On Monday, at exactly 12:37 p.m. local time, the water in the Puget Sound inlet at Seattle will drop to -4.04 feet (-1.23 meters) — the lowest tide of the entire month of May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports. It’s a perfect excuse to put on rubber boots, take a lunch break and head to the beach to get a close look at crabs, moon snails, gooseneck barnacles and seagulls. For seafood lovers: when the tide is below -3 feet it’s especially convenient to harvest geoducks — large edible clams considered a delicacy in Washington.
If you’re not sure where to start, join volunteers from the Seattle Aquarium — as part of the “Beach Naturalists” program they’ll be on duty from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at several city beaches: the pocket beach at Olympic Sculpture Park, and the Lincoln and Richmond beaches. Specialists will talk about what sea stars eat, why gooseneck barnacles stand on their heads, and how moon snails create their mysterious sand collars (spoiler: it’s an egg collar!). They’ll also explain how to explore the intertidal zone safely for both the animals and yourself.
Don’t worry if you miss Monday — on Tuesday the low tide will reach -3.73 feet, and the lowest readings of the summer will occur June 14–16 (-4.3 feet) and July 14 (-3.9 feet). To make “hunting” for intertidal creatures even more fun, download the Seattle Aquarium’s guide to 50 species of Puget Sound wildlife.
Based on: The lowest tide in May happens during Monday’s lunch hour