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Seashore Etiquette by
Gloria Snively
Think what happens to a small beach if 20 or 30
students, teachers, children or parents turn over the rocks,
dig up the sand and mud and cart animals away to die in
buckets or suffocate in poorly prepared aquariums. Once an
area has been visited by a group of unthinking individuals, it
will take a long time to recover. What can you do to help?
The fascinating marine animals that thrive on seashores along
our coast are in dire danger of being explored, studied and
loved to death. Over the years, increasing numbers of
students, tourists and families laden with buckets, jars and
plastic bags, have swarmed over our beaches by the thousands,
handling and collecting everything in sight.
Of all the places where an enthusiastic naturalist can observe
marine life, no habitat offers a better opportunity than the
tide pools. Animal behaviour and interaction among various
species can be witnessed in great detail. Tide pools provide
shelter for plants and animals that cannot withstand exposure
to air during low tide periods. Every tide pool contains a
fascinating community of plants and animals; many brightly
coloured or of such bizarre shapes they seem unreal.
Here are some rules that will help you to explore the seashore
in a way that will cause as little damage as possible:
Turn the rocks back over. When turning over a rock, do so
gently. Try not to crush animals living on, beside, or under
the rock. Put the rock back the way it was, or lean it face
down against another rock. Organisms adapted to live on the
undersides of rocks will quickly die if the rock is left
up-side down.
Handle organisms as little as possible. Observe the organisms
in their own habitats or with the animals submerged in cold
seawater, in tidal pools, or in clear plastic bags or
containers filled with seawater. Limit observations to 5 - 10
minutes.
Avoid walking on animals. When walking on rocky shores, try to
walk on bare rock or on the patches of sand and mud between
them. Try not to crush barnacles and other organisms living on
the surface. DO NOT RUN IN AREAS OTHER THAN ON SANDY BEACHES.
Don’t pry animals from the rocks. Animals such as limpets,
chitons, abalone, mussels, sea anemones and some sea stars are
specially adapted to adhere to rock surfaces with a powerful
force. If an animal is difficult to remove, prying it off will
probably injure or kill it. These animals can be best viewed
in place.
Observe clam beds carefully. As a general rule when digging
clams for observation purposes, take the first clam of each
species, and then carefully rebury the clams to the depth of
their siphons. Small clams will re-bury, but not survive large
amounts of gravel being turned over. Small clams should be
left at the surface with only a small amount of sand covering
them; large clams are unable to rebury themselves and may not
survive even when reburied.
Cover abandoned animals with seaweed. When investigating
animals living on or under seaweed, return the animals and
cover them with moist seaweed, to keep them from drying out. |
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Jonathan Neilson demonstrates the proper way to observe marine
organisms - in a zip-lock plastic bag filled with seawater.
Leave the animals in their natural habitat. Do your
observations at the seashore. Do not move animals from one
tidal zone or one type of beach to another. You may be
removing them from their food supply or you may place them in
a different zone, where they cannot survive. Do not take
animals away unless a proper saltwater aquarium has been set
up. Always take only a few organisms and return them to their
original location on the shore: on rocks, in tidal pools, in
sand or mud.
Do not mount, dry or preserve specimens. Some people boil
snails to make jewelry from the beautiful shells, or dry sea
stars, sea urchins and sand dollars to decorate basements. For
such purposes, use only the discarded shells of animals
already dead.
Know the regulations. Familiarize yourself with the local
regulations; some areas are closed to collecting animals or
plants. Take only what is necessary and what you will use for
food or educational purposes. Ask yourself if it is necessary
to take any animals at all.
Be careful when climbing rocks. Seabirds use the rocks for
nesting and will be frightened from the nest, exposing the
eggs and chicks to hungry gulls.
Camp and leave no trace. Check fire regulations. Put out any
fire you might build and scatter the pieces. Pack out all
garbage. In every way, try to leave the beach and its
inhabitants as they were.
Learning about plants and animals that inhabit our seashores
will be a lot of fun, but please be careful only to observe
and not to disrupt. Be a thinking, informed, and caring
naturalist! Observe and enjoy, and try to disturb the
organisms and their habitats as little as possible.
Dr. Gloria Snively
teaches science, marine and environmental education at the
University of Victoria.
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