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Description
As the tide recedes on the rocky New England coast, some of the water remains trapped in pits and crevices. These pools provide a haven for many organisms, though they have to be tough to survive in this environment. The sun’s direct rays quickly heat the pools, affecting both temperature and the oxygen content since warmer water holds less oxygen than cold. The salinity of a tide pool also changes rapidly—evaporation concentrates salt in the water, but heavy rain or runoff from land may strongly dilute it in under an hour.
Despite all these obstacles, many seaweeds grow primarily in these pools because the space on the stones directly exposed to the open sea is taken up by thick, rubbery wrackweed (the yellow-brown Y-shaped leaves surrounded this drawing). These pools also provide homes for animals that could not survive the constant pounding of the waves against the exposed rocks nor consume the thick, rubbery flesh of wrackweed.

Description
As the tide recedes on the rocky New England coast, some of the water remains trapped in pits and crevices. These pools provide a haven for many organisms, though they have to be tough to survive in this environment. The sun’s direct rays quickly heat the pools, affecting both temperature and the oxygen content since warmer water holds less oxygen than cold. The salinity of a tide pool also changes rapidly—evaporation concentrates salt in the water, but heavy rain or runoff from land may strongly dilute it in under an hour.
Despite all these obstacles, many seaweeds grow primarily in these pools because the space on the stones directly exposed to the open sea is taken up by thick, rubbery wrackweed (the yellow-brown Y-shaped leaves surrounded this drawing). These pools also provide homes for animals that could not survive the constant pounding of the waves against the exposed rocks nor consume the thick, rubbery flesh of wrackweed.