[SEMCO] This Saturday (June 22), photograph the Buzzards Bay annual high tide (aka the "King Tide")

[Joe Costa]

If you are on the shores of Buzzards Bay this weekend, we are seeking photographs documenting the annual high tide along different
parts of the bay. On Saturday, the high tide occurs shortly before 8 PM.  On Sunday, the high tide will be about a half inch higher,
but the tide will be 50 minutes later, closer to the end of civil dusk, and thus will be difficult to photograph.
 
Annual high tides occur on a 14-month cycle, and occur when the full moon is slightly closer to the earth in its elliptical orbit
(the full moon appears slightly larger during these months in the cycle).  In Buzzards Bay, the annual high tide is a little more
than a foot higher than the average high tide (Mean High Water).  High tides near the full moons in May and July of this year are
nearly as high as the June high tides.
 
We are particularly looking for photograph pairs of the annual high tide with either an "average" high tide (occurring roughly about
2 hours before each high tide this weekend), or with the negative low tides that are also occurring this weekend in the afternoons.
Salt marshes, low docks or filled piers, jetties, and familiar bathing beaches make good subjects.
 
Annual high tides have relevance for two reasons. First, the annual high tide has regulatory significance in state and federal
wetlands permits. For example, to avoid the need for a federal wetlands permit, municipalities add sand above the high tide line as
part of beach nourishment projects. Annual high tides also define the boundary of salt marshes in the state wetlands regulations.  
 
Second, there is also a growing national "King Tide" photo initiative, because the annual high tide is a useful tool to communicate
what future elevated sea levels will look like. For example at Clarks Point in New Bedford, the elevation of the average high tide
is 3.7 feet above Mean Lower Low Water, whereas the annual high tide or King Tide at the same location is 4.8 feet. Therefore, on
June 22 you can see what a future "average" high tide might look like with 1-foot of sea level rise.
 
More information about the Buzzards Bay annual high tide, and where to send you photographs can be found on this page:
 
http://buzzardsbay.org/king-tides.html
 
By the way, on the rest of Cape Cod, the annual high tide will generally fall on June 24 or 25, but will occur too late at night to
easily observe.  Check your local tide tables to be sure about the specific times and dates for your local.
 
The next annual high tides in Buzzards Bay will occur in July, August, and September of 2014, during the morning hours.
 
 
 
===================================
Joseph E. Costa, PhD, Executive Director
Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program
Mass. Coastal Zone Management
2870 Cranberry Highway
East Wareham, MA 02538
voice: 508-291-3625 x11
fax: 508-291-3628
 
 
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