The Tide Is Out

Is Tide Pooling at Night Worth It?

If you’re only going to read this far, the answer is yes! With the right equipment and preparation, tide pooling at night is definitely worth it.

If you’re still reading, I’ll give you a fuller explanation of what I mean.

Tide pooling in the dark can be frightening and dangerous. Exploring the intertidal is not an inherently safe activity at the best of times, but in the dark, the hazards of slipping and hurting yourself on the rocks are amplified. So why would anyone want to do it? And why am I saying it is totally worth your trouble?

Why Go Tide Pooling at Night?

For the avid tide pooler, tide pooling at night presents a host of opportunities. First of all, many of the lowest tides occur early in the morning or late in the evening and thus are only accessible to those willing to venture into the intertidal in the dark. Second, a nocturnal venture into the tide pools is sure to disclose a vast array of animals and behavior that you would literally never see during the day. In his excellent book Between Pacific Tides, Ed Ricketts said that “a single excursions in to the tidelands with a flashlight will often reveal more of an animal’s habits than a score of daylight trips.” Struggling to find an intertidal animal that appears common on a site like iNat? It’s probably nocturnal, possible swarming the rocks after dark. Does that one species of crab always look dazed when you see it during the day? You might find it actively hunting once the sun has gone down. Hundreds of species inhabit the intertidal by day, and hundreds more emerge only after dark to conduct their business. Read more about these animals in this post.

Before we go any further, it’s worth noting that casual tide poolers needn’t go to the trouble of visiting the intertidal at night. If you’re looking to take your kids to the rocky shore or to have a fun outing with some friends, there will be plenty to explore during the day. But for avid tide poolers or those interested in specific animals and behaviors, visiting the intertidal after dark is one of the best ways to expand what you can observe and most of the time is even better than visiting other nearby beaches. 

You might think that it would be harder to find animals at the tide pools in the dark, but surprisingly it’s often easier. On top of the fact that many more animals are out after dark, you might also find that your headlamp helps in more ways than illuminating your steps. 

I don’t think I am alone among avid tide poolers when I sometimes find it a little overwhelming to tide pool in full daylight. There are so many pools, colors, textures and depths to explore that I hurry on from a promising pool to another because I want to cover more ground. This is actually counterproductive as I don’t look hard enough to find those unusual animals. But at night, all that changes. I can only look at one pool at a time: the one my headlamp is illuminating. By literally darkening distractions, I find more animals because I am more focused. A small circle of light allows me to zoom in on one particular area and keeps my eyes from distracting me before I find the small creature so often hidden in plain sight. 

So while tide pooling at night is definitely not for everyone, if you are contemplating going, do it! Find an avid tide pooler who has been before and just try it. You can find more information about safety, tips, and what you might see here. Make sure you are well prepared for the cold, dark, and logistics, but don’t let those factors stop you from seeing even your local the tide pools in an entirely different light.