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Corallines and Chitons Layer the Lower Intertidal
In an intimate scene of layering, two crustose reds overtop one another. This is their way. Pink over purple, purple over pink. They in turn, are overtopped by hardened upright corallines, bladed reds,...
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Windows into the World Below
A mussel-festooned reef frames up the sky above and the sand below. In the foreground, a sand-filled tide pool fills another frame. Its surface is a window into the world below. Lying on my belly, the...
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Gastropodestrians
Strings of periwinkles, tiny rock-dwelling gastropods, take advantage of low tide to make a crossing. Periwinkles, Littorina, on a sandy crosswalk | September 10, 2017 Here, they glide, en masse, from...
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Bird Rocks from Beach Level and the Trail Above
Four sister stacks on the northern Oregon coast, their highest point is 70 m, and the average elevation is 30 m. Their combined area is just under three ha. Bird Rocks isn’t the most creative place...
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Beachgrass Lights Up the Foredune
Beachgrass, Ammophila I introduced beachgrass in Dunegrass Finds Breathing Room on the Backshore, and Stability and Change on the Foredune. Glow
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Cup and Saucer, Constantinea simplex
Cup and saucer is eye-catching in morning light. Cup and Saucer, Constantinea simplex Feelings are a rarity in my 1993 edition of Seashore Life, so when Kozloff remarks that C. simplex is “a real...
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A Time of Quiet on the Outer Shore
Pounding surf, rowdy competition for space, and violent predator-prey drama make the outer shore a boisterous place. If there is a time of quiet, it comes at low tide. Serene
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Beachcombing theoutershores: a 2017 Retrospective
Here’s a brief look back at theoutershores’ fifth year. I wrote 27 short posts and uploaded my share of Oregon coast images. I added new photos and updated most theoutershores’ pages, like the ones on...
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A View From the 2017 Wrack Line Through My Eyes
This year the drift was full of treasures. Some had human origins. Others were from rocky intertidal, subtidal, pelagic, estuarine, and terrestrial sources. Unravelling their stories, or trying to, is...
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Standing Solitary in the Swash
First time I noticed the weathered old stump was seven and a half years ago. I didn’t think I’d see it again, but it was impressive, so I took a photo of my gear and myself leaning leaning against it....
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Test of the Tide: King Tide 2017-2018 Hits the Beach
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...
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Sitting it Out
Settled on a vertical face in the highest intertidal, Lottia digitalis sits out low tide clamped down tight. With the surf pounding just below, there is silence in these shells. Note to arachnophiles:...
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Variety in the Intertidal Reds
Since I laid my hands on the new edition of Druehl and Clarkston’s Pacific Seaweeds, I’ve spent hours letting it guide me through the diversity of west coast seaweeds. It’s a celebration of...
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A Betrayal of My Backpack: Its Contents Revealed
My pack is with me on every sandy stroll, every tide pool tumble. It’s been swamped and dunked, rained on a lot, and sun bleached too. It fits good and carries all my stuff. Waiting for high tide |...
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Faces in the Maritime Forest
When a narrow trail opens to reveal a peek at the surf zone and the Pacific beyond, it’s easy to forget the forest. There are faces in the emerald frame- shore pine Pinus contorta, salal Gaultheria...
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Boring Clams Lend an Otherworldly Appearance to a Miocene Shelf
An alluvial miocene formation shaped by changing sea levels, wave action, and boring clams has an otherworldly appearance. The seaward part of the headland, in the foreground, is Angora Peak sandstone....
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Octopus Tree
Sitka spruce cloak the Pacific Northwest’s maritime headlands. Here, where the sounds of the surf are never silent, Sitka can be dominant. Arguably Oregon’s most iconic Sitka is the Octopus Tree....
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A Dogwinkle’s Aggregation
Renewal in Nucella canaliculata calls for a crowd. Winter and spring aggregations of channeled dogwinkles, that’s their common name, copulate and lay eggs over a several week period. In the finale,...
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Tonicella lineata’s Fine Lines
When I show images of chitons I always want to ask, “do you know which way the head is pointing?” Today I’ll refrain because I want to talk about the fine lines of Tonicella lineata. Just about...
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