Tide pools are the most exciting little bodies of water for our family, maybe because we live in the desert and only see them during certain vacations. That’s why one of our favorite spots is the Oregon Coast. Beside visiting lighthouses and hikes on the beach, tidepooling is our favorite activity when we go there.
On our last trip to the Oregon coast, we noticed tidepools all around us.
Tidepooling means exploring, investigating these tide pools. You might not find it in the dictionary, but it is a word you hear and use on the Oregon coast.
What Are Tide Pools?
Shallow pools of seawater, created during low tide, exist in intertidal zones, the areas of the ocean shore where tides come and go. They look different at low tide and high tide. In fact, they only exist during low tide, and that’s why they are called tide pools. They are more prevalent on rocky shores where the water gets trapped in hollow pieces of rocks.
Imagine being a sea creature that gets trapped in these shallow pools. You attach yourself to the rock when the tide goes out and you can’t get back into the ocean. So you must survive in a tiny amount of water until the next tide comes out. So you’ll adapt.
Tidepool Inhabitants and their Survival Skills
Thegiant anemonelives in almost every tidepool we’ve seen on the Oregon coast. When the tide goes out, and the anemone is out of the water, it closes its tentacle, to keep them from drying out. When the water reaches it again, it opens, revealing its bright green color.
We’ve seen a few sea starsin these tide pools, always clinging to a rock. They survive years in a tide pool by clinging to the wet rock and drifting using the rows of feet underside. They can’t survive if they can’t attach to the rock and prying them off will kill them.
Purple sea urchinshang on to the rocks and over time generations of them form shallow pits they live in. These pits form their refuge form huge waves during high-tide and they form shallow tide pools during low tide.
The orange sea stars living among green sea anemones and dark purple sea urchins create a burst of color in the shallow pool.
Other creatures use mimicry to survive in these tidepools. I noticed tiny fish that looked like part of the rock. Their rapid movements gave them away for a second, but then as soon as they stopped, they seemed to become part of the rock again.
Learn About Tide Pools in the Yaquina Head Natural Area
If you want to learn about tide pools and the creatures that find their home in them, your best bet is to go to the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Known for its lighthouse, the tallest one on the coast, Yaquina Head is also a protected natural area, with tide pools to explore on its beach.
By chance, we got there during low tide, and before visiting the lighthouse or any of the other sites, we headed down to Cobble Beach. You won’t find sand on this beach, instead, you walk on smooth round rocks, reminding me of Brighton, England (it was the first place I’ve been on a pebble-beach), hence the name. They roll and are slippery when wet, so walking on this beach was difficult. We also needed to watch out for sea creatures in the wet areas, we didn’t want to step on them.
Learning Centers on the Beach
Naturalists and park rangers had interpretive centers set up where they were teaching visitors about the creatures we would see in the tide pools. They showed different examples of sea urchins, anemones, and sea stars, and talked about them to those who stopped to listen or had questions. Mainly though they tried to make sure that everyone knew how to handle sea life without injuring it.
For example, never touch the center of an open sea anemone, you might injure it. It also might shock you. Touch their little tentacles instead. When I did, I felt as if it was trying to hold on to my finger, sticking to it.
Listening to them we learned about the harsh environment and the survival skills of these animals and plants. They need to survive pounding waves, changes in salinity and temperature, and the competition for food.
Other rangers were monitoring the tide, setting up signs at the farthest points we could walk to while keeping the inhabitants of the pools safe.
Tidepooling in Yaquina Head
I stumbled on the rocks, stopping often to watch the tide pools, brimming with color, trying to recognize the creatures I saw. Tiny fishes blended with the rocks so I only noticed them when they moved. Following them was a challenge, even after I spotted them and knew where they were.
Deep purple and bright pink sea urchins stole the show with their color. The sea anemones put up their own spectacle when they open. Closed, they look like green rocks, but when they open, they resemble beautiful flowers. Pink sea stars and mussels might cling to the rocks while crabs and tiny fish move around in the shallow water.
End of the Show, Tide Pools Disappear into the Waves
The tide was coming in and the park rangers were moving the “no exploring further” signs back little by little. By high tide, they moved them and moved off the cobble beach. The naturalists moved on, too, to come back out during next low tide.
A slow and steady rain started as we walked off the beach. Though I was getting wet, I stopped to look at the rocks through the raindrops on my glasses. I heard seals close by. Without a windshield-wiper on my glasses, they looked blurry, but I saw them sitting on the rocks.
Exploring Tide Pools On the Oceanside Beach
During our latest trip, we rented a small home in Oceanside, Oregon, for a week. The difference between low tide and high tide was huge. Our stay included the days and nights around the full moon.
The beach is beautiful, with soft sand, flanked by tall rocks and a rocky shore during low tide. It is the only time we can pass on another side of a rock on the beach. During high tide, we can use a tunnel built into the rock to get to the other side, but it’s not much to do there during that time.
During low tide, however, it is the best place to see locals collect clams, and look for sea stars, urchins and other colorful and interesting creatures on the exposed rocks or in the crevices.
School Buses on the Beach
As I looked out from our window towards the beach, I noticed a school bus pulling up into the parking lot on the beach. Kids that looked like fifth-graders, filed out and made their way across the beach, to the far end where I knew the tide pools were forming. Their teacher didn’t look like Miss Frizzle, and the bust looked like an ordinary school bus, but the kids still looked like they were having fun exploring tide pools.
By the time I walked down to the beach, a few more school buses joined the first. As one group left, another one came to the shore. I wish I had a field trip searching for sea urchins in tide pools when I was a kid. They were having fun, searching for the creatures on their printed and laminated sheets, as they checked them off one by one.
Locals were walking around with buckets, collecting clams for later meals, while those of us who were visiting, were tidepooling like the kids, though without the handy checklist.
The Beach on Heceta Head Also Has Tidepools to Explore
Though we didn’t have time to explore them, since the tide was coming in, the tidepools at Heceta Head are worth stopping for. While the area is most known for its historic lighthouse, you’ll find small caves, rocks and a sandy beach where tidepools form.
They are deeper than those at Oceanside or Yaquina Head, but they are spectacular. This was the place we saw more sea stars, orange, and purple ones, next to each other than anywhere else.
Responsible Tidepooling
While tidepooling is a lot of fun for both children and adults alike, we need to be careful not to injure sea life when we do it. It could also be dangerous in some areas, due to sharp rocks, slippery terrain and the high tide coming in fast.
Be very careful not to injure sea life. Marine life in the pools is colorful and fascinating. But the creatures living there are very fragile and they die if removed. This is true for sea stars and sea urchins, who depend on being stuck to the rock for survival. Sea anemones get hurt if you even touch their center, and they will also shock you. Learn about safe tidepooling before you go out there.
Stay Safewhile exploring tide pools. It is easy to get sidetracked, and slip on the wet rocks, or cut your foot on a sharp one. Wear good walking shoes, don’t go tidepooling barefoot. Pay attention to the waves, step back when the tide comes in. Some waves can be very strong and knock you off your feet.
And keep the beaches clean. How clean the Oregon beaches we visited were, compared to others I’ve seen impressed me. Still, walking about a mile on a beach, we collected a few Ziploc bags, two plastic bottles, a soda can, and a few bottle caps.
I also noticed others, either locals or visitors, doing the same. It is an easy thing to do, since on most beaches, Oregon set up garbage cans at the beach entrance, and in State Parks, they have signs asking visitors to pick up trash they find and deposit it in the can.
Keeping their environment clean and making sure we don’t injure them helps the fascinating, colorful creatures in tide pools survive, so we and others can all enjoy watching them next time we visit.
FAQ
What are the best tidepools on the Oregon Coast?
The best tidepools on the Oregon Coast are in different State Parks; and the best tidepools are on the Northern part of the Oregon shores, between Florence and Astoria.
Cobble beach at Yaquina Head has some of the best tidepools; others include the beaches at Oceanside and those at Heceta Head.When is the best time to go tidepooling?
The best time to go tidepooling is about an hour or two before the low tide. Tide keeps going in-and-out, so this gives you maximum time before they disappear. Check the tide charts for the places you visit for reference.
What are the most common inhabitants of the tide pools you can see on the Oregeon beaches?
Sea anemones are the most common. But you’ll also see sea urchins, sea stars, and probably tiny rock fish.
Where is the best place to learn about tide pools and their inhabitants on the Oregon Coast?
On Cobble Beach at the Yaquina Head Natural Area park rangers set up learning centers during low tide, where they teach about the tide pools and answer any questions about them.
