The drive to the coast is peaceful and quiet, but a whole new wave of serenity washes over you as the trail opens up onto the shore. It isn’t your typical day at the beach that most landlocked travelers dream of. There are no palm trees laden with heavy coconut fruit, no vibrant beach towels draped across white sand, and no sun rays so strong that you feel the heat pull you into the ocean. No, here, you are pulled by something else.
Here, you note that the overcast sky so closely resembles the color of the water that the only divide is the white of the surf at the shoreline and the silhouette of distant sea stacks. You walk across onyx sand and rounded, cobble-like stones. You don’t taste the salt in the air like you’d expected. But your senses are alive with the novelty of the situation. What is there to see? To feel? To discover? What story is this place waiting to tell?
Olympic National Park boasts 73 miles of Pacific coastline, 65 of which are protected in partnership with three national wildlife refuges and the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, creating one of the longest stretches of wilderness coast in the lower 48 states.
This safe haven extends 20-50 miles beyond the water’s edge and encompasses nearshore kelp beds, subtidal reefs, intertidal zones, submarine canyons, and upwelling zones. The coastal and marine habitats protected as wilderness are home to a rich diversity of life, including whales, seals, sea lions, otters, sea birds, and tide pool inhabitants.
To glimpse into a tide pool is to witness hundreds of animals crowded into an area that is merely the size of a dinner plate. Creatures cling to open rock surfaces, swim through the glistening pools, and squeeze themselves between nooks and crannies. Here, life is abundant.
Shoreline flora and fauna are greatly affected by marine conditions. Exposed coastlines will support different groups of marine plants and animals than protected areas. The rocky shores of Olympic National Park vary distinctly from the sandy beaches, encompassing zones of plant and animal life which is controlled by tidal levels.
These zones include the splash zone, the high intertidal zone, the middle intertidal zone, and the low intertidal zone. In the splash zone, the waves crash against sea boulders as the common periwinkle and the ribbed limpet clutch on to the rock. The high tide zone is exposed during all low tides, when the waters have been pulled back away from the shore. Here, acorn and gooseneck barnacles that are able to withstand dry periods colonize the rocks among large beds of California mussels.
In the middle intertidal zone, marine life is strikingly colorful. Tide pooling in this zone offers great opportunities to view the giant green anemone, which gets much of its color through a symbiotic relationship with the microalgae and dinoflagellates living in its tissues.
Adding to the patchwork of color in the mid tide zone, the Ochre Sea Star, which can be purple, orange, yellow, brick red, or brown, uses suckers along its rays to cling to rocks as waves crash all around. Tiny hairs on the animal's underside enable it to slowly move across surfaces, preying on algae, mussels, and other shelled animals. If prey is too large for its mouth, the Ochre Sea Star can extrude its stomach so that it is able to digest.
The low tide zone appears when the water is at its lowest, during a new or full moon. Spiky Sea Urchins and colorful Nudibranch can be observed during this time. Rising above the surf are jagged sea stacks, peninsulas or headlands that have been carved out by the crashing waves. The softer sandstone is slowly eroded away, leaving behind the hard basalt or limestone towers that are frequently visited by seabirds such as Tufted Puffins, Brown Pelicans, and Rhinoceros Auklets.
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."
- Jacques Yves Cousteau
The erosive power of ocean waves also creates sea arches, like the one found at Rialto Beach aptly named Hole-in-the-Wall. An absolute work of art gifted by the natural processes of nature, Hole-in-the-Wall provides keyhole views to coastal forest on one side and ocean ecosystems on the other.
The Northwest coast has proven to be more memorable than you could have dreamed. From a distance, she is rugged and barren. Her wind howls as a steady mist limits visibility. A chill runs down your spine, goosebumps rising across the tops of your forearms. You blink away the rain and squint into the tide pool, noticing the way that every hue of color starkly contrasts the surrounding sand and stone. You feel the grit of the sand remaining on your fingertips after combing for sand dollars and stones. Here, you are acutely aware of all the intricacies of this unforgettably wild coast. You are present in the moment and in your presence, you are wild. A different kind of wild you've never been before. A coastal wild.
References and Further Reading:
“Olympic National Park (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/olym/index.htm.
Montereybayaquarium.org, www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/giant-green-anemone.
National Geographic: Illustrated Guide to Wildlife: From Your Back Door to the Great Outdoors. National Geographic Society, 2014.
Alden, Peter, and Paulson, Dennis. National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest. Andrew Stewart Publishing, Inc., 1998.
Comentários