Welcome to Tide Pools...under the ocean, right near the shore, just out of reach, a home for many animals is hidden under the water. If you go at the right magical time, a time that happens twice a day when the tide is low and the water drains away, many creatures appear in their tide pool home.

Hermit crabs fight each other to move into snail shell homes. Sea stars push their stomachs outside their bodies to digest food. Small fish peer at you from underneath rocks.

Read more to explore the world of tide pools, a lively area of the ocean that you can observe up close. This website is designed for kids, but we hope that everyone will enjoy it!

All of the animals featured here live in Northern California tide pools. Animals photographed live in tide pools in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California or near Morro Bay in Central California.

Bat Stars
Hermit Crabs
Limpets
Sculpins

New! Take a tide pool knowledge quiz to earn a certificate.