Rocky and jagged, the RNSP coastline is a meeting place of ocean and continent where a unique collection of life has adapted to the harsh environment. Buffeted by the salty sea winds, salt-tolerant vegetation springs up among the beaches and steep cliffs that dominate this stretch of California's North Coast. Among the seastacks, brown pelicans and seals find a comfortable home; crabs and colorful anemones crowd the tidepools along the sea's edge.

Despite the extreme nature of fierce ocean winds, pounding waves, and geologic instability, visitors will find this pristine coastline an enchanting, unexpected part of the RNSP experience. If you are interested in learning more about the coastline in the parks, see the cooperating associations page for publications or speak with a ranger.

Tides rise and fall twice daily on a 25-hour lunar cycle. In the zone between high and low tide, life forms arrange themselves vertically. Just where depends on their tolerance for exposure to air and/or water and to heat and wave shock. Other biological limits apply, too, such as predators and competing organisms.

A splash zone above the high tide line receives the powerful shock of pounding waves. Inhabitants here are more attuned to life on land than on sea, but they are at the same time transitional.

Tidepools form in rocky beach outcroppings and shelter many forms of ocean life in these environments. Tidepool dwellers cope with great changes in water temperature, salinity, and oxygen content.

Life on sandy beaches is also subject to wet and dry zones because of tides and waves. The lower beach is often wet, while upper beaches are like a desert between the sea and lush coastal forest.

Seastacks are common along the beaches at RNSP. As the ocean level lowers, tremendous boulders called seastack are revealed. More than half of the parks' birds are marine species and tend to nest - often in crowds - on the seastacks.

Learn more about the wildlife of the ocean!