The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife provides the site linked below to help explorers of the tidelands understand what they are seeing along the shorelines.
https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/ecosystems/marine-shorelines#resources
Now in our second season of sponsoring naturalist walks on our Henderson Inlet beaches we have begun to catalogue the many species that can be found on a casual stroll of our tidelands. Browse through the photos from our beach walks (pull down the gallery menu for submenu) to see what you might find on your own exploration. Look for these algaes, plants, and animals next time you take a walk on the wild side! The photos in this section are just a beginning of the display of the myriad living things we have seen.
We recommend the excellent laminated guides published by Periwinkle Press, which can be purchased through the non-profit organization, Orca Networks.
https://www.orcanetwork.org/webshop/p/ez-guide-to-seaweeds-of-the-salish-sea
https://www.orcanetwork.org/webshop/p/ez-guide-to-common-intertidal-invertebrates-of-the-salish-sea
If you find something we haven’t posted here, send us a photo and we’ll add it. Our volunteer naturalist are happy to help us figure our what we are seeing. And be sure to be kind to all of our creatures; handle them gently and leave the living ones to resume their duties on the beach. Keep in mind, too, that some of these species are protected from collection by State and Federal laws. All the photos you see are taken in Henderson Inlet.