
Reshaping Oregon’s coast
Lily Roby
(CN) — Those who have fallen in love with Pacific Northwest beaches fell in love with them for their tides. Crashing into the shores with relentless force just to retreat, leaving behind gorgeous sea stones, driftwood and tide pools flourishing with diverse marine life, the ebb and flow of the ocean currents have built the beloved mist-shrouded beaches we know today. But, once or twice each year, the waves themselves become the main tourist attraction in the form of king tides, violently ravaging the rugged coast.
The alignment of Earth, the moon and the sun create these epic waves in oceans across the globe, raising tides feet above their average height and causing hazardous beach conditions, erosion and flooding. In 2022, Seattle’s Elliott Bay reported record-breaking tides nearly 15 feet above sea level thanks to the royally named phenomena.
Given its reputation for green living and environmental appreciation, the state of Oregon was bound to take part in some sort of community science project centered around king tides; the question was only when. In 2011, the answer came when environmentalists inspired by Australia’s Witness King Tides project began documenting the natural spectacle in a grassroots effort.
Thus, the Oregon King Tides Project was born. Aiming to archive these beautiful, massive waves and their impacts on both coastal towns and ecosystems, the community science effort partners with nonprofit Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition to put out an annual call for the best king tide photos Oregonians have to offer.
And participate Oregonians have. Rhiannon Bezore, a coordinator of the photo project, said each individual king tide event can bring anywhere from 50 to 200 photo submissions. In recent years, these events have happened as frequently as three or four times each winter season. This winter, king tides hit the Oregon coast Nov. 15-17, 2024, Dec. 13-15, 2024 and Jan. 11-13, 2025.
Early each fall, the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development’s Oregon Coastal Management Program, which Bezore also works under, meets to analyze high tide predictions published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The organization then selects the highest tide dates, which are announced to the public as the season’s king tide dates along with a call to action to safely capture photographs of the waves and their effects.
Once images are collected, they’re placed in the project’s database, which is both a public science recordkeeping initiative and an educational opportunity with a goal of mitigating the impacts of these aggressive tides. Years of data collection have revealed king tide hot spots, hinting at areas that will likely face increased flooding and erosion as sea levels continue to rise in the future. Identifying those high impact spots now is key in preparing for those increasing side effects of climate change.
Already, the organization has been able to document those changes over the years. While flooding may be common for coastal towns, areas coinciding with designated hot spots have faced harsher flooding than usual thanks to king tides. The December king tides brought severe flooding to Nehalem, Oregon, where locals were spotted kayaking in the streets to get to work.
“We see a lot of flooding of not only infrastructure and roads, but also into our bays and estuaries, too,” Bezore, who is also a coastal shores specialist at the Oregon Coastal Management Program, said. “A lot of animals and species in bays and estuaries are used to tidal influence, so they have a higher tolerance to salt water. But, that doesn’t mean that some of these king tides, which push much further into our bays and estuaries, don’t impact them.”
Newport, one of the project’s largest hot spots for king tides alongside the coastal towns of Bandon and Yachats, created a comprehensive plan in 1984 to guide land development techniques as the city grew. Updated approximately every five years, the plan warns of intense erosion from high tides and ocean storms, as the majority of the city is built on a marine terrace structure composed of cemented sand, silt and pebbly sand.
Individuals with homes right on the sea may have the privilege of enjoying a gorgeous view each morning, but with increasing king tides, the question is for how long.
Some homeowners are fighting against the tides by protecting their properties with foundations such as riprap, a breakwater made of loose stone. A 2021 study by Oregon State University researchers details a 25-year analysis of coastal property owners’ decisions in choosing to armor—or not armor—their oceanside properties to defend against coastal erosion.
While riprap may momentarily protect homes from king tides, the anti-erosion technique is largely opposed by conservation groups like the Surfrider Foundation and Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition as it can destroy coastal ecosystems, diminish beaches’ scenic value and even pressure waves more harshly onto unprotected properties.
Yet some towns have little choice in armoring against the rising king tides. Today, nearly the entire length of Neskowin, located just north of king tide hot spot Lincoln City, is protected by riprap. The town sits a steep 20 feet above sea level, yet these seawalls have been seen as necessary in recent years as the king tides get higher.
A heartbreaking scene of erosion can also be seen in the Lincoln County Leader’s images of Newport’s famous “hole-in-the-rock” before and after its 2023 collapse due to winter storms and king tides. Documenting and sharing the effects of king tides is necessary, Bezore said, not just because it collects data and provides before-and-after comparisons to look back at each season, but because these environmental changes would likely go unrecognized to members of the public not deeply familiar with Oregon’s coasts.
The 2024-2025 king tide season brought tourists from across the nation aiming to photograph the epic waves, thanks to the photo project and its collaboration with the Oregon Coast Visitors’ Association (OCVA). But the organizations emphasize staying safe goes hand-in-hand with photographing king tides — the massive tides can bring sneaker waves that seem to surge out of nowhere, posing a deadly risk. The body of a king tide photographer was discovered this month, three weeks after he set out in December to capture images of the waves in North Bend.
“We’re really big on pushing the safety emphasis,” Bezore said. “We see a lot of people, unfortunately, putting themselves at risk to view these king tides and high waves in general. We really encourage people to be safe, to view them from a safe distance and not go past any signage designed to keep people safe.”
For those that safely captured images for this year’s photo project, prizes may lay in store. Submitted images aren’t just added to the project’s database, but are also considered for a photo contest with four different categories for potential winners to theme their images: bays and estuaries, coastal flooding, waves and erosion, and comparison shots.
Hosting the contest, with prizes offered by OCVA, further encourages individuals to get involved with the community science effort and document impacts to coastal communities.
“We all live here or visit here, and the coast is important to all Oregonians,” Bezore said. “This gives us an opportunity to not only see these really exciting events, but see these impacts through other people’s eyes, too.”