There is still a chance for anyone with a camera and a curiosity about the coast’s future to participate in this year’s King Tide project. Volunteer photographers of any degree of skill can help to document the final set of the year’s highest tides, Tuesday through Thursday, Feb. 17-19. The King Tide project is an international volunteer effort to trace the highest reach of the sea at present. This can reveal areas currently vulnerable to erosion and flooding, and help us to anticipate what may become ordinary tides if sea level rises due to climate change. (The project began in Australia, where the highest annual tides are known as “king tides,” the source of the project’s name.) The project is sponsored in Oregon by the CoastWatch program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition and the state’s Coastal Management Program. Co-sponsors include the Surfrider Foundation and MidCoast Watershed Council. Learn more about the project, and find links to tide tables and suggestions for posting photographs, at http://www.oregonkingtides.net/, or on the CoastWatch site, http://oregonshores.org/coastwatch.php5 Volunteers are asked to take photos at the highest point of the tide on those days. These can focus on any feature. Those that show the location of the tide in relation to the built environment (roads, seawalls, buildings) are especially useful in demonstrating impending threats. The ideal photo would be taken from a location where the photographer can return later at an ordinary high tide to take a comparison shot. CoastWatch is making a special effort to organize photographers to document the reach of the King Tides in the vicinity of Oregon’s new marine reserves (Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, Otter Rock, Cape Perpetua and Redfish Rocks). If willing to help with this citizen science project and seeking directions to areas it would be particularly valuable to document, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatch’s volunteer coordinator, at (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org. Participating photographers are asked to post their photographs on the project’s Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/groups/oregonkingtides/. Those who don’t wish to use Flickr can e-mail their photo files to orkingtide@gmail.com. For more information about the technical aspects of the project, please contact Andy Lanier, coastal resources specialist with the OregonCoastal Management Program, (503) 934-0072, andy.lanier@state.or.us. At the conclusion of the project, a celebration will be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, at Roadhouse 101 in Lincoln City. The best of the King Tide photos will be shown, photographers will be on hand to comment, and there will two brief talks on current research concerning sea levels and storm surges. The event is free and open to all, with some refreshments provided, and beer and meals available from Roadhouse 101.
