Rocky Intertidal Shores
What are they?
Rocky shores may be a rock platform, rocks on a sandy beach, or areas completely covered in individual rocks ranging from boulders right down to pebbles. Sometimes they have rock pools that form in or amongst the rocks at low tide. The intertidal zone is the area of the shore covered by the normal high tide and exposed by the normal low tide. Therefore, it is an area that includes almost fully marine to fully terrestrial environments. The intertidal area can be divided into smaller zones according to how long they are under water during a tidal cycle. Exposure time is one factor that affects where animals are able to live.
What lives there?
Rocky shores have many different types of snails as well as barnacles, mussels, tube worms, isopods, chitons and sea squirts. When you visit a rocky beach you may be lucky enough to spot a small fish, sea urchin, sea star, snail or crab in a rock pool.
Where are these habitats?
Marino Rocks is the only rocky intertidal shore in the Patawalonga, Torrens and Port catchments.
Marino Rocks
Click here for a Rocky Intertidal Shores fact sheet (PDF 267kb)