Fun With Tides

I included this graphic from howstuffworks.com to remind all of us land lovers how the tides work.  In the situations where the sun, moon and earth are all lined up, the tidal differences can be more extreme and when the moon and the sun are at right angles to the earth, the tides can be smaller. Steve, our B and B owner told us the tides in Bar Harbor gave them an 11 foot difference in water levels every 6 hours and 12 minutes.  I just read there is a bay in Canada that has a 50 foot difference in water levels between low and high tides!  Also, tides in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean are smaller than in the big boy oceans.

This is a sand bar that runs between the town of bar harbor and an island about a quarter mile away.  During low tide, pictured here, you can walk across.  If you happened to live on the island, you would have two opportunities each day to walk across.  Since the difference between low and high tides is 6 hours and 12 minutes, you would have to become familiar with how fast the water level rises and if you have time to hustle across once the sand bar starts to shrink.  Steve said if you are on the island and you start to notice the sand bar shrinking, it is time to head across.

I commented to Sue that this sand bar is smoother and more road-like than most of the roads we drove on in Tanzania!

 This is the three quarter mile pier we walked out on in Rockland to get to the historic light house.  This was low tide.  If the tide were high and there were waves, I would have thought this a dangerous pier to stroll on.

 Low tide in Lincolnville

I remember the tides in Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico when I was there as a six year old with Granny and Grandad Yankee.  I remember walking out really far with Granny during low tide.

This low tide photo is right next to the sandbar.  Many of the piers float with movable ramps to account for the 11 foot swing in the water levels.  Fun stuff.