Marine Living

The intertidal zone is the area where land and sea meet. This habitat is covered with water at high tide, and exposed to air at low tide. The land in this zone can be rocky, sandy or covered in mudflats.

The intertidal zone is divided into several zones, starting near dry land with the splash zone, an area that is usually dry, and moving down to the littoral zone, which is usually underwater. Within the intertidal zone, you’ll find tide pools, puddles left in the rocks as water recedes when the tide goes out.

The intertidal is home to many species of animals and plants. Many of the animals are invertebrates (animals without a spine), which comprise a wide group of organisms.

Some examples of invertebrates found in tide pools are crabs, urchins, sea stars, sea anemones, barnacles, snails, mussels and limpets. The intertidal is also home to marine vertebrates, some of whom prey on intertidal animals, such as fish, gulls and seals.

View the original article here