A large rocky promontory juts out into the ocean just next to the sandy beach.  This habitat provides the clearest example of intertidal zonation at Eagle Cove.  The highest reaches of the rocky intertidal are inhabited by barnacles and a few other hardy animals that can survive extreme temperatures and desiccation. Further down the rocky slope one finds algae and invertebrates that are less resistant to environmental extremes. More abundant in this lower zone are species of invertebrate grazers and scavengers--including the gastropod Littorina scutulata, the chitons Katharina tunicata and Tonicella lineata, the isopod Idotea wosnesenskii, and gammarid amphipods--as well as predatory nudibranchs ("sea slugs") and nemerteans ("ribbon worms").

A mass of polychaetes in a cleared eelgrass quadrat

Tidepools and crevices on the rocky promontory offer refuge for plants and animals that might not otherwise survive high intertidal exposure. During the extremely low tide series in early July 2004, we recorded temperature fluctuations in a crevice over 3 days and noted invertebrates found in these crevices that were not apparent on nearby drained surfaces. Most notable were nudibranchs, including Archidoris montereyensis and Aeolidia papillosa.