Young Blonde Girl Wearing A Necklace On The Rocky Shore

Regardless of the factors that favour life on rocky shores, there are a number of challenges that marine organisms which use them as their habitat must face. Generally, the distribution of its benthic species is limited by salinity, wave exposure, temperature, desiccation and general stress.The constant threat of desiccation during exposure at low tide can result in dehydration which many creatures have developed strong adaptations to prevent such as production of mucous layers and shells. Many species use shells and holdfasts to provide stability against strong wave actions. There are also a variety of other issues such as varying temperature fluctuations due tidal flow, changes in salinity and various ranges of illumination which can make life very difficult for rocky shore organisms. This can be coupled with predation from birds and from other marine creatures and also the vast effects of pollution.
Pollution
Rocky shores are exposed to many forms of pollution, in particular pollution related to oil spills. Prominent spills are the Torrey Canyon spill, The Amoco Cadiz spill outside the Brittany coast in France and the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. Garbage such as plastics and medals being left behind by people is also a problem among many rocky coastlines that attract tourists.