Intertidal animals face extreme physical conditions as the tide rises and falls, and human disturbance of these fragile ecosystems causes significant welfare harm to millions of organisms.
Intertidal welfare is often overlooked because it involves less charismatic invertebrate species, but the scale of human impact is significant. Rock pool animals repeatedly handled and displaced by visitors experience physical injury and predation exposure. Shorebirds repeatedly flushed from intertidal feeding zones lose critical foraging time in ecosystems where energy budgets are tight. Simple education about minimum-disturbance intertidal visitation significantly reduces harm without reducing enjoyment.