Rocky Beach and Pools, Victoria, Australia

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Formed in depressions along the shoreline of rocky coasts, tide pools are filled with seawater that gets trapped as the tide recedes. While these small basins at the ocean’s edge typically range from mere inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across, they are packed with sturdy sea life such as snails, barnacles, mussels, anemones, urchins, sea stars, crustaceans, seaweed, and small fish.

As seen in the photograph, this is an example of the countless beaches along Victoria's coastline that were formed entirely of lava. It's treacherous to walk on and a bad place to fall down, but it keeps the creatures trapped in the pools relatively safe from humans, nature's most destructive predator.

The green and brown/red areas that are not bare rock are the pneumatocysts (buoyant air bladders) or the holdfasts (the root-like anchors) of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana or Durvillaea potatorum) that the surf and tides have deposited.