Tide pool

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Tide pools with sea stars and sea anemone in Santa Cruz
Tide pools with sea stars and sea anemone in Santa Cruz
Acanthodoris lutea is laying eggs
Acanthodoris lutea is laying eggs

Tide pools (also tidal pools, rock pools or rock and roll pools) are rocky pools by oceans that are filled with seawater. Tide pools can either be small and shallow or deep. The small ones are usually found far back on the shore and the large ones are found nearer to the ocean. Tide pools are formed as a high tide comes in over a rocky shore. Water fills depressions in the ground, which turn into isolated pools as the tide retreats. This process, repeated twice a day, replenishes the seawater in what otherwise might be a stagnant pool.

The area that is covered by high tide and exposed by low tide is called the intertidal zone, or foreshore. This area is often further divided into different zones based on the life forms that live there.

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British Isles rockpool life

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