AQUATIC LIFE
MISSION:
To bring about a realization of the interdependence of all living things and to protect aquatic life from the negative impacts of pollution.
FACTS:
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The invisible zone of aquatic wildlife is the splash zone. This is the sprayed dry surface above the high tide line. You discover surfbirds, wandering tattlers, shore birds, gulls, rock louse, and more.
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At the high intertidal zone, where most exposure of the day is, you find periwinkles and acorn barnacles.
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The short period of exposure daily is the middle intertidal zone, and you find sea palms, sea stars, limpets and mussels.
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The lowest tide exposed is called the low intertidal zone. At this level, the plants get some sunshine but they are wet most of the day. You find seaweeds, surf grasses, sea urchins, anemones, planktons, and organic fragments.
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The lowest zone is the sub-tidal zone that is never exposed to air. Here you discover beautiful nudibranches.
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Above the water are sea cliffs that give habitat for seabirds, such as tufted puffins, double crested cormorants, pelagic cormorants, Brandt’s cormorants, Cassin’s auklets, pigeon gillermots, and ashy storm petrels.
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Wetlands are composed of salt marshes. The dominant plants are nonwoody types, such as cordgrasses, eelgrasses, pickleweeds, birds, animals, shorebirds, great blue heron, black crowned night heron, great egret, snowy egret, ducks, American coots, and ghost shrimps.
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Lakes contain a variety of animals, such as canvasbacks, buffleheads, lesser scaups, ospreys, bald eagles, fishes, and grebes.
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Freshwater marshes do not have trees but cattails, tules, and rushes feel comfortable in this habitat. You find damsel flies, dragon flies, frogs, crayfish, insects, muskrats, pied-billed grebes, eared grebes, geese, and ducks.
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Rivers contain plants, such as willows, cottonwoods, red alders, big leaf maples, and western azaleas. You find insects, animals, birds, tiger salamanders, California newts, Pacific tree frogs, admiral butterflies, tiger swallowtail butterflies and red-shouldered hawks.
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Oceans have dolphins, whales (humpback, gray, blue) sharks, diversity of fishes, and many types of birds.
