#tidal flats

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Mangroves on tidal flats, Kakadu, Australia

Mangrove forests grow along creek lines on the tidal flats of Kakadu national park. This shot was taken from a helicopter flying over Australia’s Northern Territory. Mangroves are a significant ecosystem in Kakadu’s coastal zone, which is only accessible by boat or air. The mangroves not only provide coastal protection but are also rich in biodiversity and an important resource for Aboriginal people.

By Stuart Chape

Mangrove photography awards

[biostatprof]

Tidal flats

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Tidal Flats

Artist: Rob Alexander TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[rabbitcruiser]

Stewart Boardwalk, BC (No. 5)

Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal flat ecosystems are as extensive globally as mangroves, covering at least 127,921 km2 (49,391 sq mi) of the Earth's surface. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries; they are also seen in freshwater lakes and salty lakes (or inland seas) alike, wherein many rivers and creeks end. Mudflats may be viewed geologically��as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and aquatic animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily.

Source: Wikipedia

[xtruss]

South Korea Is A Test Case On How To Fight An Ecological Disaster

After Two-thirds of the Country’s Tidal Flats Were Lost to Shoreline Development, South Korean Scientists Set Out to Prove Why This Ecosystem is so Essential.

— By Anna Jeanine Kim | Photographs: By Youngrea Kim | August 15, 2023

The sun sets over a tidal flat in Southwestern South Korea. Tidal Flats are a type of Ecosystem that Provide Habitat for Wildlife and help fight climate change—yet many are at risk of disappearing.

Yubudo, South Korea — As Byeongwoo Lee slowly walks across a sandy tidal flat on Yubudo, a small island off the west coast of South Korea, the birding guide does so quietly.

“You can’t see the birds right now,” Lee said. “You can feel them.”

Through the scope, it was just possible to make out their blurry shapes in the dark, and to hear the gentle but powerful “whhhrrr-reet-reet-reet” of tens of thousands of birds as they fed at the shoreline and in the shallow water.

As the sun rose, the tide retreated until it revealed six miles of the muddy sea floor. Channels of water like tree branches crisscrossed mud teeming with crabs, clams, snails, and sea worms.

Top: Depending on the time of day, tidal flats are either completely submerged under water or exposed to the air. Seen here at low tide, tidal channels criss cross an exposed tidal flat neighboring a residential neighborhood in Muan, South Korea.

Bottom: During an annual ceremony that takes place on the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, Gwangho Chu bows before a ceremonial table placed on a tidal flat in Wando, a small island in South Korea. Coastal communities in the Yellow Sea region have continued to honor the centuries-old tradition of celebrating the ancestral spirits of the sea and praying for a good harvest from the tidal flats.

Tidal flats like these are a type of wetland found on coastlines around the world. Korea’s Yellow Sea tidal flats, like those found on Yubudo Island, form the heart of an 18,000-mile route traveled by 50 million shorebirds as they migrate from eastern Russia and Alaska in the summer to Australia and New Zealand in the winter.

Many of them only stop once on their marathon journeys, and the tidal flats of South Korea provide them with essential food and shelter.

Yet despite their critical importance to the environment, many are at risk of disappearing. Some of the most important, and most endangered, are found surrounding the Yellow Sea along the shores of China and the western side of the Korean peninsula.

For decades, people have been transforming them into industrial sites and farms, squeezing them into smaller areas and pushing some species to the brink of extinction. But as science increasingly shows how wetlands like these benefit wildlife and help fight climate change, South Korean scientists and conservationists are gaining momentum in their effort to save and restore what’s left.

Top: From left, Okji Kim, Yangim Kim, and Sunim Bae work together to make gamtae-kimchi, a special type of kimchi made with sea algae instead of cabbage. With limited farmland available, coastal communities have traditionally relied on the abundance of tidal flats, developing a unique culinary culture over thousands of years.

Bottom: A seafood meal is served at a restaurant in Yamido, a small island now connected to the mainland by the construction of the 21-mile-long seawall built as part of the Saemangeum development project. Many of the residents living around the seawall used to make a living working in the seafood industry, but the destruction of nearby tidal flats significantly decreased their harvests, threatening their livelihood.

Why Tidal Flats Are An Environmental Powerhouse

“The tidal flats made the relationship between humans and the sea possible,” said Joon Kim, a senior researcher at the Jeonnam Research Institute who studies the culture around Korean tidal flats.

Since prehistory, South Korea’s coastal communities relied on tidal flats for harvesting clams, crabs, octopus, and seaweed, adjusting their way of life to the tide’s schedule. Their biodiversity and abundance inspired many beloved local cuisines, unique coastal culture, and a fishing economy worth over $330 million U.S. dollars a year.

These same ecosystems are now helping fight climate change.

South Korean universities are partnering with the government to study tidal flats and their ability to clean polluted water, protect shoreline communities from storms, and mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide.

Korean tidal flats are full of tiny one-celled organisms called benthic diatoms that sink through the mud as they complete their life cycle, burying carbon dioxide in the deep sediment, says Jong Seong Khim, a marine scientist and professor at Seoul National University.

Top: Seoul National University researcher Inok Lee hands a sediment sample to her colleague outside the Saemangeum seawall. Scientists like Lee are studying how the large-scale development project is harming water quality and marine wildlife.

Bottom: People ride recreational boats through a man-made canal at a city park in Songdo, South Korea. Once a thriving tidal flat ecosystem, Songdo was built on reclaimed land and hailed for creating "a city out of nothing." Over the past 70 years, South Korea has lost over two-thirds of its tidal flats due to reclamation projects like these.

The diversity and number of benthic diatoms make South Korean tidal flats unique, as does its thick mud—over 80 feet deep in some tidal flats.

In 2021, Khim and his fellow researchers published a study showing South Korea’s tidal flats and salt marshes absorb 260,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to taking about 110,000 cars off the road every year.

The same year, the South Korean government announced a four-year project to bring back tidal flats and salt marshes to help fight climate change.

Kim hopes that by showing how effectively tidal flats store carbon, governments and conservation groups will recognize them as valuable and save them from being destroyed.

Why Tidal Flats Are In Danger

In the past 70 years, South Korea has transformed from a country devastated by war into a highly developed, industrial nation. During this rapid change, two-thirds of its tidal flats subsequently disappeared.

In a country surrounded by the ocean on three sides, like South Korea, engineering solid, dry land over water-logged terrain, a process referred to as land reclamation, can expand territory or create more farmland.

Of all the threats to tidal flats—such as sea level rise and pollution—land reclamation has led to the most loss.

Scientists are only beginning to understand the true extent of this loss globally, but one recent study suggests 16 percent of the world’s tidal flats have disappeared in the past few decades.

“We are at a point where we should consider what we can do to give back to tidal flats,” said Kim.

Left: In 1989, a satellite image shows what the tidal flats around the Saemangeum development project looked like before construction began in earnest.

Right: By 2018, a satellite image of that same tidal flat reveals the effect of a 21-mile seawall and construction. The 100,000-acre reclamation project is seven times the size of Manhattan. ESA/NASA/USGS

One of the most controversial shoreline developments is Saemangeum, a 100,000-acre reclamation project seven times the size of Manhattan.

Developers first envisioned Saemangeum as a vast agricultural area for rice cultivation, then as the economy changed, they promised to turn it into an industrial corridor.

In 2006, despite lawsuits and protests, a 21-mile-long wall in Saemangeum deprived the ecosystem of the water it needed to exist. Just one part of the region’s transformation, it set the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest sea dam.

Millions of shellfish died when the wall severed the ecosystem from the tide.

Finding no food and no place to land, tens of thousands of migratory birds disappeared. About 90,000 now-endangered great knot birds died, driving their total population numbers down by at least 24 percent.

Top: The 21-mile-long Saemangeum seawall is is the longest such structure in the world. After its construction, tens of thousands of shorebirds disappeared from the area that used to be one of the most important habitats along the Yellow Sea region.

Bottom: As excavators work on tidal flat reclamation in Songdo, shorebirds rest during their annual migration from Australia to the Russian Far East. Developing tidal flats in this region destroys critical habitats for the 50 million migratory birds that fly this route every year.

Top: Great knots feed on clams and seaworms at a tidal flat near Yubudo, a small island off the west coast of South Korea. About 80 percent of great knots have disappeared in the last two decades due to habitat loss.

Bottom: Dongpil Oh and his son, Seungjun Oh, conduct monthly surveys of shorebird populations on the the Sura tidal flat found in Gunsan, South Korea. Sura is one of the last remaining tidal flats found within the Saemangeum reclamation site. Dongpil and Seungjun are part of the Saemangeum Citizen Ecology Investigation Team, a grassroots organization that advocates for conservation and documents threats to tidal flats impacted by the Saemanguem.

It wasn’t only wildlife that suffered. Before the wall, the area was known for the nation’s best clams, with a fishing industry supporting around 20,000 people. Nearly all of that disappeared.

And yet despite promises of jobs made to the community, developers have completed less than half of the reclamation, and much of what has been reclaimed are undeveloped empty lots.

Saemangeum developers now plan to build an airport over the last remaining tidal flat, Sura, with construction scheduled to begin in 2024. Activists are suing to stop it, pointing out that the site still provides habitat for endangered species like black-faced spoonbills and Far Eastern curlews.

“It’s painful to remember how much it’s changed. Sometimes you forget how beautiful it was in the past because your eyes adjust to what it looks like now,” said Dongpil Oh, one of the activists involved and leader of the Saemangeum Citizen Ecological Investigation Team.

Left: Halophytes turn red on a tidal flat in Sinan, South Korea. South Korean researchers are studying how salt-tolerant plants like these can boost tidal flats’ ability to fight climate change by absorbing carbon.

Right: A blue-spotted mudskipper jumps during a mating dance at low tide in Sinan. Resting in its burrow at high tide and feeding in the mud when the tide goes out, the unusual, amphibious fish is adapted to the tidal flat’s drastic daily changes.

Bottom: The sun sets over Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve at low tide. About 16 percent of the world's tidal flats have been destroyed in just the past few decades, but science is increasingly showing how important these ecosystems are for preserving wildlife and fighting climate change.

Top: National Institute of Ecology researchers and local volunteers tag baby black-faced spoonbills with GPS trackers in Incheon, South Korea. Around 90 percent of these endangered shorebirds breed on the country’s west coast. After their worldwide population dropped below 300 in the late 1980s, conservation efforts have brought their numbers to around 5,200. “As a top predator in tidal flats, their health can indicate the health of the overall ecosystem,” researcher Inki Kwon said.

Bottom: Ecotourist guide Sunjeong Heo points out a flock of birds over a tidal flat at Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve in South Korea. Drawing over six million visitors a year, the UNESCO World Heritage site is a blueprint for the country’s tidal flat conservation and ecotourism.

A New Era of Conservation

After 30 years of construction, Saemangeum has become synonymous with ecological collapse, but it also sparked an environmental movement in South Korea after people witnessed what happens when tidal flats are lost.

Two years after the Saemangeum seawall was finished, in 2008, the South Korean government banned new large-scale reclamation projects—though developments already in progress, like Saemangeum, are still permitted.

And in 2019, reclamation of tidal flats finally plateaued in South Korea, when the net gain from restoration barely surpassed the loss, according to a 2023 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

One of the best places to see the benefit of this kind of conservation is South Korea’s Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve, on the peninsula's southern edge. The wetland was spared from the threat of development in the ‘90s, when residents and activists protested the government’s plan to mine the land.

Suncheon Bay became the country’s first internationally protected coastal wetland, and its tidal flats were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2021, along with four other tidal flats in South Korea. Every year, over six million tourists visit the wetland and the nearby National Garden to see wildlife like hooded cranes and blue-spotted mud skippers.

With municipal and national funds, the Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve bought nearby farmland by the coast, restoring the connection with the sea.

Their holistic approach to restoration has introduced organic rice farming to reduce pollution from runoff and educational opportunities for ecotourists, residents, and children in local schools. Suncheon’s success is a blueprint for tidal flat conservation around the world.

“Our focus is on letting the tide flow again, like it always did,” said Sunmi Hwang, a conservationist with the wetland reserve. “And then nature heals itself.”

[burtontracks]

Beach – 240506ad

two birds

[yupuffin]

Wow, they were right -- those waves sure can wuther!! 🤣

Beach vacation x convention weekend continues! Got several miles' worth of beach frolicking in today, and my convention haul of sea critter-themed earrings (not pictured) tells you exactly where my nerd intersectionality lies 😜

[ordinary-beautiful]

The Flats

[springcatalyst]

whenever i write Scene At The Coast i like to make it something other than Sandy Beach because theres lots of ways a coast can look!!!! however sometimes the answer is still Sandy Beach

[biostatprof]

[eternal-jamie]

I went for a walk along the coast yesterday

[rabbitcruiser]

Heading Back

What do you think about my pic?  

[kimtaegis]

new got7 album is so gooooood

[capecodadventurepictures]

Common Loon at the Cape Cod Canal 12/16/24

[baro-memento]

[youngsadlesbian]

helloooo!

i have a request for avenger!wanda and doctor!reader wherein wanda comes home from a mission late at night and comes home to reader sleeping on their bed. she thinks it’s just a normal night, until her phone is flooded with messages in the morning as her phone was automatically connected to their wifi. the messages were reader asking where wanda was, because it was their anniversary.

reader ignores her in the morning since she hasn’t been home in awhile, not even for their anniversary. theeeeeen, wanda makes it up to her when she gets home! basically hurt/comfort and angst angst angst.

thank yew!

- 🍂

BETWEEN LOVE AND DISTANCE | wanda maximoff x doctor!reader

summary: wanda returns home late from a mission, exhausted and unaware she missed your anniversary. the distance between you grows, and she desperately tries to fix what she broke.

a/n: thanks for the request. hope u like it!

word count: 1,1k

warnings: angst but with a happy ending.

The apartment was quiet. Unbearably so.

You sat curled up on the couch, your phone clutched in your hand. The dim glow of the screen was the only source of light in the darkened room, illuminating the unread messages you had sent hours ago.

"Wanda, where are you?" "Did you forget what today is?" "I’ve been waiting all night."

You swallowed hard, blinking against the burning in your eyes as you stared at the time. 1:32 AM.

She wasn’t coming.

You had spent the entire day convincing yourself otherwise.

You had left work early, picked out a dress Wanda always said she loved on you, cooked her favorite meal, and even bought a small cake—because today was supposed to be special.

Your anniversary.

One year together. One year of love, laughter, and promises whispered into the night.

But Wanda hadn’t shown up.

No call. No message. Nothing.

You had tried to be understanding. She was an Avenger, after all. Missions came up. Emergencies happened. But this was different. This wasn’t just any other night.

This was supposed to be your night.

By midnight, the hope had drained from you completely.

You blew out the candle on the untouched cake, packed away the dinner you had made, and slipped into bed alone, your heart aching with something heavier than disappointment.

And then, at 1:45 AM, the front door finally creaked open.

You didn’t move.

Wanda’s footsteps were soft as she entered the bedroom. She let out a tired sigh as she shrugged off her jacket, then paused when she noticed your still form beneath the covers.

She smiled softly, thinking it was just another late night after a mission. She climbed into bed, pressing a gentle kiss to your temple before whispering, "I love you."

But you didn’t stir.

And she didn’t yet realize that you were wide awake, staring at the wall, too hurt to acknowledge her presence.

When Wanda woke up the next morning, she reached out instinctively—only to find the bed empty.

She frowned, sitting up as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The apartment smelled like coffee, but there was no usual morning greeting, no kiss to start the day.

Confused, she reached for her phone—only to freeze when she saw the screen.

37 unread messages.

Her heart sank as she scrolled through them.

"Happy anniversary." "I made dinner. It’s your favorite." "Where are you?" "Wanda?" "Did you forget?"

Guilt crashed over her like a tidal wave.

She threw the covers off and hurried out of the bedroom, her eyes immediately landing on you standing by the counter, pouring yourself a cup of coffee.

You didn’t look at her.

"Baby," Wanda started, voice thick with regret, "I—"

"You forgot," you interrupted, your tone flat.

Her chest tightened. "I didn’t mean to—"

"That doesn’t change the fact that you did."

Wanda took a cautious step closer. "Let me explain—"

You let out a small, humorless laugh, finally meeting her gaze. "Explain what, Wanda? That you were too busy to remember? That I waited all night for you to come home to me, only to realize that I wasn’t even a thought in your mind?"

Wanda’s face crumpled. "That’s not true."

You took a slow breath, shaking your head. "I just… I just needed you to be here."

Silence stretched between you.

Then, with a quiet sigh, you placed your coffee down and grabbed your bag.

"I have to go to work," you muttered, walking toward the door.

Wanda reached out, as if to stop you, but you stepped out before she could.

And then she was alone.

Wanda spent the entire day thinking about how much she had let you down.

The memory of your expression haunted her—the pain in your eyes, the way your voice had cracked ever so slightly when you had said, I just needed you to be here.

She had never seen you like that before.

Never once had you shut her out like this. Never once had she been the one responsible for that kind of pain in your eyes.

So, when evening came, Wanda knew she had to do more than just apologize.

She had to show you.

When you arrived home that night, the apartment was different.

Candles flickered along the shelves and dining table. The scent of your favorite meal filled the air. Soft music played in the background, the same playlist Wanda had made for you months ago.

Your breath caught as you took in the sight.

And then, there she was—standing in the middle of it all, surrounded by red roses, her hands clasped together nervously.

You hesitated, gripping the strap of your bag as you met her gaze.

Wanda swallowed hard before speaking.

"I messed up," she said softly.

You said nothing, waiting.

"I should have been here. I should have remembered. And the worst part is, I hurt you." Her voice wavered. "I never want to be the reason you feel like you don’t matter to me. Because you do. You always do."

Your throat tightened, but you held your ground. "Wanda, I know your work is important. I know that sometimes you have to put the world first. But last night… I needed to know that I mattered too."

Her eyes filled with regret. "You do. You’re my home. And I hate that I made you feel otherwise."

She took a careful step closer.

"Please, let me make it up to you."

You let out a slow breath, scanning the effort she had put into the night—the dinner, the roses, the candlelit warmth of the apartment.

After a moment, you nodded.

Relief flooded Wanda’s face.

She led you to the table, pulling out your chair before sitting across from you. As you took the first bite, the taste of your favorite meal melting on your tongue, Wanda reached across the table and took your hand in hers.

"I love you," she whispered.

And this time, you squeezed her hand back.

"I love you too."

After dinner, Wanda pulled you into the living room, where she swayed you gently to the rhythm of the music.

You sighed into her embrace, the last of your anger slipping away as her warmth surrounded you.

"You really felt bad about it, huh?" you murmured against her shoulder.

Wanda groaned. "I felt awful. I still do."

You pulled back slightly, looking up at her. "I’m still upset, you know."

"I know." She cupped your cheek, brushing a thumb across your skin. "But I also know that I’ll spend forever making sure you never feel like that again."

You searched her face, finding only sincerity. Devotion. Love.

And for the first time in twenty-four hours, your chest felt light again.

So, you smiled softly and whispered, "You’re lucky I love you, Maximoff."

A smirk tugged at her lips as she leaned in. "Believe me, I know."

And as she kissed you, slow and lingering, you knew that—despite everything—you would always find your way back to each other.