Field Guides to Pacific Shore Life
Identify Tidepool Critters, Jellyfish, Seaweeds, Beach Wildflowers
Exploring life along the Pacific shores of North America is one of the satisfying adventures of a trip to the beach. From the spiny purple sea urchins of tidepools to clams, oysters, seaweeds and flowers that grow on beach dunes, with these books you’ll not only be able to call them by their names, but also find their preferred habitat. Some of the guides concentrate only on tidepool life, while others cover life of sandy shores and dunes as well.
Tidepool & Reef: Marinelife Guide to the Pacific Northwest Coast
Rick M. Harbo
Hancock House Publishers LTD, B.C., Canada
56 pages
$7.95 US
This handy, economical guide lists at least 250 tidepool creatures and plants with photos large enough for quick identification. It’s small enough to carry easily and thumb through in the field. The author is a biologist with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans in British Columbia and an accomplished diver and underwater photographer.
Exploring Pacific Coast Tidepools
Vinson Brown & Ane Rovetta
Naturegraph Publishers, Inc., happy Camp, CA, 1996
127 Pages
$9.95
First published in 1966, this guide charts what creatures can be found from the “splash zone” above high tide to just below the lowest low tides. It also outlines the niches where creatures hide, whether under seaweed or in rock crevices. More than 340 different species are described with photos and drawings.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest
Peter Alden and Dennis Paulson
Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y.
450 pages
$19.95
This guide has 20 pages of marine invertebrates – mostly shore and tidepool critters, plus the most common seaweeds amid its extensive coverage of flora and fauna in the U.S. Northwest. It’s ideal if your interest runs to not only tidal life, but birds, trees, insects, wildflowers, mushrooms and forest animals. All entries are concise, each with a color photo and all you need to know to identify critters you see. Introductory material describes regional geography, habitats, climate, ecology and conservation, and provides maps of the night sky. A final chapter outlines parks and preserves in Oregon and Washington. In spite of its comprehensive content, it’s small enough to carry in a daypack, though a bit heavier than some of the other guides listed here.
Living Shores of the Pacific Northwest
Lynwood S. Smith, photos by Bernard J. Nist.
Pacific Search Books, Seattle, WA, 1976
159 pages
$9.95
This book is organized by habitats, including sandy, gravel and muddy beaches and rocky shores. Two charts are particularly useful: one shows major animal groupings, such as various species of shrimp, starfish and anemones; the other illustrates where they live from the high tide line to the low tide line. Photos identify each species, and written descriptions provide information about their living habits. The book also includes a list of public aquariums on the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Pacific Seaweeds: A Guide to Common Seaweeds of the West Coast
Louis Druehl
Harbour Publishing, B.C., Canada, 2001
190 pages
$19.95
Seaweeds are the forest backdrop for marine and shore life, and here you’ll find out all about them. Detailed illustrations for each 100 species outlined make for easy and exacting identification. Most also have photos. The author is a professor of marine biology in Canada, where he also operates a kelp farm and is president of a company that produces sea vegetables. Not surprisingly, he includes plenty of information about the uses of seaweeds for food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, plus seaweed ecology. The book even includes recipes using common seaweeds and booklists for further study.
