Day 15 – 8/16 Newport, Seal Rocks, & Lost Creek

The first time I was in this area I was told the “sand shifted.” It was very hard to imagine at the time but now, a year and a half later I get it. The ocean here will either take the sand away from the beach causing the rocks to “stick out more prominently” or deposit sand on the beach completely obscuring small coastal rock formations. This year there is more sand on the beach thus appears to be less rock formations and less tide pools – for the most part. There are two (or more) unique things you can find on the beach; floats, and agates. Floats are glass balls that have either broken free of deteriorated fishing nets in Japan or have been planted by the glass blowers along the coastline as a homage to this industry. I haven’t found any floats. The other thing is agates – “translucent, colorful quartz stones created by ancient volcanic activity and tumbled by the ocean.” Last year I spent hours looking for them on beaches up and down the coast line. Finally, I found numerous ones on Lost Creek. So, this year I wanted to go to Lost Creek at low tide and pick some up – yup; nope. Even at a very low Low Tide there were no rocks on the beach and the Newport Beach and Seal Rocks tidal pools had shifted. Now I understand what they mean when they say the beach changes.

I met a mother and son at Seal Rocks that were looking for purple and red sea urchins in order to get the delicacy – Uni. They didn’t find any but I started making a mental list of the things you can easily find and eat on the coast and honestly I don’t think anyone would go hungry here. From salmon and all kinds of other fishes to sea urchins, sea stars, Dungeness and rock crabs to clams and blackberries everywhere (since I’ve gotten to the west coast from Vancouver to here I’ve eaten more blackberries from plants beside the road than I have my whole life) food is plentiful.