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A Spray Zone is more part of the land than the ocean. It is submerged only during rare, very high tides or severe storms, but is repeatedly wet by splashing waves and wind blowing spray. A spray Zone can also be called the Upper Littoral, the Supralittoral Fringe, the Splash Zone, and the Barnacle Belt.
Very little vegetation grows here. This area is dry much of the time, but is sprayed with salt water during high tides. It is only flooded during storms and extremely high tides. |
Some types of animals or organisms that live in the spray zone are Lichen, Periwinkle snails, Barnacles, Lichens, Lice, Limpets, and Whelks.
The land helps protects the animals so they bury themselves in the ocean. |
An Inhospitable, Changing Environment
Moisture: The littoral zone is covered with salt water at high tides, and it is exposed to the air at low tides; the height of the tide exposes more or less land to this daily tide cycle. Organisms must be adapted to both very wet and very dry conditions.
Water Movement:The turbulence of the water is another reason that this area can be very difficult one in which to survive - the rough waves can dislodge or carry away poorly-adapted organisms. Many Intertidal animals burrow into the sand (like clams), live under rocks, or attach themselves to rocks (like barnacles and mussels).
Temperature: The temperature ranges from the moderate temperature of the water to air temperatures that vary from below freezing to scorching.
Salinity: Depressions on the shores sometimes form tide pools, areas that remain wet, although they are not long-lasting features. The salinity of tidepools varies from the salinity of the sea to much less salty, when rainwater or runoff dilutes it. Animals must adapt their systems to these variations. Some fish, like sculpin and blennies, live in tide pools.
PREDATORS
Animals that live in the littoral zone have a wide variety of
predators who eat them. When the tide is in, littoral organisms are preyed upon by sea animals (like fish). When the tide is out, they are preyed upon by land animals, like foxes and people. Birds (like gulls) and marine mammals (like walruses) also prey on intertidal organisms extensively.
Moisture: The littoral zone is covered with salt water at high tides, and it is exposed to the air at low tides; the height of the tide exposes more or less land to this daily tide cycle. Organisms must be adapted to both very wet and very dry conditions.
Water Movement:The turbulence of the water is another reason that this area can be very difficult one in which to survive - the rough waves can dislodge or carry away poorly-adapted organisms. Many Intertidal animals burrow into the sand (like clams), live under rocks, or attach themselves to rocks (like barnacles and mussels).
Temperature: The temperature ranges from the moderate temperature of the water to air temperatures that vary from below freezing to scorching.
Salinity: Depressions on the shores sometimes form tide pools, areas that remain wet, although they are not long-lasting features. The salinity of tidepools varies from the salinity of the sea to much less salty, when rainwater or runoff dilutes it. Animals must adapt their systems to these variations. Some fish, like sculpin and blennies, live in tide pools.
PREDATORS
Animals that live in the littoral zone have a wide variety of
predators who eat them. When the tide is in, littoral organisms are preyed upon by sea animals (like fish). When the tide is out, they are preyed upon by land animals, like foxes and people. Birds (like gulls) and marine mammals (like walruses) also prey on intertidal organisms extensively.