The tide in Acadia is pretty amazing at 9-12 feet. Ship Harbor is neat because it has a narrow channel where you can actually see the water draining out or coming in. It was nearly low tide when we started the short hike to the tide pools. You can see the dark line across the harbor where the water was just a few hours earlier.
Now to look at this picture it is not real obvious how neat tide pools are. As the water recedes, it leaves pools that are swimming (no pun intended) with life. All I know is that without someone who knew what they were doing, like Amber the ranger, we would not have had a clue. She explained the different water levels and the life that lives at each level. She then showed us where "the neat stuff" winds up - usually in the lower kelp covered pools. We go down to the lower rocks in this picture and with specimen containers in hand, everyone goes off to see what they can find. Amber immediately is laying down on some pretty wet and cold looking kelp covered rocks with her arms submerged in the kelp almost up to her shoulders. *** I'm game- I roll up my sleeves and start probing around. Amazingly by just brushing the thick rubbery kelp leaves aside I see a crystal clear pool with white barnacles covering everything. I reach into the absolutely frigid water and start trying to find something. Eventually I find a small sea urchin and a Y fish (a starfish with two missing legs). I thought I was doing pretty good until Amber showed us her specimens - a perfect starfish (with all 5 legs) and some other interesting animals you would never have guessed would be in the pools.
After freezing my arms for about 30 minutes we are packing up to head back to the car when I spy a delicate feather nestled between two rocks.
