Oceans 82: The Beach Trip
I went to Robert W. Crown Memorial State beach this weekend with a friend
The beach is in old Huichiun land, surrounded by tidal marsh and intertidal flat water further from the new Alameda coast. These are relatively shallow waters.
I heard someone who grew up here tell me that a lot of the Bay Area water is brackish water. The EPA cofirms a presence of salt, fresh, and brackish water throughout the region. The Bay Area is a large estuary, so the mixing water types create brackish water near Alameda.
The beach was in low-tide, the near-shore was well off into the distance, the back-shore clearly marked by pneumatocystic kelp. A wide berth of littoral sludge reflected the evening sun in patches. I trudged into the mud to observe the flora. I saw the mirrors turn to little puddles that were too shallow to support macroscopic life. I saw kelp strewn about, but the most predominant feature were small ant hills, tunnels down into the sound burrowed into little mountains. I observed the full moon in the day light, opposite the setting sun, the lowered tidal forced receding the water line into the bay.
California coastal upwelling sends nutrients up into and around the Bay Area, but man made structures changed and controlled the size of the surrounding water mass. In California, water is a treasured resource. My friend and I appreciated the beach, and talked about some of our memories, and how we felt in general about “beaches”. We had some fruit, whipped cream, and drank bottled water. It was a nice time overall.
I think that sometimes, the ocean and surrounding can sometimes look like alien planets.
