![]() Sea anemones feed on things like sea worms and small crustaceans. If you touch an anemone, it will close its "petals" up tight. But it's not a flower it's a living animal. It looks like a flower with petals attached to a short stalk. Look for a small blob attached to the rock just below the surface of the water. A sea anemone, for example, is easy to miss. You have to be pretty observant to notice everything in a tide pool. Their bodies are equipped with filters that strain out tiny microorganisms in the water. Barnacles eat by swishing food into their mouths with their feet. But when the water covers them, it's feeding time. When barnacles are exposed at low tide, they shut themselves up tight. Alan is sure to see lots of barnacles in Maine.īarnacles attach themselves to rocks, dock pilings, old shells and the bottoms of boats. They hold enough water inside to stay moist, even if they're completely exposed to the sun. Barnacles, for example, can shut themselves up tight when the water level falls. And they're pretty easy for predators to catch, since they can't swim away.īut intertidal creatures are well-adapted to these conditions. The water can get pretty hot if the pool isn't a deep one a sudden rainstorm can dilute the saltwater that the creatures need to live in. The bad news: twice a day the tide goes out, leaving the pool exposed to the sun. First the good news: The tide brings in a fresh supply of food twice a day. Life in a tidal pool has advantages and disadvantages. When he gets to Maine, Alan plans to put on a pair of old sneakers, take a magnifying glass for a close look at any creatures he finds and get to work on exploring the intertidal zone right away. This zone has abundant life in it, so there's lots for a beachcomber to see. The part of the shoreline that is sometimes covered and sometimes uncovered by the tide is called the intertidal zone. He'll see snails, barnacles, tiny minnows, a crab or two, maybe even a sea anemone. In them, he'll spot seaweed of many shapes and colors. These tidal pools are like natural aquariums. He'll be able to observe them in pools of water left behind in the rocks when the tide goes out. In Maine, Alan will be able to see a lot of sea creatures along the shoreline. When he lifts it up, he sometimes spots little creatures skittering around. He likes to rummage around in the seaweed. In Delaware, Alan enjoys looking for shells, crabs and sand dollars (he's never found a whole sand dollar, but he keeps hoping.) He looks along the line left behind by high tide. The place where Alan and his family are going is called Stones Point, so you can probably guess that there's not much of a beach there. In Maine, much of the coast is rocky and rugged - although there are sandy beaches, too. In Delaware, the coast consists of a long stretch of sandy, flat beach. When Alan gets to Maine, he'll find out that the coastline there is different from the Delaware beaches. ![]() But this summer they're going all the way to Maine. Alan and his family usually go to Rehoboth, Del. During August, the last month of summer vacation, lots of families head for the shore.
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