Rocky Shores at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

The rocky shore is a difficult place to live, with drying air at low tide and battering surf at high tide. Yet some of the largest and most diverse populations of marine plants and animals are found here. These animals have developed many ways to protect themselves. Some even drill into rocks or have become skilled stonemasons to create shelters.

Seaweeds and microscopic plants produce the basic food of the ocean using the sun's energy. Seaweeds provide food for such grazers as snails, sea hares and urchins.

Many sea animals look just like plants! Sponges, sea squirts, mussels, fanworms and barnacles filter tiny food particles from the water. Sea anemones and their relatives are hungry predators. These animals, in turn, are eaten by the flamboyant nudibranch slugs and other snails.

Hunters of the seashore capture their prey in different ways. Sea stars use hundreds of tube feet. Worms and snails may drill or harpoon their prey, while some crabs use powerful crushing claws.