Our trip to Odiorne started by us getting onto the bus. Half of the grade would be on bus one, and the other half would be on bus two. After about an hour and a half we arrived at Odiorne Point. We went tide pooling for some time and then got back on the bus to go home. We stopped to get ice cream, but then were back on our way. We finally arrived back at our school and went our seperate ways home.
The tides are caused by the gravitational pull from theMoon. As the Earth rotates, parts of it grow nearer or further away from the moon. Whatever side of the earth is closest to the moon, and whatever side is the furthest from the moon will experience high tide. The parts of the Earth that are inbetween the closest and furthest part of the Earth will experience low tide.
There are four intertidal zones, the first being the black zone. The black zone, also known as the splash zone, is a rocky area that will only ever get splashed by the ocean, even at high tide, unless something unusual occurs. The reason that this zone is known as the black zone comes from the color of the rocks in this zone. The rocks themselves are just regular rocks, but they are covered in cyanobacteria, also known as blue green algae, which makes the rocks appear black. The next zone is known as the white zone. Like the black zone above it, the white zone rocks are covered in cyanobacteria. Then why is the white zone called the white zone? The white zone gets its name from the many barnacles that cover the rocks, which get covered in water during high tide. The third zone is called the brown zone. The brown zone has both cyanobacteria and barnacles, but it also has something else. The brown zone is home to the two algaes rockweed, and knotted wrack. The two look almost identical, and they are, aside from the shape of their tips. Rockweed has rounded tips, and knotted wrack has pointed ones. The last zone is the red zone. The red zone is only out of the water during low tide, and has all the features of the other zones. It has the cyanobacteria of the black zone, the barnacles of the white zone, and the rockweed and knotted wrack of the brown zone. The one thing that makes it different from the brown zone is the irish moss. Irish moss despite its name is like the two earlier mentioned seaweeds of the brown zone. Irish moss is in fact, an algae, or a seaweed.
After we got off the bus and headed over to where we would start tide pooling, I set my backpack beside a piece of driftwood and put on my water shoes. I jumped from rock to rock down towards the ocean, until I found a good sized tidepool. I stood on a rock and watched the bottom of the pool for any sign of life. That is when I saw the crabs. They were small but there were a LOT of them. Practically all of them were green, and no bigger than my thumb. I did see some small red ones, and a few larger crabs, but I didn’t find any huge ones. I saw lots of baby lobsters, but sadly, was unable to catch any. I did, however, find five hermit crabs. Scuttles was the first crab I caught, who brought it up to the tank. I then caught Jimmy, and then Benjamin, who were also hermit crabs. I ended up catching two more hermit crabs, which were the two largest, Tonja, and the last crab I caught, Spider. I carried Spider around with me for a while, tidepooling with them. Eventually though, I had to put them in the tank. I then stopped to eat lunch, and after lunch I saw the drowned forest, an area by the ocean that could only be seen at extreme low-tide. After that, we got back on the buses, and road to get ice cream, where I waited in the very long line for almost a half an hour, before getting a kiddy mint chip, which ended up being more like a large.
I think that the most variety was in the red zone. I think this is true because creatures that rely on lots of water can still survive, and creatures that don’t need water 100% of the time can still survive as well. Also, the red zone has cyanobacteria, barnacles, knotted wrack, rockweed, and irish moss, whereas the zones above it only have some of those organisms. It also seemed like most of the larger creatures, or more unique species were found closer to the ocean.
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