LogoTidepool
Marine biologist holding a juvenile sea star, tide pool behind her
Next Event
Malibu Kelp Restoration Day·Malibu Lagoon, CA·Sat, Mar 8, 2026

Every ReefHas a Story.Every VolunteerWrites a Chapter.

Tidepool is a coastal foundation run by retired oceanographers, marine biology students, and local business owners who remember when these shores were full. We restore kelp forests, monitor reef health, and pull ghost nets from the Pacific shelf — one Saturday at a time.

Join the Next CleanupMeet the Team
"The ocean doesn't need our admiration. It needs our attention — and our hands in the water."

— Dr. Patricia Ochoa-Reyes, Co-founder

847

Active Volunteers

23

Reef Sites Monitored

4.2T

Ghost Net Removed

11yrs

On the Water

The People

Meet the hands behind the work.

Tidepool runs on people who would be here anyway — who already wake up early to walk the tideline, who already know the names of things.

Freediver underwater near kelp forest, looking upward toward light filtering through the water

Santa Cruz Bay, Jan 2026

Freediver & Ghost Net Coordinator
Santa Cruz, CA

Marcus Delgado-Webb

"I started mapping coordinates on a waterproof notebook strapped to my wrist. Now we have 340 net locations logged. The ocean remembers everything — we just have to listen."

Marcus has logged over 1,200 dives along the Pacific shelf since 2019, removing ghost nets that would have entangled marine life for decades.

Hands sorting tide pool specimens on a wooden dock, clipboard nearby in the rain
Older woman with silver hair crouching beside a tide pool, pointing at something in the water with a pencil

Asilomar State Beach, Oct 2025

Retired Teacher & Field Guide Author
Monterey, CA

Ellen Sørgaard

"I spent thirty years teaching kids to read. Then I retired and wrote a field guide to tide pool species. Turns out the ocean is the best classroom I've ever been in."

Ellen's Field Guide to the Pacific Intertidal Zone — now in its third edition — is used by every Tidepool volunteer and distributed free to 14 coastal schools.

Wet boots on a dock at low tide, kelp and sea glass visible below
Young woman in a wetsuit top smiling at the camera with the Pacific Ocean behind her at golden hour

Malibu Lagoon, Nov 2025

Junior Docent Program Founder
Malibu, CA

Jasmine Okonkwo

"I was fourteen when I started leading tours at the tidepools. I just wanted other kids to feel what I felt the first time a hermit crab walked across my hand."

At 17, Jasmine now trains 22 junior docents aged 11–16. Her program has reached over 800 school-age visitors in two years.

Upcoming Events

Pick a Saturday. Bring sunscreen.

All skill levels welcome. Gear provided. Just show up ready to get your hands in the water.

Register for Malibu Kelp Restoration Day

Saturday, March 8, 2026 · 7:30 AM – 12:00 PM

We'll send you a confirmation with directions and what to bring.

Monthly Dispatch

Field Notes from the Water.

Not a newsletter. A dispatch. Every month: one story from the field, one species profile, and whatever Marcus found in the nets that week.

Monthly. No tracking. Unsubscribe anytime.

Underwater view of a rocky reef with purple sea urchins covering the seafloor
Vol. 11, No. 2

Feb 2026

The Urchin Barrens of Carmel Bay

What happens when the sea otters leave and the urchins stay. A dispatch from three weeks of monitoring data.

Read dispatch
Close-up of a tide pool showing anemones, hermit crabs, and small fish in shallow water
Vol. 11, No. 1

Jan 2026

How a Retired Teacher Wrote the Book on Tide Pools

Ellen Sørgaard spent thirty years in a classroom. Her third act might be her most important.

Read dispatch
Moonlit ocean surface viewed from just below the water, light refracting in silver patterns
Vol. 10, No. 6

Dec 2025

Night Dive: Pulling Nets at 40 Feet

Marcus Delgado-Webb on the particular silence of working underwater after dark, and the weight of what you bring back up.

Read dispatch