Life in the tide pool

Lauren Vane

On nearly every flight arriving at John Wayne Airport there is always

a certain passenger onboard. He or she is the squirrelly 9-year-old

who has been running around the cabin for the duration of the flight

babbling nonstop about Mickey Mouse and Splash Mountain. Many

sleepless nights and one long flight have amounted to this moment in

every child’s life: It’s time to go to Disneyland.

While amusement parks like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm bring

herds of tourists to the area each year, Orange County is also home

to hundreds of natural attractions that scatter the coastline from

Newport Beach to Dana Point: the tide pools.

According to tide pool experts in Newport and Laguna Beach, the

tide pools get millions of visitors each year. And unlike area

amusement parks, there’s no pricey admission fee, and all you need to

bring is curiosity and a pair of rubber-soled shoes.

Orange County’s tide pools begin in Corona del Mar and extend

south to Dana Point’s Doheny State Beach. Two of the most popular

tide pooling sites -- and historically, the most frequented -- are

Corona del Mar’s Little Corona and Laguna’s Heisler Park.

The Little Corona tide pools can be accessed by turning onto Poppy

Avenue off Pacific Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. A path leads down

to the beach where Poppy meets Ocean Boulevard.

After walking down the gradual incline, toes hit the sand, and the

tide pools appear like beauty marks at the water’s edge. At a low

tide, each pool is a mini-ecosystem,offering visitors a window to

life beneath the sea.

The grooved rock formations have been cut and shaped by the waves;

every dip and cavern is filled with a piece of the ocean. Upon taking

a closer look, it appears the rocks are moving. Shore crabs are

everywhere, feeding themselves and filling the air with a soft

clicking noise that mimics the fizzle of Pop Rocks candy.

On a weekday morning nearing the end of the school year, the rocks

were crawling with almost as many school children as there were shore

crabs.

Tide pool rangers from the city of Newport Beach lead tours such

as this one throughout the school year. Little Corona is a

marine-life refuge and a no-take zone, meaning that nothing but trash

can be picked up or removed from the beach. The rangers educate

children and the public about the importance of the tide pool

ecosystem.

“This is like a marine nursery,” said Newport Beach tide pool

ranger Sam Rodriguez.

All kinds of marine life are born and raised in the tide pools and

it is important not to disturb them, Rodriguez said.

The tide pools at Little Corona have received so many visitors

that the ecosystem has suffered, Rodriguez said. Five or six years

ago, a survey revealed significant damage and caused the city to

consider limiting the amount of public access to the tide pools. Back

then, tide pool visitors would have only seen mussels and crabs.

The tide pool rangers cut down on school visits and boosted

conservation efforts, and now the tide pools have regenerated. “These

tide pools are a lot better than they used to be,” Rodriguez said.

Tide poolers looking to further quench a curiosity for marine life

can travel south to Laguna Beach, where more tide pool hot spots can

be found. The tide pools below Heisler Park and those at Treasure

Island are no doubt the favorites.

Heisler Park stretches out along Cliff Drive off North Coast

Highway in Laguna Beach. The tide pools there can be accessed by

several stairways and paths down to the beach from the park area. To

find the Treasure Island tide pools, visitors can gain public access

at the Montage Resort and Spa, South Coast Highway at Wesley Drive.

The rocky coves and outcroppings are a special resource in Laguna,

said Fred Sattler with the Ocean Laguna Foundation.

“We are very fortunate that our tide pools, even though they’re

not what they used to be, they’re in very good shape,” Sattler said.

The foundation runs a tidewater docents program, which sends tide

pool experts out to the pools during high season to teach people

about tide pools and how to be a good tide pooler, Sattler said.

Matt Brown, who began his position as marine safety officer in

December, conducts educational programs and gives out citations to

those who ignore the marine life protection rules.

“Watch where you’re walking, walk slowly and treat the marine life

with respect,” Brown said.