What’s In the Tidepools? – June 2021
As we move away from the traditional tide pool season that runs from approximately October through May, we will include more photos of other flora and fauna throughout the park.
This time of year Spiny lobster molts are one of the few things that we can share with visitors to give them a tide pool interpretive experience. Most of our best tides occur in the winter months. They still occur in the summer, typically the busier time of year, but just at night.
This is a blooming “Live Forever” plant (Dudleya sp.) along the east side of the road near the Entrane Station. This succulent is native to California’s coastal cliffs, and a number of the species are considered to be endangered.
Ranger Kate rescues a surfboard after a surfer lost control of his board.
New native plants have been planted along the Coastal Trail to help restore the trail. Thank you to everyone who helped with this!
Softball sized blobs were spotted on the ocean surface. Ranger Lauren thinks they might be the By the Wind Sailor jelly fish. Earlier this spring, many visitors and TPERPers alike spotted the 3-4 inch specimens washing up (dead) in the tidepools.
TPERP Katrina thought it would be fun to post a side-by-side picture of the ‘Lady Fingers’ (Dudleya edulis) succulent in contrast to the ‘Dead Man’s Fingers’ algae. Lady Fingers can be found along the Coast Trail in the coastal sage scrub, as opposed to Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile) which are found in the low and middle intertidal zones.
One thing we can say is, there is less trash in the tidepools today than last week. Last Sunday there was an early morning tidepool cleanup during a low tide. Volunteers and staff participated in the event. Over 350 pounds of trash and debris was removed from the tidepools! Thank you to everyone who helped restore and protect the precious resource.
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