The Things You Find When Tide Pooling

Tactically, the best way to do the tide pooling thing is to get there a couple (or more) hours *before* the tide is due to turn.  You follow the tide out and look at all the critters as more and more of them become exposed by the retreating water. While the tide is going out, the waves tend to be less rambunctious, too.

A number of years ago I decided to take a stab at tide pooling in the summer. Well, the lowest-low tides in the summer happen at sunrise. But wait! Didn't I just say "get there a couple of hours *before* the tide is due to turn"? Yep.

So, I made a plan to drive to Pacific Grove the afternoon before and get a room. That way I could get to sleep a little early so I could get up at O-dark-thirty and drive to the area where I planned to do my tide pooling, Point Piños. In the morning, I bundled up in a multitude of layers, grabbed my ruck sack with field guides and lenses and such, and headed out in the fog. (We are talking about the California coast in summer, after all!)

It was still pretty seriously dark out when I got there.  The east horizon was just thinking about lightening up.  But I had my flashlight, so I started carefully picking my way out to the point. On the way out, after I crossed an initial area of rocks, I came to a sand-filled area before the next region of rocks. And, as I stepped into the sandy zone, I thought I heard a noise. I stopped and listened. Nothing. So I started moving again. And I heard a noise again.  I pulled my hood back and lifted my cap from my ears and listened. Still nothing. Leaving my ears uncovered, I moved forward again and, again, heard the noise.  I turned the flashlight on and scanned the area where I heard the noise.  Nothing. So, I started gently creeping forward, flashlight on, but held against me so it was dark.  I walked gently and silently, listening for any noise above the lapping waves. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

I reached the next region of rocks still not knowing whether I was hallucinating from sleep deprivation or what.  I followed the rocks out to the edge of the water and got there about the time it was getting plenty light so I didn't need the flashlight to see the more obvious critters or my field guide. I continued following the tide out -- in the fog, so it never got much lighter -- and got to see many things including several species of corraline algae, starfish, sculpins, mollusks, and on and on.

Suddenly there was the sound of a crashing wave.  I checked my watch and, sure enough, the tide had just turned.  It was time to head on in.  Not a great tide pooling adventure, but a good one. 

I headed back up the rocky outcrop and down toward the sandy area.  And I hear that noise again!  Again I uncovered my ears to listen as I stood still and looked around.  It was much lighter now, but the fog made the light flat, so I was mostly just seeing textures of beige, brown, and gray.  But then I heard some surf fishermen on the other side of some bordering rocks... and *that* noise again! And this time there was some movement! 

I started creeping in the direction of the noise and the movement and there he was! A harbor seal!  Coolness!!!  Now, I knew these guys had sharp teeth and jaws of steel (like biting through mussel shell sharp and strong), so I made sure that I kept a *big* rock between him and me. But he wasn't moving other than to occasionally lift his head, look around, and put it back down. When I got up to the rock and peered over it at him, I saw blood on his pelt.  I figured that he was injured and that's why he was just laying there.

So, I hauled my butt back to my car and back to the motel to see about calling authorities about him.  Well, I finally found an agency who would send someone out in about an hour.  I grabbed my camera (cheep-tastic, 35mm film point-n-shoot) and headed back to wait with the seal.

He still wasn't moving much. I started talking to him and moved up to within a couple of feet of him and sat on a rock talking to him for 45 minutes... and taking his picture. A lot.  Every so often, the fishermen would shout out and the seal would lift his head then put it back down.

After about 45 minutes, I saw a woman looking like a ranger wandering over the rocks and looking around like she was looking for something.  I called out to her.  She called my name back to me like a question.  I said, yes, and indicated that the guy was over here.  She came walking over while talking to me.  When she got within 5 feet of us, the seal jumped to his flippers, shlumped up over the ridge of rocks, and slid back into the ocean.

Huh. So, I guess he wasn't injured.  But why was he just hangin' out with me and shlumped off in a huff when someone else approached?

The woman suggested that he was probably -- at least in part -- hand-raised by someone who had my general shape and voice.  He didn't feel threatened or even particularly disturbed by my presence, so he just kept restin'.

So, while not technically a tide pool find, it was still the capper for my tide pooling trip!