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| ADF&G Kodiak Island | | tide pool along Kodiak Island |
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An amazing array of marine invertebrates--sea animals without backbones--lives within the intertidal zone. They exist between where the water reaches at high tide and the edge of the water at low tide.
Each year, thousands of locals, students and tourists explore Alaska's coastline and number are growing annually. Visitors participate in beach activities that include exercising pets, flying kites, playing in the surf, fishing, clamming, and investigating natural wonders of the intertidal zone. Regardless of your purpose for visiting the beach, remember that the shoreline is home to a myriad of marine creatures. Each time you walk in the intertidal zone of a beach you run the risk of disrupting these animals' lives. If care is taken, however, damage can be minimized and enjoyment maximized.
Helpful tips
- Walk--don't run. You may trip and fall on slippery surfaces if you move too quickly. Walking also exerts less pressure on any animals you might be stepping on. Marine algae and water on rocks can create a very slippery surface; step among the boulders to reduce the risk of injuring yourself and the invertebrate residents.
- Explore the shoreline from the exposed beach rather than the water or from the edge of a tide pool rather than in it. This will provide better viewing conditions and allow animals that are feeding, fighting, or resting underwater to remain undisturbed.
- When turning over a rock, do it gently, being careful not to crush any animals that is beside the rock or that moves suddenly as its hiding place is uncovered. Always put the rock back the way it was, again being careful of animals underneath. It is generally better to move unattached creatures aside before you turn the rock back over again, as they will soon find cover; but if you do not think they will quickly seek shelter, put them under some seaweed or in any available pool of water. When the tide comes back in, they will probably get along all right.
- If you dig clams or other animals in a sand flat or mud flat, fill in the holes. By leaving unnatural piles of mud or sand next to the holes you have dug, you may kill small clams or other animals whose burrows can no longer reach the surface.
- Don't catch or dig up more than you really need or want. This practice should also be extended to collecting for classroom study. One live specimen of a kind brought back to the laboratory may serve an entire class.
- Study the fauna and flora on floating docks, thus taking pressure off natural areas.
- Avoid collecting altogether in highly sensitive or unique natural areas. Certain animals or plants that inhabit these sites may not be commonly seen elsewhere in the same general region.
- Don't collect or disturb animals and plants in areas designated by law as biological preserves. If you are a professional biologist and need to do work in a preserve, apply to the appropriate state or borough authorities for permission.
- On a field trip, do as much studying as you can right at the source. A special permit is required to bring animals back for study or for an aquarium. If you collect animals, keep them cool, aerated, and do not overcrowd them. It is better to transport them in a lot of water than to crowd them in too little water.
- Make all the use you can of the animals you collect before they perish. To prevent the transmission of disease and the introduction of exotic species, returning some animals to the beach is not permitted. Do not let the collection be an end in itself. Some animals can be preserved in such a way their usefulness may be extended beyond the time they are studied alive.
- Obey fish and game laws with respect to open season, bag limits, and allowable size and sex of the animals taken for food. These have been developed on the basis of what we know about biology of the animals they are supposed to protect.
- If you teach about marine animals and plants, also teach about stewardship. Good citizenship and a love of nature will have much to do with what we leave succeeding generations.
To apply or a Fish Resource Permit for collection of fish, shellfish, and/or aquatic plants, contact:
Sara Conrad
ADF&G
P.O. Box 25526
Juneau, Alaska 99802-5526
(907) 465-4724
sara.conrad@alaska.gov
Application information can also be found at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries at
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