Habitats are building blocks in the living ecosystem. A habitat is like an organism's home address - the place where it finds food, water, shelter, and space - everything it needs in order to survive.

At the water's edge is the intertidal zone, a habitat that alternates between the dry and wet worlds. Tide pools occur where boulders and rocky outcrops trap seawater when the tide recedes. At high tide, they form surge channels, crevices and cracks that are home to many familiar seashore animals, like seastars, hermit crabs and sea anemones.

Because they contain so many interesting life forms, tide pools are often damaged by careless trampling and collecting. Enjoying tidepool life calls for special tide pool etiquette in order to experience and enjoy these special habitats without damaging them.

The kelp forest is another important habitat visible from the water's edge. Gently swaying blades of bull kelp and giant kelp form the Olympic Coast's most important kelp habitats. Kelp beds form dense stands resembling old growth forests of the land, in which many species of fish and invertebrates thrive. Sea otters are most often seen rafting and resting in and near kelp forests.

Other habitats are found underwater. Reefs and rock outcrops form important structures that attract many types of fish. The ocean floor, from the sunlit shallows to the perpetually dark depths, support many types of fishes and invertebrates.

In the midwater realm, vast clouds of plankton bloom, attracting schools of fish and their predators. Jellies and other lifeforms drift, wiggle, rotate and dart as they hang in the currents. And far offshore, the pelagic ocean sustains wandering flocks of pelagic seabirds, and migrating whales.