Rising tides
Oregon King Tides Project
turns citizens into scientists
BY MALLORY GRUBEN
The scientists with the Oregon King
Tides P roject don’t have to imagine what
the coastline will look like when sea lev-
els rise. They have a photo gallery of real-
life examples. This weekend they hope to
add to that gallery with the help of citizen
scientists.
For the last 12 years, the coastal proj-
ect has encouraged local photographers
and citizen scientists to capture images of
the annual king tides, extremely high tide
events that occur in the winter when the
sun, moon and E arth align closest to each
other. It’s during this time that seasonal
storms often cause larger waves and rapid
winds. The images show real examples of
how rising sea levels could aff ect roads,
bridges, homes and other infrastructure in
the future.
an indicator of sea level rise. … The king
tides of today are the regular high tides of
tomorrow,” Jones said.
The king tides are predicted to hit North
Coast beaches this weekend, from Friday to
Saturday. They’re expected to return again
the fi rst weekend of the new year on Jan. 1.
Photographers could win a prize
Jones said this year they are asking pho-
tographers to focus on gathering compar-
ison photos. Photographers are encour-
aged to take and submit images of the same
location during king tides and the regular
high tides . Submitted images will appear
on the Oregon King Tides P roject Flickr
page and can be viewed by the public
year-round.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
See Page 9
Visitors watch a large log get carried up the beach in Cannon Beach.
How king tides predict the future
“On the Oregon Coast, we have high
tides anywhere from 6 to 8 feet every day,
twice a day. King tides can be anywhere
from 10 to 12 feet, especially if there is a
storm surge,” said Jesse Jones, volunteer
coordinator for CoastWatch, a citizen coast-
line monitoring program that partners with
Oregon Coast Management to host the Ore-
gon King Tides P roject each year.
The publicly collected photos serve as
a basis for cities and other planning agen-
cies to determine how to safely build near
the coastline, especially in preparation for
future years when sea levels are higher.
“The way Oregon Coast Management
and CoastWatch look at it, the king tides are
Upcoming King Tides
Friday through Saturday
Jan. 1 to Jan. 3
Submit citizen scientist photos to
oregonkingtides.net
Carolyn Hoard
Waves crash over rocks in Cannon Beach.
MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED
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1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR
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