The ocean’s intertidal zone…the portion of shoreline that is exposed between high tides and low tides…is fascinating to me.

I’d probably be even more fascinated with the area near shore that is always under water, but it’s off-limits to my camera….

But really, this intertidal zone is amazing, because not only do its denizens need to live with the nearly constant pounding of waves, they have to live under water for hours at a time, followed by living out of the water for hours at a time.

Salt water, at that. You know how damaging salt is to your lawn and yard, but these guys live in it.

In the photo below, the area in the foreground nearly covered in white foam is bare between waves. But you can also see on the large rock ahead and to the right a dark swath about three feet tall that is wet from recent water, and another swath above it with some yellowish growths on it. Both of those areas are underwater at high tide.

This sweet little anemone was just to the left in the picture above, and getting dashed with every wave. Just after I took this picture, a wave dumped sand and small pebbles on top of it, which almost folded it in half! The tide was coming in, so I was unable to get a further picture.

What a life!