From the 'Tidal Pools' Beneath Our Feet, Capturing the Universe's Day and Night

Exploring the coastline of Jeju Island offers a unique perspective, particularly by looking "down" to discover tidal pools. These small bodies of water, revealed as the tide recedes, teem with life, from swaying seaweed to tiny creatures like gobies, lugworms, snails, and barnacles.

Filmmaker Im Hyung-mook's documentary "Tidal Pools: The Beginning of the Sea" deeply moved the author, highlighting the resilience of life in these challenging environments. Tidal pools transform from part of the sea to part of the land twice a day, forcing their inhabitants to adapt to constant change. They must withstand strong waves, breathe oxygen from the water, find food, endure the summer sun, maintain moisture, and survive the winter cold.

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A pool only 10 cm deep holds the entire sky during the day and the stars at night, and the Milky Way crossing the sky above.

Reading Rachel Carson's "The Edge of the Sea" after learning about tidal pools offered further insight. Carson described these shallow pools as reflecting the sky, stars, and even the Milky Way. She harbored a wish to visit a rare sea cave pool, accessible only during the lowest tides.

Carson's evocative description of a starfish in a cave pool, its reflection appearing as a second creature, captures the ephemeral beauty of these places. The author connects this imagery to a warm summer night, contemplating the existence of these small lives, the stars reflected in the pools, and the rose-tinted wings of a seagull at dawn. This contemplation leads not to a sense of life's transience, but to its profound mystery and the flow of life itself, mirroring the rhythm of the tides.

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The starfish hung in the water, so like its own reflection that it seemed not one but two creatures were clinging there.