About theoutershores

Steve Morey (he/him) here. I started theoutershores because my thoughts about nature on the exposed beaches of central and northern Oregon needed curating. I call it theoutershores because that describes the surf-swept shores of my home beaches and it describes exposed shores anywhere. I hope my words and photos have meaning to people who love beaches…

A Variety of Intertidal Life

In the pages that follow, you’ll find my photographic take on lots of lots of common intertidal species and their habitats. My home beaches are in northern Oregon. If an image comes from elsewhere, I note it in the caption. There are a lot of gaps in my coverage. I only post what I find…

Wrack Line

Wrack Line through the Years– There are always interesting things washing up on the shore. Sea wrack is made up of dead sea life and plants and animals that have drifted in from sister ecosystems, the estuaries and the maritime forest. The other thing you’ll find in sea wrack are items of human origin, fishing…

Inching Up To a Delicate Red Seaweed

By: minustide January 11, 2021

Photo Challenge, seaweedintertidal, Microcladia borealis, Oregon coast, seaweed, tidepools2 Comments

There is enough variety among the small, branched, and somewhat similar tufted red seaweeds to keep them forever interesting. The reds I’m talking about are delicate and limp when exposed by low tide, which adds difficulty in observing the details of undisturbed tufts. On August 19, 2020, I inched up to Microcladia borealis (I’m pretty…

Scenes from the Northern Oregon Shore, 2020

By: minustide January 3, 2021January 4, 2021

Photo Challenge, Year End Recapbeaches, intertidal, Lens-Artists, Oregon coast, seascapes, tidepools19 Comments

January 25 January 26 March 8 March 9 July 6 July 7 July 13 August 19 August 20 October 17 Favorite Images of 2020

A Is for Anthopleura

By: minustide December 6, 2020

Anemones, Cnidaria, Photo ChallengeAnthopleura artemisia, Anthopleura elegantissima, Anthopleura xanthogrammica, intertidal, Lens-Artists, Oregon coast, sea anemones, tidepools20 Comments

Anthopleura xanthogrammica, giant green Anthopleura artemisia, moonglow Anthopleura elegantissima, pink-tipped green To see more images of these and a couple non-Anthopleura anemones, head over to my sea anemones page. An Alphabet Challenge–Subjects That Begin with the Letter A

On the Rocks: Now and Then

By: minustide November 25, 2020

Comparative Photos, Photo Challengeintertidal, Lens-Artists, Oregon coast, Pisaster ochraceus, sea star wasting syndrome, starfish, tidepools, zonation6 Comments

It’s the setting, height, and shape that make the rock below an intertidal superstar. This surf zone heavy-hitter sits in an intertidal sweet spot where accessibility and rarely exposed lower reaches find the optimal balance. It’s a leviathan tall enough to support all the intertidal zones, and its steep broad faces impart visibility to the…

Tidepool Treat: The Schizymenia – Katharina Connection

By: minustide October 25, 2020

Photo Challengechitons, intertidal, Lens-Artists, nature photography, Oregon coast, seaweed, tidepools18 Comments

The low tides of late summer brought me a tidepool treat. I’d read about a connection between a red seaweed called slimy leaf, Schizymenia pacifica, and the Katy chiton, Katharina tunicata, but hadn’t seen it myself. I had seen Katy chitons decked out with various seaweed and animal hitchhikers, but I did not recall slimy leaf among them. By…

Communication or No?

By: minustide October 13, 2020

Communication, Photo Challengeintertidal, Lens-Artists, nature photography, Oregon coast, sea anemones, tidepools12 Comments

A strip of open space between adjacent colonies of pink-tipped green anemones, Anthopleura elegantissima. Communication or no? Communication

Bringing You Along

By: minustide October 7, 2020

Beach Walk, Photo Challengebeaches, intertidal, Lens-Artists, nature photography, Oregon coast, tidepools17 Comments

Just memories now, of a beach walk, August 19, 2020 6:17 am: Accepting an intertidal invitation. 7:02 am: Touching base with an old friend, a study in zonation. 7:58 am: A pause to take in morning sunlight on exposed surfgrass. 8:19 am: A fortunate turn of my gaze, just in time to discover sunbeams penetrating…

Off to the Shore for a Symmetry Beach Party

By: minustide September 30, 2020

Photo Challenge, Symmetrybeaches, body plans, intertidal, Lens-Artists, nature photography, Oregon coast, Symmetry, tidepools27 Comments

Welcome to my small celebration of symmetry. This beach party’s a renewal of kinship with animals we share symmetry with and a reminder that symmetry varies in ways worth appreciating. An in-depth survey of symmetry would expose developmental and evolutionary mysteries better left to zoology and comparative anatomy courses. Instead, let’s head to the shore,…

Accentuating a Flatfish and a Limpet with Negative Space

By: minustide September 13, 2020

Photo Challengebeaches, intertidal, Lens-Artists, nature photography, Oregon coast, tidepools19 Comments

This little flatfish, one of those pesky pleuronectids, the righteye flounders, was just a babe, washed up as so much sea wrack when I noticed its perky eyeballs protruding from the smooth, featureless surface of a sea of swash zone sand. The experts I consulted believe it’s a juvenile starry flounder, or maybe a curlfin…

The Crowded Rocky Intertidal Bursting with Life

By: minustide September 1, 2020

Low Tideintertidal, Lens-Artists, Oregon coast, tidepools7 Comments

Surf swept rocky northeastern Pacific shores host marvelous biological diversity and abundance. A good place to witness the profusion is up close, on the dead level with a barnacle. Surrounded by neighbors, a giant barnacle, Balanus nubilus, entertains tenants of its own. Stepping back, viewing the world from the lowermost horizon of the mussel bed…