Lunch time! White Heron catch a fish at La Jolla tide pools.

White Heron catch a fish at La Jolla tide pools
Dike Rock Tide Pools
Location: Base of Scripps Pier
La Jolla, California
Another favorite of Biology students, Dike Rock Tide Pools is a rocky area just to the north of Scripps Pier in La Jolla. The name of this beach refers to a volcanic bench of rock that has extruded through a large gap in the sedimentary rocks and runs perpendicular to the beach.

To reach Dike Rock Tide Pool, you must walk a ways along the sandy beach from La Jolla Shores, and then walk over a rocky area until you reach the dike, which is located on a slight point. The best tide pools are over the dike to the north side. Here you may have a good chance of spotting a star fish or an octopus on a good minus tide.

Dike Rock Tide Pool is located on UCSD property and is part of the La Jolla Underwater Park marine reserve.

Tide pools are rocky pools by oceans that are filled with seawater. Many of these pools exist as separate entities only at low tide.
Tide pools are habitats of uniquely adaptable animals that have engaged the special attention of naturalists and marine biologists, as well as philosophical essayists: John Steinbeck wrote in The Log from the Sea of Cortez, "It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.

Tidal pools exist in the intertidal zones. These zones receives spray from wave action during high tides and storms. At other times the rocks experience other extreme conditions, baking in the sun or exposed to cold winds. Few organisms can survive such harsh conditions. Lichens and barnacles live in this region.[1] In this zone, different barnacle species live at very tightly constrained elevations. Tidal conditions precisely determine the exact height of an assemblage relative to sea level.
The intertidal zone is periodically exposed to sun and wind, so it desiccates barnacles which need to be well adapted to water loss. Their calcite shells are impermeable, and they possess two plates which they slide across their mouth opening when not feeding. These plates also protect against predation.[verification needed]
High tide zone
The high tide zone is flooded during each high tide. Organisms must survive wave action, currents, and exposure to the sun. This zone is inhabited by sea anemones, seastars, chitons, crabs, green algae, and mussels. Marine algae provide shelter for nudibranchs and hermit crabs. The same waves and currents that make the life in the high tide zone so difficult bring food to filter feeders and other intertidal animals.

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Pets & Animals