Earlier chapters described the Namibian coast as a meeting place between the sea, land and atmosphere, between fresh water and the ocean, and between the cold maritime world and a warmer terrestrial one. In this chapter the focus is on life in these two contrasting ecological zones. One produces enormous volumes of biomass while the other is the very opposite. Forming a narrow band between this juxtaposition of profusion and paucity is the shore where terrestrial and aquatic life meets, and sometimes mixes.