(WSB photos by Anne Higuera unless otherwise credited)

By Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

A misty, wet start to low-low tide season did not deter people from flocking to shorelines at midday today to discover sea life left exposed by the receding Sound. South of Lincoln Park, dozens gathered among the towering piers of the ferry dock, forming circles around interesting finds and calling out to friends.

Among them were many beach naturalists trained by the Seattle Aquarium who plan to be at the beach during low tides sharing what they know with friends and curious neighbors whether it’s part of a formal program or not.

Tide-pooling during a low, low tide involves walking a hundred or more yards over sand and seabed that in some areas is exposed only a handful of days a year.

Rubber boots are a good idea, along with looking very carefully where you step. Bigger marine animals like sea stars and sea anemones are easy to spot.

So are the egg collars from Moon Snails, which look a bit like shaped plastic.

The smaller creatures require a keen eye and a little luck. Having someone who can point out a Shaggy Mouse nudibranch (Aeolidia loui) or know that the flat worm wriggling across the wet sand is likely a White Line Ribbon worm makes low tides into educational outings.

It’s also especially exciting to find things like a small Red Octopus biding her time until the tide comes back in. Pat, who took the photo, said the consensus was that this one is a female.

(Photo courtesy Pat Reaville)

There are several organizations in the area (including MAST and the Environmental Science Center) that have beach naturalist programs, but the Seattle Aquarium’s has been the largest, consistently staffing around a dozen locations, including two beaches in West Seattle. The Aquarium is planning to run their program again this year, but doesn’t yet have dates set. “The team tells me we are very close,” said Aquarium spokesperson Tim Kuniholm last week. It’s expected that the Aquarium program will have a significantly shorter list of events this year after layoffs in January. That program and Cedar River Salmon Journey relied on 300+ volunteers, who have been in limbo for a number of months, waiting to hear what’s next. Some have moved on to other opportunities, or just decided they’ll go to the beach no matter what.

Today, a naturalist who was let go in the round of layoffs was holding up a Leather Star to show other former Aquarium volunteers. They are supposed to have a scent similar to garlic, so everyone took a good whiff. She also pointed out a shrimp and other smaller creatures that might otherwise go unnoticed.

In talking with Aquarium volunteers today and others in recent weeks, we heard most express resignation and/or sadness at the changes being made to the naturalist program, but they also are making a point of reaching out to other volunteers to meet up, as they did today. One is even working to organize an informal club — the West Seattle Low Tide All Stars — in part to facilitate meetups between former volunteers on low-tide days.

Today that happened organically, with knowledgeable naturalists just as excited about what they were finding as were kids, families, and others peering into tidepools and wading in the water, trying to take in everything they could see before the tide began to inch back up again.

There is another very low tide tomorrow – -3.4 feet, same as today, just before 1:30 pm.