"Water of the great sea – emerges twice a day respectively as morningtide and nighttide."

Humans live by solar time, from dawn to dusk, a 24-hour cycle. Coastal organisms, however, live by lunar time, two tidal 'bulges' a day, a 24 hour-and-50-minute cycle. Because of the tidal rise and fall, significant differences in temperature, humidity, and wave exposure can be found at different heights on the rocky shore.

This gives birth to a colorful gradient of life, from algae growth to organism colonization, an ecosystem zoned from low to high levels. The life forms found within compact space, a few meters of height difference along the coastline, sometimes exceed what is found at several hundred meters sprawl on land.

The lunar time is manifested through the habitats on the rocky shore. The coastline is no longer just a line because of the tides. ‘Situating Circatidal’ aims to visually explore the biodiversity patterns in the coastal environments of Peng Chau and Mui Wo - at the intersection of co-dependent survival and territorial kinships, to retell the stories of lunar time.