They paused to think but in the end, for a small fee, and with the agreement of Marine Scotland, the government’s sea agency, I was allowed to make some pools on the edge of the bay at Rubha an t-Sasunnaich. Similarly, there are many tikanga that are observed there and that support the survival and management of this area of environmental richness. Turbines inside the barrage can harness the power of tides the same way a dam can harness the power of a river.

We come to recognise that the chapters on rock pools have only been a rehearsal, a study for what is to come.Spring tides happen whenever there is a new moon or a full moon and have nothing to do with the season of spring. The New Zealand Marine Studies centre at the University of Otago has a downloadable booklet of rocky seashore activities for students. As the Earth keeps rotating, another high tide occurs in the same area when it is on the side of the Earth opposite the moon (low high tide).

Along the coast of Scotland, Nicolson created his own tidal pool by digging through Jurassic rock that had been buried for 200 million years.They have thousands of tiny, tube-like legs that help them stick to rocks or put them on the move for prey. Smaller fish (ika) and jellyfish (petipeti) depend on this food source and also live in the shallow waters. From there it moved on again to be the lip or edge of anything, but one in which an overflow was always possible.

All living things found in each of the beach zones have adaptations that enable them to survive in that habitat. The first few chapters are about each of the creatures that he finds in the pool; winkle, crab, anemone and sandhopper, with a potted history of each.

The links to Hub resources provide additional background information and classroom activities that will support teachers to scaffold the development of their students’ conceptual understanding about life between the tides. I seriously wondered if I had somehow missed the book’s conclusion and had purchased a ‘two-books-in-one’ edition of the author’s work. Did you ever read a book that was quite good for about 75%, but in the last 25% shot itself in the foot? Multiple chapters focus on the relationships between predators and prey, and the survival techniques some organisms use.