The ebb and flow of tides defines the rhythm of life in a salt marsh. Twice a day, a rush of salt water brings nutrients, sediments, and a whole host of organisms into the marsh. Most of the visitors come to feed. On occasion, a diamondback terrapin swims in during nesting season on her way to a dry nesting site in the low uplands bordering the marsh. When the tide ebbs away, the full-time residents of the marsh resume their low-tide activities. Note the scuttling fiddler crabs in the foreground