king tide – theoutershores

Test of the Tide: King Tide 2017-2018 Hits the Beach

By: minustide January 21, 2018

Physical Environment, tidesbeaches, king tide, ocean, oregon coast, tides12 Comments

The Pacific Northwest has weathered three bouts of high spring tides this King Tide season. King tides are the highest of the spring tides. On my home beaches, I’m talking about fall or winter spring tides. They occur during daylight, usually around noon, so they are easy to keep photographic track of. Combined with large…

King Tide 2016

By: minustide December 26, 2016December 26, 2016

Physical Environment, tidesbeach, king tide, ocean, oregon coast, tides7 Comments

King Tide 2016 has come and gone. If you missed it, the winter season offers one more opportunity. Another round of high spring tides will test the capacity of coastal shorelines everywhere in mid-January, 2017. I wrote about the November 2016 King Tide in It’s Not This Time of Year Without High Tides and Crashing…

Wave crashes an old growth stump on a sandy beach. Wrack line and foredune in the background

It’s Not This Time of Year Without High Tides and Crashing Surf

By: minustide November 29, 2016

tides, Weekly Photo Challengeking tide, oregon coast, Weekly Photo Challenge4 Comments

The highest spring tides are a sign of the season. On my home beaches winter also means high surf. When the two combine they’re a force of nature. I’ve visited this stump during the highest spring tides since 2012. It takes a good high tide and respectable surf to wet it. The photo shows the…

My 2015 King Tide Project – Swell Matters

By: minustide February 22, 2015February 22, 2015

Drift Line, Ecology, high tide, Nature, tides, Wracklinehigh tide, king tide, king tide project, marine biology, Oregon King Tide Photo Initiative, tides4 Comments

I have a fascination with very high and very low tides. Who doesn’t – they’re rare events and when they occur, things happen. Low tides are great for the naturalist; everybody’s out digging clams and exploring rarely exposed beaches and tidepools. Very high tides catch just about everybody’s attention. Coastal flooding and beach erosion can…

It’s a Salp

By: minustide February 23, 2013June 14, 2020

Wracklineking tide, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, salp, Thetys vagina2 Comments

I observed this unusual organism during a December, 2012 King Tide when saw several and took this photo. Determining what they were, exactly, wasn’t easy. I contacted Cynthia D. Trowbridge at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and she kindly identified my mystery creature as the salp, Thetys vagina. If you want to know more…

theoutershores

My thoughts and experiences on the exposed outer coast. Lots of photos and a few words about intertidal nature. I’m always thinking about sandy beach connections to its sister ecosystems, the rocky intertidal, estuaries, and coastal forests. You can see photos of things I’ve found washed ashore on my Wrack Line pages. If you are looking for new takes on common intertidal algae, plants, and animals, I’m always updating my Variety of Life pages. I love the full-page layout on all theoutershores’ pages.