Shore ecosystem walk

This protocol was created in collaboration with the Natural History Institute of Iceland

How long does it take?
About 90 minutes

Who is it for?
  • Youth groups and school groups
  • Up to 25 students
  • 12-14 years old

Materials:
  • Laminated sheet showing shore zonation
  • Measuring tape

Where and when?
  • Rocky Icelandic beach
  • Spring to early autumn
  • Low tide
Download the activity here (in english)                                   ->
Sæktu virkina hér (á íslensku)                                  ->
Protocol (with approximate times):
    1. Walking to the beach
    2. What are we doing today? Why? (10 minutes)
  • Explain that we are looking at different things, animals, and seaweed around the coast
  • Learning about the importance of large brown algae and kelp in littoral zones
  • Equivalent of Arctic and temperate forests: more than 50% of oxygen on Earth produced in littoral zones
  • Forming nurseries, habitats, and zones of reproduction for fish and other marine life
    3. Discovering layers of habitat (1 hour)
  • Splash zone: looking at tide pools and finding snails and barnacles
  • High and mid-tide: Looking at seaweed bladders, trying to find red, brown, and green algae
  • Low-tide zone: Measuring kelp
Shore zonation sheets
Picture
Picture
Picture
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Photo credits
"Seaweed" by nothing is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Splash zone
1. "Chanelled Wrack (Pelvetia canaliculata)" by swan-scot is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
2. "Hydropunctaria maura" by thomasschreiter is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
3. "Acorn Barnacles (Semibalanus balanoides)" by swan-scot is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
4. "Rough Periwinkles (Littorina saxatilis)" by S. Rae is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

High-tide and mid-tide zones
1. "Nucella lapillus" by BrentMWilson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
2. "Fucus spiralis" by Hans Hillewaert is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
3. "File:Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) - geograph.org.uk - 224125.jpg" by Anne Burgess is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
4. "Littorina obtusata" by Sergey Yeliseev is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 
5. "Ascophyllum nodosum" by bstarzomski is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
6. "Palmaria palmata" by jaro is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
7. "Chondrus crispus Helgoland" by Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
8. "Fucus serratus. Breaksea Point, October 1982" by Mary Gillham Archive Project is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Low-tide and sub-tidal zones
1. "Oursin melon (Echinus esculentus)" by cquintin is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
2. "Laminaria digitata" by mainebirder is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
3. "Cancer irroratus" by BrentMWilson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
4. "Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis" by lauracgoetz is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
5. "Saccharina latissima" by eagleloft is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
6. "Caranguejo-verde (Carcinus maenas)" by Emerging Birder is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
    "Lithodes maja" by viktorvg is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
7. "Hyas coarctatus Leach, 1815" by IMARES is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
    "Hyas araneus" by msciamanda is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
8. "Fal and Helford Maerl Beds" by naturalengland is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.