Introduction

As evidenced by the thousands of memorable photographs from trips I've taken with my husband and children, love for marine biology has focused our family, hobbies and vacations around the ocean. We have been lucky to travel extensively--often with the help of marine biologist friends who work in exotic places and invite us to visit. These international experiences and on-site photographs have greatly enhanced my ability to teach marine topics of worldwide importance.

The hardest thing I had to do as Faculty Lecturer was to select the topic for my lecture. Of course it would be something about marine biology because that is my expertise, hobby and passion. The oceans cover over 70% of the surface of our planet and are unbelievably diverse. There are so many fascinating topics in marine biology--many constantly covered on the Discovery and Learning TV channels. I lecture about so many of these in my courses--coral reefs, Galapagos, Antarctica, whales--and they are all exciting. These places and critters were potential topics of interest to a Faculty Lecture audience.

For help I turned to my marine biology students (all 150 of them) last spring, before I began preparing my lecture. At the end of the semester I asked them to think back on everything they had learned in my class and to give me their opinion about what part of it they would like to have presented in a one-hour public lecture. Over 80 percent of them wrote that it was the common creatures living on our beaches that meant the most to them. Many said they had been beachcombers and surfers their entire lives and had walked by these creatures without knowing why they were there. They said that, after my class, the beach was never the same … every time they would go to the beach they would have all these words and explanations for what was there and why. They said that they were always telling their families and friends about these things and that everyone thought they were experts. So I decided to focus on something right here in our backyard--something each and every one of you can experience--our Santa Barbara tidepools.

These tidepools remain my favorite ongoing marine biology experience. Every trip is a delight to me and every trip is different--even after over 20 years of taking students on tidepool adventures. I still love it! Each trip is special. After deciding on my topic, I began preparing last summer. With only an hour's presentation, how could I even begin to enlighten you to the wonders that await us each day on our shorelines? I decided to create this lecture from the bottom up--by first going to the tidepools with the idea that I was a new and naļve visitor. What would I want to know and what would I see?

So I went tidepooling last summer by myself, again and again. I realized it had been over 30 years since I had been alone in the tidepools (with my children, teaching and such; I was always leading a group). This has been a highlight of my life--hours of watching the sunrise and sunset, smelling the salt air, feeling the sun, wind, drizzle, and, most of all, hours of photographing my favorite critters. I decided to challenge myself to take all new digital images of my treasures in the tidepools from the point of view of a new visitor and learn to use a digital camera. So, all the images shown in this lecture are new. I have managed to keep them a secret from my students and colleagues until now.

Now, let's get to it! Please come with me to the tidepools. There is an old saying: Time and tide wait for no man (nor woman for that matter). I would like to take you on a virtual trip to the Santa Barbara tidepools.