The Log From The Sea of Cortez

In the book, ecology means describing and comparing how organisms relate to one another and to their physical settings. Steinbeck and Ricketts record substrates, tides, temperature, and associated species at each station, then infer patterns such as nurseries, food webs, and community shifts without assuming built-in purposes

A fathom is a nautical unit of depth equal to six feet. The crew uses it to report safe anchorage and channel depth inside small bays and coves.

Intertidal refers to the shore zone exposed at low tide and covered at high tide. It is the expedition’s primary collecting area, including pothole reefs, eelgrass beds, mangrove roots, sand flats, and boulder fields, each with characteristic crabs, snails, urchins, anemones, hydroids, and cucumbers.