All over the world there are many kilometers of coastline. Every coast is different, so there are many different animals. Some always stay in the water, for others the rocks and beaches are very important. Both the animals and plants that live there have adapted to the tides, which cause large differences in the water level in certain places. Seaweed and seagrass are common plants, shellfish, shrimp, gulls and seals some of the many animals.

The coast

There are shores all over the world, with water on one side, on the other side the land. Some coasts consist of rocks and cliffs, others of sandy and pebble beaches, others from lava or ice. This means that there are large differences in, for example, temperature, in plants, and so there is also a great diversity of animals.

Influence on the lives of many plants and animals are the tides. These are determined by the sun and the moon and provide ebb and flow. In some coasts the tides are hardly noticeable, with others there are large differences between ebb and flow. Some plants grow where the water can never reach them, even at the highest tides. Other plants live in places where the water is always present. For some animals, the flood is the sign to eat, for others eb.

The plants and plants

In the waters off coasts there are many seaweeds and seagrasses. The seaweeds, which belong to the seaweeds or algae, include, for example, green sea lettuce, blowwe, bull bull and giant kelp. Some seaweeds are very small, others, such as the bull bull and the giant kelp, can grow many meters long. Zeques are not seaweeds but flower plants. They grow in water that is at least a few meters deep, but not too deep. They form a kind of meadows under water that attract many animals.

Mangroves can be found on tropical shores. These are trees that grow a long way inland, in places where the tides at eb provide salt marshes. The leaves of mangroves remain above water, even during the flood. These areas also form a habitat for all kinds of animals, such as snakes and monkeys.

The animals of the animals

Preservants of week animals

For molluscs such as mussels and scale hearings, the flood is the sign of becoming active. For mussels, however, becoming active does not mean that they go out to search for food. They have secured on rocks, for example by means of wires. When it is ebbed, they are no longer in the water. Then they keep their shells closed so they don’t dry out. When they are under the water, they open their shells. The water then enters and the mussel filters its meal out of the water. Scales are also attached to their substrate with ebb, which they have sucked on. When the water rises, they release. The horns then move over the rocks to scrape off very small seaweed and eat. When the tides cause the water to drop again, the scale horns move back to their own spot on the rock.

Spiny and arthropods

Stylyskins living in the waters of coasts are starfish and sea urchins. Arbitods include shrimp, crabs and lobsters. Both starfish and lobsters like to eat shellfish as mussels and oysters. Starfish fold around their prey and then try to take the two halves of the shell apart. When the halves break apart, the starfish pushes his stomach out through his mouth. He pushes the stomach through his victim to digest the body of his prey. Lobsters have two strong scissors that they use to break open the shells of their victims.

Shrimp eat all kinds of food they encounter on their way, including parts of dead animals. They also often dig corridors in sediment-covered shores in search of food debris. Eyebrow crabs also use the sediment to scavenge their meal together.

Turtles and turtles

For sea turtles, beaches are important for reproduction. This is where the females lay their eggs. She covers her nest with eggs with sand and goes back into the sea herself. When the eggs hatch after a few weeks, a dangerous trip to the sea begins for the young turtles. Many turtles start this venture at the same time, but a large part of them will not make it. Birds, crabs and other animals see a delicious meal in the turtles. The animals that do arrive in the sea eat plankton there first, later also larger animals. Soup turtles mainly eat seagrass.

The birds of the world

Coasts are many species of sea and wading birds, such as gulls, curl pens, Jan-van-gents, oystercatchers, pectic, terns, puff divers and frigate birds. Where mussels and scale horns become active at flood and then look for food, gulls are mainly concerned with this when it is ebbed. They are omnivores, who at eb go in search of bait along the coasts. They also eat fish they catch from the sea and eggs from other birds. The oystercatchers eat mussels, oysters and cockles. To open the shells of these molluscs, they use their strong beak. They smash the shells on the rocks or pry them open. Whaling, like oystercatchers, are often found on muddy shores. These birds have very long, thin beaks that are suitable for rooting deep into the mud. There they find worms and other animals that end as a meal of the curlew.

Fregat birds live on tropical shores. The males, when they want to seduce a female, are very conspicuous; they have a huge throat bag that they can blow up. The frigate bird chases other birds until they drop their food and the frigate bird can pick it up. He also catches fish from the water and young turtles often become his victim.

Category Mammals of the Mammals

Coasts also form an important habitat for mammals such as walruses, sea otters, sea lions, seals, manatees (actually lamantines and dutchas, which are often called manatees) and seals. All these animals are well adapted to a life in the water, but where walruses, sea lions and seals do come on land to reproduce, manatees continue to suffothe in the sea. These animals grow to about three to four meters long but are not dangerous. They are herbivores who eat many kilos of seagrass. Seals are often found during breeding on icy, fairly smooth coasts. It is not easy for them to move on the land. On flat shores, they can move forward.

Both walruses and sea otters have shellfish on their menus. Walruses are large heavy animals with long tusks. They use them, along with their whiskers, to find food at the bottom of the sea. They also open shellfish with their teeth, and then suck them up. Sea otters are regularly floating on their backs in the water while they eat in the meantime. They use stones to open shellfish.