Editing Tide pool (section)

{{short description|Rocky pool on a seashore, separated from the sea at low tide, filled with seawater}}
{{redirect|Rockpool|other uses|Rockpool (disambiguation)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
[[File:Porto Covo February 2009-2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A tide pool in [[Porto Covo]], west coast of [[Portugal]]]]

A '''tide pool''' or '''rock pool''' is a shallow pool of [[seawater]] that forms on the rocky [[intertidal]] [[shore]]. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=What is a tide pool? |url=https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tide-pool.html |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=oceanservice.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref> Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of [[water]] only at [[low tide]], as seawater gets trapped when the tide recedes. Tides are caused by the [[Gravity|gravitational pull]] of the sun and moon. A tidal cycle is usually about 25 hours and consists of two high tides and two low tides.<ref name="NPCA Tide pools" />

Tide pool [[habitat]]s are home to especially adaptable [[animal]]s, like snails, barnacles, mussels, anemones, urchins, sea stars, crustaceans, seaweed, and small fish.<ref name=":0" /> Inhabitants must be able to cope with constantly changing water levels, water temperatures, [[salinity]], and oxygen content.<ref name="NPCA Tide pools" /> At low tide, there is the risk of predators like seabirds. These pools have engaged the attention of [[naturalist]]s and [[marine biology|marine biologists]], as well as [[philosophical]] essayists: [[John Steinbeck]] wrote in ''[[The Log from the Sea of Cortez]]'', "It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool."<ref name="NPCA Tide pools">{{cite news |title=NPCA Tide pools |publisher=[[National Parks Conservation Association|NPCA]] |date=September 5, 2008 |url=http://www.npca.org/marine_and_coastal/beaches/tide_pools.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924061051/http://www.npca.org/marine_and_coastal/beaches/tide_pools.html |archive-date=2008-09-24 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> <!--Tide pools are also great places for finding dab fish.-->

Some examples have been [[Swimming pool#Natural pools and ponds|artificially augmented]] to enable safer swimming (for example without waves or without sharks) in seawater at certain states of the tide.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bromley |first1=Freya |title=The UK's most beautiful tidal pools |url=https://www.cntraveller.com/article/most-beautiful-tidal-pools-uk |website=CN Traveller |access-date=2 November 2024 |date=15 September 2024}}</ref>