even an occasional splash or spray of seawater.  Life here must be especially capable to survive being “dried out” (or tolerate tiny pools that become increasingly salty as water evaporates in the hot summer sun).  Or they must have adaptations or habits that allow them to avoid such conditions. 

            Regular inhabitants of splash zone are crabs, especially green Striped Shore Crabs in the boulders at the base of the bluff and on the higher reefs, the Rock Louse (a relative of the garden sow bug) and occasionally various varieties of Limpets.

            The high tide zone has an abundance of Sea Anemones, with their round, flowerlike openings which close when stimulated by an object or animal (or your finger).  These openings have microscopic stingers called nematocysts that stun tiny animals, which then provide a meal for the anemone.  Your finger is not so affected by these nematocysts.

            Other prominent “fixed” inhabitants of the high tide zone are the flat, oval, segmented Chitons; black, bivalve, Mussels; stalked Gooseneck Barnacles with numerous white plates or scales; and the pale brown to white tubes of Tube-building Snails.  Among the animals that move around in this zone are the Striped Shore Crab, blue-clawed Hermit Crabs, (which inhabit a variety of mollusk shells to protect their soft abdomen) and an increasing variety of limpets.