The foreshore, also called the intertidal or littoral zone, is that part of a beach that lies between average high tide and average low tide.

Topography

Tidepools can be formed at low tide when water is trapped in rocky hollow. Under certain conditions such as those at Morecambe Bay, quicksand can be formed.

Ecology

Since the foreshore is alternately covered by the sea and exposed to the air, organisms living in this environment must have adaptions for both wet and dry conditions. Hazards include being smashed or carried away by rough waves. Typical inhabitants include sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, limpets, mussels, sea stars, snails and whelks.

Legal issues

As with the dry sand part of a beach, legal and political disputes can arise over the ownership and use of the foreshore. One recent example is the New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy. In legal discussions the foreshore is often referred to as the wet-sand area. For privately owned beaches in the United States, some states such as Massachusetts use the low water mark as the dividing line between the property of the State and that of the beach owner while others such as California use the high water mark.