This past weekend I made a trip out to the Olympic Coast with a friend to take advantage of the unusually low (-2 ft) tides. When the tide goes out this far it’s incredible how much land is (briefly) revealed for you to explore. We found tide pools full of Sea Anemones, Starfish, Urchins, and a few Nudibranchs (extraordinarily colored “naked” sea slugs). I even managed to make it out far enough to encounter a group of Sea Otters relaxing in a sheltered area between the sea stacks (they were surprised to see me at first, but then curiously swam up to check me out). Unfortunately, despite the amazing sights, the photographs I had planned for didn’t work out for a variety of reasons, though it was a great scouting adventure. On our way in we ran into some fascinating sand paintings created by colorful minerals eroded from the muddy bank along the beach, which made for some intriguing abstracts. The pinks and purples are pulverized garnets, and the greens olivine, both of which are common along the Olympic coast because of its igneous history.
"Sand Art" ~ Olympic National Park, WA
The Tech: Canon 5D2, 24-105mm, tripod, polarizer
Exposure: iso 100, f/18, 2 sec
Tags: coast
Glad to hear you are getting out in the new surroundings, Floris. This sounds like my visit to 2nd Beach ten years ago. I didn’t know what I was doing with the camera but the minus 2.5 tide sounded interesting so off we went and man we saw some crazy stuff!
Hey what’s up Floris? I was curious to hear how your trip turned out. Are you also gonna take any trips after this snowstorm that just passed through?
Lovely image Floris! It reminds of the “sand art” I used to make when I was a kid … you know, all the colored sands in a bottle? Maybe I was just kind of a “unique” kid.
Chris
Thanks Chris! I know exactly what you mean.. it really does look like those layered sand bottles!