#intertidal

World Ocean Day snuck by me again this year. I’m two days late, but still thought I should post my most ocean illustration. Intertidal Life of the North Atlantic, from 2019.

Chiton Close Up

Chitons are fascinating little creatures. According to Wikipedia,

"Chitons live worldwide, from cold waters through to the tropics. They live on hard surfaces, such as on or under rocks, or in rock crevices.

Some species live quite high in the intertidal zone and are exposed to the air and light for long periods. Most species inhabit intertidal or subtidal zones, and do not extend beyond the photic zone, but a few species live in deep water, as deep as 6,000 m (20,000 ft)."

hello my dears... have you ever seen these little fishes at the beach?

gobies are an abundant resident on many beaches with sandy shores but most people dont know they live there. theyre SUPER good with camouflage and dart across the water once they feel any movement or sense any shadows. and because theyre so well disguised its easy to miss them even as they dart through shallow water since they just look like a ripple

🎨 InsertAnInvert 2024

Coastal week 3: Intertidal

An intertidal habitat for marine life constructed by the company Living Seawalls

Seawalls are causing intertidal habitats to vanish as ocean levels increase. But eco-entrepreneurs say artificial rockpools and crevices can save wildlife

“Species that inhabit the intertidal zone have evolved to live in that environment,” said Pip Moore, a professor of marine science at Newcastle University. These animals find the world’s rising temperatures very stressful, she says. “Lots of organisms use the natural heterogeneity in the rocky shore to hide away from those stresses – [but] a seawall or even a “riprap” boulder don’t have that complexity of habitat.”

Exactly how badly coastal wildlife is affected by coastal squeeze is not entirely clear, but scientists have found that structures such as Artecology’s Vertipools (above) show a “significantly greater” species richness when compared with a normal seawall after five years. One Bournemouth University team found species of crab, fish and periwinkle living in them that had been absent before.