Along the 7,500-mile Gulf of Maine shoreline, an extreme high tide on October 9, 2014 will illustrate what may become—with sea-level rise—the new tidal norm. Participants in the first-ever Gulf of Maine King Tides Photo Contest can document how the astronomical high tide that day affects wharves, causeways, marshes, beaches and other coastal settings. Interested citizens are encouraged to join the contest—submitting images from their cameras or smart phones.
Organizations from three states and two Canadian provinces are collaboratively planning the Gulf contest—inviting images of coastal settings from Cape Cod Bay to Cape Sable in Nova Scotia. Sea levels within the Gulf of Maine have increased more than half a foot (20 cm.) over the past century, and scientists anticipate an additional rise by 2100 of at least 2 feet (61 cm.), and possibly more than 3 ft (91 cm.).