{"id":130881,"date":"2026-01-13T00:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/130881\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T00:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:19:07","slug":"huge-crowds-crawling-around-tide-pools-cause-concern-in-la-jolla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/130881\/","title":{"rendered":"Huge crowds crawling around tide pools cause concern in La Jolla"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LA JOLLA \u2013 Recent King Tides in La Jolla and the crowds they drew also spotlighted a growing concern: Beachcombers checking out the tide pools at extreme low tide, damaging or destroying wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>The low tides led to numerous transgressions of what might be termed proper \u201ctide pool protocol,\u201d as people were witnessed picking up marine life, along with bringing buckets and stealing lobsters and crabs. Both children and adults were seen walking on and crushing crustaceans.<\/p>\n<p>So, what exactly are the dos and don\u2019ts of proper conduct while tide pooling?<\/p>\n<p>Cari Paulenich, director of education at <a href=\"https:\/\/aquarium.ucsd.edu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Birch Aquarium in La Jolla<\/a>, offered a few important tips to keep in mind to protect yourself \u2014 and the wildlife you\u2019re viewing \u2014 when visiting tide pools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWatch your step and stay alert for incoming waves and make sure you aren\u2019t stepping on any animals,\u201d Paulenich said. \u201cAnemones can look like small piles of shells when they\u2019re exposed to air, and other creatures love to hide among the seaweed. Stick to stepping on sandy spots or bare rocks to avoid slippery algae and to prevent disturbing these fascinating animals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Added Paulenich: \u201cMany tide pool animals use rocks and shells as a habitat, so it\u2019s best not to move them. Your eyes are your best tools\u00a0\u2014\u00a0look for small movements and little details. The most exciting discoveries can easily go unnoticed. Take your time and tread lightly, especially during busy tide pooling days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cypress Hansen, who owns and operates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarnaturalist.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">North Star Naturalist<\/a>, which offers guided nature tours including at La Jolla\u2019s tide pools, warned that coastal wildlife needs \u2014 and deserves \u2014 greater protection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tidepools are extremely rare, extremely biodiverse, and now, extremely popular,\u201d she said. \u201cRocky intertidal zones\u00a0occupy just\u00a0five square miles\u00a0across all of California. Yet they contain some of the highest biodiversity of any habitat in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, noted Hansen,\u00a0\u201cThis tiny strip of life is now overwhelmed by unprecedented visitation, and there is next to no monitoring and enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hansen argued that signage alone will not\u00a0protect the tide pools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most realistic solution is a permanent, trained volunteer corps specifically for the tide pools \u2014\u00a0educating\u00a0visitors in real time on the habitat\u2019s fragility and calling in violations when needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe goal is sustainable exploration \u2014 an understanding that each of our footsteps contributes to a collective pressure on this rare habitat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA JOLLA \u2013 Recent King Tides in La Jolla and the crowds they drew also spotlighted a growing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[67187,39590,930,67188,74,76,75,64142],"class_list":{"0":"post-130881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-birch-aquarium","9":"tag-king-tides","10":"tag-la-jolla","11":"tag-low-tide","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego-news","15":"tag-tide-pools"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}