Tide pools ‘between a rock and a hard place’

Susan McCormack

CORONA DEL MAR -- Miss Manners meets Mother Nature in a brochure on tide

pool etiquette the city co-sponsored to prevent the destruction of the

delicate habitats.

The Orange County Coast Commission debuted the brochure, entitled

“Between a rock and a hard place,” at a recent Coastal Commission

meeting. The brochure is meant primarily for teachers and students and

will be sent to every school in the county.

“People are walking on tide pools and turning over rocks.” said Patti

Schooley, the county’s parks district manager. “All that is decimating

tide pools, and there is not going to be much left 10 years from now.”

The city has been attempting to find a solution to the problem of the

rapidly disappearing tide pools for about a year, since local researchers

found that visitors trampling the pools were contributing to a

significant drop in the area’s quantity and diversity of sea life. Last

November, environmentalists began pushing the city to restrict public

access to tide pools at Little Corona State Beach.

Although the city hasn’t adopted such restrictions, Mayor Dennis O’Neil

said the council has been working on finding alternative ways to

alleviate the problem, such as helping to produce the county’s brochure.

It advises that teachers schedule trips to the tide pools in advance,

warning “if you’re not scheduled, you could be turned away.”

More than 100,000 teachers and students visit the tide pools each year.

Other “marine experience” options are suggested, such as trips to

aquariums and places like Big Corona, with “wide open beach, plenty of

space for young groups.”

Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff said that the city is not trying to

discourage schools from taking trips to the tide pools, but it is trying

to encourage well-planned visits with guided tours.

“Our real problem is unannounced visits when we don’t send a person out

there to lead a tour and say look, be careful where you step,” Kiff said.

Nancy Gardner, co-founder of the local Surfrider Foundation, said the

brochure is a step in the right direction toward preserving nature.

“It’s a wonderful idea,” Gardner said. “My feeling is has the condition

[of the tide pools] improved over the last year? No ... But has it

improved in terms of awareness? Tremendously.”

The brochure is not only helpful to children, it lists a few standard

rules that can help everyone from loving tide pools “to death”: never

remove anything from the tide pools, never pick up the animals and take

care not to step on the plants or animals.