King Tide Watch at the Ballona Wetlands

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings this week will be perfect times to see “King Tides” wash over the Ballona Wetlands. Why not blow off work and take in this natural phenomenon? Go to the corner of Culver Blvd. and Nicholson St. after 7:30AM. See the photo map for locations and features.

The high tide on February 17th will be 6.45 feet above mean sea level at 7:34 AM, and at 6.55 feet at 8:19 on Wednesday morning. Think about that: in a six hour period, the entire ocean surface at the Pacific Coast will rise up in elevation almost as tall as Blake Griffin. Six hours later, it will drop over 8 feet, all due to the moon’s gravity. Each sucessive day through Friday, the high tide peaks a few inches lower and 3/4 hour later.

If you arrive before the peak, you will visibly see the tide rising to its peak in the tidal creeks of the Ballona Wetlands where they cross under Culver Boulevard (see the photo map). If you’re a late riser, you can see the tide drop to its low of minus 1.26 feet at 2:25 PM in the afternoon.

This twice-yearly phenomenon known as the King Tides occurs when the sun and moon sync up in a way that creates maximum gravitational pull on the oceans. Usually tides are highest when the moon is either full or new. The sun also affects tides, and it exerts maximum pull when it is either closest or farthest from the Earth. On February 18, the new moon will occur during the point in the Earth’s yearlong orbit when it swings closest to the sun. Both of these factors combine to create the king tides.

At the Ballona tidal creeks, you won’t actually see the full 6.45 foot peak of the tides, because the creeks flow from the ocean through tide level control gates in the Ballona Creek flood control channel to prevent Culver Boulevard from flooding (the street elevation is only around 6 feet above sea level there). If the state follows through with either of its most ambitious alternatives for restoring the wetlands, the concrete flood channel will be removed or tides gates enhanced, and berms will protect the street and businesses from tidal flooding. The tides will then again be able to rise to full height and reach salt marsh much further inland near Lincoln Boulvard; marsh stranded high and dry long ago when the roads and flood channel were built.

If you make the King Tide field trip, take time to observe the various wetland habitats before you, including the tidal creeks, vegetated salt marsh, and the large, infrequently flooded mud flats (commonly referred to as salt pan). The mud flats will be transformed to an inch-deep salt water lake all morning, and you may see shorebirds poking in the mud for tasty critters.

Enjoy your Ballona Wetlands!