Water movements comprising "wave exposure" are an important characteristic of wave-swept rocky shores. Although biological sconsequenses of exposure have been intensively studied, the detailed mechanism through which exposure affects biological processes has received less attention. Here it is proposed to study one important and little understood aspect of water motion, the transport in the nearshore region of the larvae of bottom-dwelling species on wave-swept, rocky coasts. The following questions are asked: 1. How are larvae affected by flow on a scale of millimeters to centimeters? These flows may have important consequences for the release as well as the retention and settlement of larvae. 2. What predictable, larger-scale flows transport larvae offshore, and what flows bring them back? 3. What are the direction(s) and time course(s) of larval transport in the nearshore? 4. How do the behaviors of larvae affect their transport? Experiments will be conducted on the wave-swept, rocky coast of Central California.
