I have been working on a big writing project and have not posted to this blog for over a month. I've still been taking breaks exploring Victoria, though, and recently have been enchanted by the mystery of tides. There were some very low - and very high - tides earlier in the week, when the moon was full.
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Rocks exposed by low tide, with the view towards the Olympics. A band of fog often sits far offshore. and occasionally rolls in.
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I have learned that the highest high tides, and the lowest low tides, are when the moon is in either its full phase, or its new moon phase. There is a whole science to analyzing and predicting tides, including something called tidal coefficient which measures the difference between the high and low tide on a given day in relation to the average.
While this information may seem techno-geek, it is essential for anybody who uses the ocean, like fishers, sailors, or surfers. I found an interesting site which gives real-time information at https://tides4fishing.com/ca/british-columbia/victoria
The low tides exposed rocks and kelp that I have not seen before, so I enjoyed photographing them.
A few images follow - all with questions!
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A rock festooned with sea plants ... kelp? sea lettuce?
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| Another mysterious sea plant. This was pushed far up the rocks by the high tide, and was shrivelled and dried by the sun when I came back the following day. |
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Perhaps this might be sea lettuce?
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Kelp and creatures in a tidal pool
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During low tides the noisy oyster catchers hang out on the rocks. They are hard to photograph; here is an image of one from the public domain.
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| Black Oystercatcher. Source http://res.publicdomainfiles.com/pdf_view/1/13488854412745.jpg |
