Oregon Coast King Tides Project Kickoff Party, Photogs Needed

Published 11/08/2019 at 5:55 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) – It’s almost full winter on the Oregon coast and that means the King Tides project is coming – and that it will need help. Volunteer photogs along the entire 362 miles of shoreline are invited to hit the beaches and nearby streams to participate in this citizen science activity. Take pictures and document the highest tides of the year and how far up they reach, with the first king tides coming up November 25 – 27. (A king tide floods downtown Nehalem. Photo by Gretel Oxwang.)

While the King Tides Photo Project can help to identify areas that are currently threatened by flooding, the more important purpose is to gain a preview of sea level rise. The king tides, while extreme today, will become the “new normal” as sea level continues to rise, and storm surges increase, due to global warming. Gaining a glimpse of tidal inundation likely to become common decades into the future will benefit planners, resource agencies, conservationists, and coastal citizens in preparing for these changes.

To kick things there’s a bit of a party: Friday, November 15, from 5 to 8 p.m., at the North County Recreation District headquarters (36155 9th St.) in Nehalem. The “King Tides Project Kick-Off” means Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition is inviting everyone interested in the project or concerned about how climate change will affect the Oregon coast to this special to-do. The party will feature food, photos from the last decade of the King Tides Photo Project, and a talk from oceanographer Francis Chan about ocean acidification and hypoxia and the climate impacts already being felt in Oregon’s ocean. This event is free and open to all. The event is co-sponsored by the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

Dr. Chan's talk is titled "Science in a changing ocean: Ocean acidification, missing oxygen and adapting to global change." Oregon’s coastline is home to some of the ocean’s most productive ecosystems. Enormous and sometimes ominous changes are occurring in these systems, however, and Oregon is at the epicenter of the global challenges of ocean acidification and oxygen declines. Chan will examine the current understanding of why these two challenges are affecting the nearshore waters, what may happen in the future, and the means for citizens to take local action or the partnerships available.

Chan is an Associate Professor Senior Researcher in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University. He received his PhD in ecology from Cornell University. Dr. Chan’s research is focused on understanding the causes and consequences of low-oxygen (hypoxia) zones along the U. S. West Coast. He spends considerable time at sea, working strenuously to understand what ocean acidification is doing and how it’s progressing off these shores.

Also at the event, CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Jesse Jones will talk about the King Tides Photo Project, joined by Margaret Minnick, the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve coordinator, who will talk about marine reserves.

The Oregon coast has participated in this international effort for ten years now, under the aegis of the CoastWatch Program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition and the Oregon Coastal Management Program of the Department of Land Conservation and Development, along with local partners.

All you need to participate is a camera. Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition said the exact date and hour of highest tides depends on the location. Go to your chosen spot on the right day (see www.oregonkingtides.net) and find a safe spot to observe the tides in relation to the land. Snap the shots and then post them online at that url. More information on the project, assistance in what to photograph and instructions for posting are there as well.

Photographs from past years of the King Tide Photo Project can be viewed on the project’s Flickr site, https://www.flickr.com/groups/oregonkingtides/.
For more information about this event or the King Tides Project, contact Jesse Jones, CoastWatch volunteer coordinator, at (503) 989-7244, jesse@oregonshores.org. Hotels in Manzanita, Wheeler - Where to eat - Manzanita, Wheeler Maps and Virtual Tours

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