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Lowest Tides in 19 Years Draw Crowds

Jun 5, 9:22 AM (ET), By GENE JOHNSON
SEATTLE (AP) - From barnacles to limpets, crabs and sea stars, the lowest tides in 19 years are revealing all sorts of unusual creatures trapped in tidepools - to the delight of beach-combing masses. Hundreds of people hit the sands Friday, with many more expected to head out over the weekend.
"It's really, really interesting. It gives you a window into what is there all the time that you don't see - sea cucumbers, sea stars, maybe an octopus," said Polly Freeman, a local naturalist who brought her 20-month-old son, Nate, to the beach at Seattle's Golden Gardens park.
There are 36 factors that affect the tides, from the Earth's proximity to the sun and the moon to the moon's angle in relation to the equator, said Richard Strickland, who teaches oceanography at the University of Washington.
Every 19 years, those factors line up just so - creating the lowest low tides and the greatest differences between low and high tides, he said. Virtually everywhere outside of the tropics will have seen the lowest low tides in 19 years between about Friday and Sunday, he said.