Love Your Beach

In wake of the current disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, we feel extremely lucky for the opportunity to explore our own local beaches, and to appreciate the delicate and unlikely balance of the animals that live along all shorelines. While we continue to hope for the best in the southern coast, we invite you to learn more about the tidal ecosystems that exist on Washington beaches. It’s been said that you can’t protect what you don’t love. We hope you’ll love it too.




On April 29, a group of Pacific Science Center’s life sciences staff and volunteers, along with two of our Science on Wheels teachers took a day trip to Indianola beach to collect marine life for our tide pool exhibit. As always, we brought our scientific collections permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, a list of animals we needed and we came prepared for rain or shine.

It was a beautiful day, and we collected a fine selection of animals.

2 - Aggregate anemone
4 - Christmas Anemone
17 - Hermit Crabs
3 - White anemone
3 - Plumose anemone
1 - Sea Algae (large bag)
5 - Sea stars – ochre
4 - Barnacle groups
3 - Mussel groups
3 - Burrowing sea cucumbers
1 - Key hole limpet
3 - Gunnel fish (juvenile)
5 - Snails
4 - Shrimp (small)
9 - Chiton, mossy or lined
2 - Isopods
1 - Cockle
4 - Moon snail collars



As we worked and enjoyed the day, the environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico was never far from our minds. Pacific Science Center’s tide pool model was developed to help foster appreciation and stewardship of Puget Sound. Never have those goals seemed more important; nor has the beach seemed more valuable or more fragile.


It can be overwhelming to think of large scale issues that threaten beach health. But there are many things we can do in our daily lives to preserve beach habitats. From visiting the beach respectfully and responsibly, to reducing the use of toxic pesticides, to cleaning our car at a carwash instead of on the street, to using the car less – many simple decisions impact the health of beaches. In caring for the beach, some will become involved in influencing bigger policy questions that help shape the future for our marine animals. We invite you to meet our animals, visit a beach, and link to other organizations dedicated to preserving the health of our irreplaceable Puget Sound.


Once again, we are grateful to PSC volunteer John Aurelius and the Indianola Beach community for allowing us to collect permitted animals from their shores.

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Tide Pool Census 2009

Pacific Science Center’s Puget Sound Saltwater Tide Pool is home to animals collected under a Scientific Collection permit, issued by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WSDFW). Without a permit, it is illegal to gather animals from beaches. With a permit, it is still Pacific Science Center’s responsibility to take animals correctly, gathering only what will be used and leaving the environment as intact as possible.



Each year we submit a list of all the animals we have collected in the last 12 months. In addition to being a requirement, this is a tool for us to assess how well different species do in the exhibit.

Below is a list of the animals collected in 2009 and the census of animals present at year’s end. This is a shorter version of the list we give the WSDFW, which gives details to genus or species level.

In some cases, there are more animals listed than we collected in 2009. The extras are animals collected in previous years – a sign that they are doing well in husbandry for that group.


Other animals are collected in substantial numbers and yet none are present at year’s end. In the case of shellfish, this is planned. Clams, barnacles and mussels are collected as food items for the sea stars. In other cases, such as “small assorted animals” we may still have the animals but cannot find them. Isopods, tiny anemones and small shrimp routinely work their way into our filter beds, where they live free from predators, and well nourished by the remnants of food left by other animals.



In some cases, though, the species is simply not doing well in our environment. Sand dollars, for example, have very specific habitat needs that are not met in our enclosure. This is an animal we are unlikely to collect in the future.


We had a very marked change in survival rates for anemones, urchins, and sea stars when we installed a hand rinse sink in 2003. Previously these animals could not be touched without rapid loss of health. Now they are highly resilient to touching. Contaminants on people’s hands were more harmful than the physical fact of being touched.


Hermit crabs are a special case because guests are allowed to handle them. Sadly, they did not experience the same jump in survival rates when we got the sink, and we are still working on ways to increase their longevity. The biggest risks to our hermit crabs seem to be, in order from highest to lowest: wandering into unsafe areas, fighting with each other, and rough handling by people. One way we have found to keep them healthy is to keep the population relatively low. An enclosure with twelve to 15 hermit crabs will remain stable, but one with twenty or more will experience losses until the number drops below 15.


Keeping these statistics is the best way for Animal Caretakers to track and assess our tidepool husbandry procedures.

-Sarah Moore, Life Sciences Manager

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