A rosy rockfish Sebastes rosaceus rests near the bottom in the Gulf of the Farallones. Black-necked Stilts rest in the shallow water of an estuary in the Gulf of the Farallones. Shorebirds, like Marbled Godwits and Willets, race in the waves of Sanctuary beaches, probing the sand with their long beaks in search of food. Brown Pelicans inhabit open coastal waters along western and eastern North America. A small octopus hides amid the rocks in a shallow tidepool.
Nudibranches are very small, averaging less than an inch in length.
A fully-opened giant green anemone sits in a tidepool in Jewel Cave on Southeast Farallon. Colorfull sea stars decorate the algae-covered rocks of a tidepool along the central California Coast. Dungeness crabs are common in the Gulf fo the Farallones and are a favorite menu item at Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco. Pink coralline algae forms branches in the rock intertidal of the Sanctuary and provides shelter for many small invertebrates. Branches of algae, or seaweed, that cast ashore in the tideline often resemble the branches of terrestrial plants or trees.