Mike in the Wild

Starting with its dozens of mile of coastline, San Diego offers unlimited spots for seaside adventures and relaxation.  The city may be most renowned for the sandy beaches where Arizonans like me - we're not so affectionately referred to as Zonies - descend en masse during the hottest months of our long, baking summer.  Even COVID-19 didn't keep us away this year as we masked up in the large crowds visiting the coast.  But it turned out the masks would come in handy for another reason: the stench. A well-known area of the sprawling coastal city is La Jolla - Spanish for The Jewel - noted for being one of the most expensive communities in the United States to buy a home in.  But it's also famous for its geography, situated on a rising bluff over the Pacific Ocean where spectacular views of the sea are one of the reasons for the astronomical real estate costs.  Much of the neighborhood's coastline includes cliffs punctuated by cozy, sandy beaches.   ...

Tides are as familiar to experienced beach-goers as all the items they pack for a day at the shore: blanket, beach chair, beach umbrella, sunblock, ice chest.  The sea level's rising and falling play a critical role on exactly where we pitch this camp for our fun in the sun and surf.  Everyone of us has a story of the time an especially large wave washed over our encampment as the tide stealthily creeped higher up the shore, stealing a sneaker or a shirt on its return to the ocean. On rocky coastlines tides cover and reveal a world teaming with life that's especially adapted to these regular periods in and out of water.  Last weekend shortly after sunrise I investigated exposed tidal pools in La Jolla, California during the first low tide of the day.   Tides are the result of the gravitational effect of the moon and the sun along with the Earth's rotation on our seas.  They're mostly on a predictable schedule, ebbing and flowing twice a day, resulting i...