Whether you’re a local or a tourist, a trip to CdM’s tidepools is like visiting nature’s three-ring circus: you could call it one of the Greatest Flows on Earth. To that end, Clemente hopes she can convince local officials to increase sporadic law enforcement presence on the sands (not a bad detour for the cops).Īlso, her department soon will be introducing the cleverly named “ISOpod,” which stands for Interactive Sealife Outreach Pod: a 25-foot-long, rolling interpretive center that will feature two touch tanks and a display tank, and that will offer “lots of interesting and engaging educational activities,” she said.Ĭlemente hopes it can be parked at the restroom level on the road leading down to Little Corona.Īnd for those not familiar with the term, in ichthyologic nomenclature an Isopod is a tiny sea creature. “There seems to be more touching than taking (of specimens),” Clemente said, which is “symptomatic of people getting excited it shows how important our tidepools are.”Īlthough most beachgoers are well behaved, there’re a small percentage of visitors exhibiting destructive behavior. Last year alone at the interpretive table, naturalists talked to 69,000 people, mostly in the summer months. There’s no doubt that Little Corona is impacted. And if anybody knows shorelines, it’s Gregurek, Clemente explained: “Jenny has trekked the entire California coastline.” Throughout the year, natural life interpreters are there weekends and holidays, also from 10 to 2.Īt low-low tides, where virtually there’s no chance anybody can be swamped or dumped by waves, Interpretive Officer Jenny Gregurek leads monthly shoreline hikes from CdM to Crystal Cove and back. There are four tidal zones: the Splash Zone, which is the driest the Upper Zone, which is either dry or inundated the Mid-Zone, which is underwater most of the time and the Underwater Zone, no clarification needed.ĭuring the summer months, a member of Clemente’s staff is on site daily from 10 a.m. “Most people see the beach as purely recreational, not as habitat, so we’re down there when most people are in order to educate visitors as to the importance of our tidal zones.” The best way to protect it “is through education,” she said. Get past the reflected glare and you’ll see gooseneck barnacles, hermit crabs, turban snails, sea anemones, rock louse, shore crabs, mussels, kelp snails, rough limpets, sculpin, opal eye fish, various starfish species, occasional octopus, sponges, abalone, and more.Īs numerous as they may appear, Newport’s Natural Resource Management Specialist, Michelle Clemente, said that tidal zone life are endangered, especially those creatures residing in the easily accessible rocks at Little Corona. Some of the creatures you view may be full time residents of just one pool, while others are transient, washed in and out with the tides or wave action.
and Ocean Blvd., the tidepools provide a wonderful opportunity to sample a truly foreign world. But you’ve really got to look to see.Īccessed via a trail near the corner of Poppy Ave. No tickets required for entrance to this natural theater, where with patient and down-on-your-knees observation, one can spy nature’s million-year-old dramas played out in camouflaged slow motion.
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