CRYSTAL COVE STATE PARK
Classroom worksheet

Tidepool Educational Field Trip Information

 

Upon your arrival at the Park, your group will be met by a Park interpretive guide.

The guide will welcome the group and briefly explain some basic Park rules and regulations.

Teachers, chaperones and aids will be responsible for the class decorum, organization and discipline.

The Park interpretive guide will lead the students on a short hike down to the beach and through the tidepools.  The guide will engage the students in discussions about tidepools and the marine life environment by introducing questions and answers on various topics.

The italicized words are vocabulary words and are typical topics of discussion that will be introduced during the field trip.  Classes that are familiar with these words, before the day of the field trip, obtain a valuable learning experience from the event.

Theme: Tidepools are an ecosystem that resemble a miniature world filled with an

             enormous amount of life.

Adaptations of marine life in the intertidal habitat.

 

Sea Urchin

The sea urchin is a slow moving animal with an obvious appearance.  It is covered with     hundreds of sharp spines that serve as an adaptation to discourage many potential predators.  As an herbivore, the sea urchin has adapted to rocky tidepools by developing five very sharp, hard teeth to scrape minute algae plants off the rocks.  It, also, uses its hard teeth to grind away the rocks and burrow a home in the rock.  It uses the burrowed home along with its long suction tube feet and spines to protect itself when the waves come.

Sea Star

Sea stars are often found in the harshest intertidal environment, among the rocks, ocean currents, pounding waves and tidal surge.  They have hundreds of tiny suction tube feet on the under side of each arm to help them adapt by holding on to the rocks against these great forces.  These forces are so great, and a sea star will cling so tightly, that one or more arms may be torn from its body.  Sea stars can regenerate new arms and body parts when they are lost in an accident.  Most sea stars are carnivores and are very slow moving.  They have adapted by feeding on slow moving shellfish by opening the shells with their strong suction cup feet and inserting their stomachs between the shells to digest the animal.

Sea Anemone

The sea anemone adapts to its tidepool environment by disguising itself as a harmless flower or plant, similar in color and appearance to other marine plants.  Actually, the sea anemone is a predatory, carnivorous animal.  The sea anemone is not a very mobile animal, which is a problem for a predatory animal.  The sea anemone adapts by developing an attractive crown of tentacles with microscopic barbs that can inject a passing fish or shrimp with a paralyzing toxin.  It then uses its tentacles to drag its paralyzed prey into its mouth without moving from its position.  The constant surging tides, crashing waves, sun and wind create a harsh environment for tidepool creatures.  The sea anemone adapts by opening its tentacles when it is covered with water and closing its tentacles and sucking small pieces if seashells to its outside tissue, to protect it from dehydration and desiccation, when the water empties from the tidepool. 

Sea Hare

The sea hare is actually a large snail that has a very thin shell under its skin. It is a very fragile creature but has adapted to the tidepools by moving slowly and with subtle camouflage coloring that resembles a tidepool rock.  Because the sea hare has slow and fragile characteristics, it has adapted to its environment by developing a defense mechanism similar to an octopus.  It can excrete purple ink that may confuse, paralyze or be offensive to a predator.  As this camouflaged herbivore slowly grazes the rocks for algae, it can shrivel up its soft flexible body and tuck itself into small rocky crevices for protection when the tide recedes or the waves are pounding.

 

Octopus

Octopi are carnivores and they eat a variety of crabs, shellfish and small swimming fish.  Octopi are not strong swimmers so it is difficult for them to catch fast moving fish.  Therefore, they have adapted to this physical limitation by developing a mouth with a sharp beak, similar to the beak of a parrot.  This beak allows them to bore a hole into the hard shells of slower moving animals.  Another adaptation is their exceptional camouflage capabilities for hunting prey and evading predators.  They can change their shape and color patterns within seconds.  They can, also, emit clouds of black ink to confuse and dull the senses of other sea creatures.

Mussel

Mussels connect themselves to a rock or other substrate and cannot move or hunt for food.  They are bivalve filter feeders of microscopic plankton and other microorganisms that are suspended in the seawater.  In order to protect themselves from hungry predators, mussels live in large groups called “mussel beds” and during low tide close their shells tightly, with water inside, to protect their soft bodies from drying out.

Limpet

Most limpets have hard conical shells that help them to adapt to the rocky intertidal environment.  They clamp themselves so tightly to large, stationary rocks that it is very difficult to pry them loose without breaking their shell and killing them.  By clamping down during low tide, they are able to prevent dehydration and desiccation and can live for several days without water.  These herbivores graze on the large rocks for algae.

Hermit Crab

Hermit crabs are different than most crabs because they have a soft body and no shell of their own.  They adapt to this physical disadvantage by using the abandoned shells of sea snails to protect their soft bodies from predators and the harsh tidepool environment.

As scavengers, they will feed on bits and pieces of other creatures and plants including any of their own kind that are too slow in getting into a new snail shell.

Sculpin

Unlike many fish, the tidepool sculpin can stop swimming and rest on the rocky, sandy bottom.  When they are disturbed however, they quickly dart away.  They are tiny 3-5” fishes who are well camouflaged and can change their mottled coloring to match the background.

Coralline Algae

This small, low-growing marine plant lives close to the wet rocks which helps it to adapt to the rocky tidepool environment.  The plant cells of this algae secrete a hard covering, resembling coral, and helps protect it from pounding waves, burning sun and desiccation.

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