Nature Connection: The Pull Of The Sea

Walking the beach at low tide gives one entrée to all sorts of magical goings on. Creatures we might not see when the tide is full may be exposed, giving us clues to what goes on just beyond our shores.

The tide pulls and pushes sand as it moves in and out, and signs of this movement are readily available to regular beach walkers. Ripples on the sand flats, tidal pools, sand bars, and the deep ridges that stretch like sandy strings from pebbles and shells on the sand are all signs of the tide pulling away from shore and out to sea in a rhythm as old as time.

As I walked along the shore recently and noticed these signs of a receding tide, I thought about the pull of the sea. It’s not just sand or pebbles the sea pulls. It moves so many creatures in and out with each cycle that our human minds cramp just thinking about them.

Depending on where you are and what the surrounding habitat is like, whether sandy, rocky, marshy or all three, you may find fiddler crabs strutting their stuff, especially now. Fiddler crabs are small with big attitudes. The males have one very large claw that may remind a viewer of a fiddle, hence their name. This claw is not dangerous, however; at least not to us. Used to attract a mate and fend off competitors, it falls off easily and has allowed more than a few to escape hungry shorebirds. 

Fiddler crabs have foot-long burrows dug down into the sand that they may retreat to when they hear or feel footsteps, and they are active underwater as well as on land. They are detritus eaters, helping to keep our beaches and marshes habitable and clean, but they are also a major food source themselves for birds, mammals, fish and even other crabs. Although they seem comfortable on land, they breathe through gills which must remain moist.

Periwinkles, dog winkles, oyster drills and moon snails may all be exposed at low tide. Some will seek shelter in or around seaweed, some will bury themselves in sand, and some will hide in the cracks and crevices of rocks.

When we worked with children exploring the flats and tidal pools at low tide, we often told them about the animals that lived in the tidal zone and their survival strategies. For ease we told them to think of the ABCS. Animals that live in this zone must either Attach themselves to something stable like a rock, Burrow into the sand, Crawl to a safe spot, or Swim in and out with the moving water. It was always fun to have kids figure out the strategy used by the creatures they found. It helped them begin to make sense of a world so different from our own, as well as fuel their curiosity.

There are lots of shells and other things left behind by the tide. Seaweed, fish bones, skate egg cases, and old, shed horseshoe crab shells are among them. You may also find worn feathers, crab shells, old rope fragments or pieces of old bricks or wood. 

As I walked on this very windy morning I could see other people in the distance, also walking. A coyote had walked the edge of the damp sand and an osprey called from overhead. I stopped to look out at the horizon. The sea stretched as far as I could see, and I sighed. For thousands of years humans have stood at the edge of the sea and, like me, were filled with wonder at the vastness of it all.

I recently read that experiencing the vastness of nature has a measurable calming effect on us. Whether it is looking out to the horizon where sea meets sky, the rise of mountains in the distance, a desert, prairie filled with grasses, or witnessing the Milky Way or northern lights, we somehow find comfort, or at least some sort of alignment with the natural world that is soothing for our nervous system.

In a world where we are increasingly being kept indoors and using screens for proxy experiences instead of actually experiencing things, it is good to remember that nature is our first and most effective mental and physical health support system.

The pull of the sea has been well documented over the years, but that doesn’t make it less true or important. In fact, perhaps we should be paying more attention. Living here on the Cape, it is probably safe to say most of us are drawn to the sea. Whether we hang out on the beach, swim or sail, fish or bird watch, we love the sounds, smells and sights of the sea. Part of our enjoyment is simply being there at that spot where sea meets land and then reaches as far as our eyes can see before it merges with the sky, another unknowable, immeasurable natural thing.

Standing by the edge of the sea is as humbling as it gets, I think. It’s a reminder that we are small, no different than the jellyfish or the snail, the shark or the whale. It takes all of us to make up this earth we call home and it’s important to remember that we humans are part of the whole, and that we are not in charge. 

Having a peaceful morning on the beach is a privilege in this time of war, famine, civic unrest, and cruelty. I realize that but I wish that those in so-called charge of governments around the world would all have to take a day to just sit and contemplate the vastness of the natural world. No words, no money, no activity, no plan, no screens or distractions, just sit for a day and consider their place in the universe. Can you imagine it? It would change everything for the better, I think.