Today we went on a field trip to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz to explore tide pools. Here are some photos:

Above: We arrived at the tide pools a little before 11:00. Since high tide would be at 12:48, we went right to the tide pools — after learning a few safety rules, including (most importantly) never turn your back to the ocean.

 

Above: Many of us wrote field notes about what we observed. We saw organisms from four of the six phyla of invertebrates that we might have seen: arthropods (we saw crustaceans and insects), cnidarians (we saw sea anemones), mollusks (we saw gastropods and bivalves), and echinoderms (we saw sea stars and sea urchins).

 

Above: Lunch above the high tide line.

 

Above: Standing in front of the natural bridge. The C.I.T.s who visited Natural Bridges State park in last week’s camp told us that there used to be three natural bridges — arches eroded by the sea in the limestone — but the other two have collapsed and now only one is left.

 

Above: Here we are at the end of the field trip standing by the back entrance to the park. Notice that one of the C.I.T.s has covered over the letter “S” so now the sign is more accurate.

 

Above: Crabs in one of the tide pools.

 

Above: Sea anemones and sea weed (which is a type of algae) in a tide pool.