“What is Below the Mean Low Tide Line?”

                          low tide

A nagging question that I have yet have answered is “what is Below the Mean Low Tide Line?” 

I am sure you noticed this essential question tugging at my being.  I am not the only one asking this question, what exactly is Below the Mean Low Tide Line?

                      NPS sign at ramp 44

   You see it has a great deal of importance in the Outer Banks; if you did not know one could be ticketed, arrested, fined, jailed, the closed protected resource areas could be expanded because of your misunderstanding.  Also if it is my correct understanding that I did not know prior, that a ticket or arrest on National Park property (federal lands) requires you to appear in federal court and if convicted  can carry a felony on your record.  This is something I really did not realize or understand.   So you understand how it is much more important I learn what Below the Mean Low Tide Line is, because a federal offence would be the end of not only my job but my career!!!

     One of the many signs around the protected resource area

Maybe, I should try to go back to the beginning, but that will take pages and pages, and I hope over time I will I will share what I discover, until then let me share what I have found. 

                 On the hike down ramp 44

My love of Hiking to Cape Point started my quest for answers.

To begin with Cape Point is my favorite place I love to explore on the Outer Banks.   

It is so unique, so different; reaching south from the Hatteras Lighthouse out into the Atlantic Ocean.   It is the only place on the Outer Banks where you have the Atlantic Ocean on both sides of you. Sitting at the point with your toes in the sand you can watch the sun rise and set and never have to leave your place.  I have never been there at night but they say here on a clear night the sky is breathtaking!

I love what the point is, the immense beauty of it, abundant with wildlife, it pulls at my soul.  The constantly changing elements play havoc on the point; it is in constant flux, never the same shape twice.   Cape Point is Outer Banks in the raw.

Images above were from December 2010, only time I have been able to make it to Cape Point wen it was not closed.  So fantastic!

 As you hike to the point you can hear the ocean waves change pitch from the hard roar crashing on the beach to a soft gentle roll.  Standing at the point you feel as if you are at the end of the world mesmorized as you are surrounded by the vast ocean.  

One is at peace by the quietness in the air, you marvel at the sea shells , and changes in the sand, I could just go on and on. Whatever the reason, it just sings to my soul as it does so many others who love going to Cape point to sit, walk, fish and just be.

 This video is an example of the ocean waves meeting at the point, do enjoy.  this is not my video but it brings me right back to the Point every time I watch it!

This year was not going to be a year to enjoy the wonders of Cape Point.  In years past  access to cape point closed early to mid May.  This year 2011 ORV access was closed March 18, 2011 just south of Ramp 44 along the beach.  Here is what was stated; “National Park Service staff observed piping plover breeding behavior, which is the reason for the closure.”   
Now last year, access wasn’t stopped until mid-May when the first piping plover nest in the Cape Point area hatched.  They stated that because of the steep beach slope in the narrows, pedestrians will be allowed to walk through the “inter-tidal zone” to access Cape Point.  Couple quick points with further research Piping Plover normally do not nest on steep beach areas, and inter-tidal zones are (is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide (for example, the area between tide marks).  Remember this is what was originally stated where you could walk down to the point!

     What is one to think?  It does say closed to all tides!

Now comes the change, we went to go to Cape Point and came to a sign that said shoreline closed to all tides, now that is different than being able to walk in the inter-tidal zones.  With the fear of arrest from going into the protected resource area, even in the inter-tidal zone, we left and I contacted the NPS.  I received an email stating you can walk to the point if you walk below the protected resource area “below the mean low tide line.”  What the heck is that??   Having no clue I did what I normally do when I have a lack if understanding, I searched out further information. And after researching I determined that basically without a PHD or considerable study of the tides over a very long period of time, there is no way I could  determine the correct place to walk without risk of severe consequences. We or actually my Hubby (the one with the common sense) decided we should not to risk it so yet another year without hiking to my favorite place.  The risk of being arrested for not understanding exactly right where the exact below the mean low tide line is and loosing my job was definitely not worth it.

 I wasn't satified, I had to know more; my OCD really kicked in and I decided to research through numerous different resources as to what the Mean Low Tide Line is in detail! I found quite a few definitions, let me know if you think a visitor, PHD or not just visiting for a couple of weeks would be able to figure it out, not violate the resource closure area and remember we have to walk below it:

The average height of the low tides over a 19-year period. For shorter periods of observation, corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and reduce the result to the equivalent of a mean 19-year value.

Mean Low Water Line (MLWL): The line on a chart or map which represents the intersection of the land with the water surface at the elevation of mean low water.

The average of all the low tide heights observed over the National Tidal Datum Epoch. For stations with shorter series, comparison of simultaneous observations with a control tide station is made in order to derive the equivalent datum of the National Tidal Datum Epoch.

You got it? Clear as Mud?
Just a week after being told by the NPS we could access Cape Point by walking Below the mean Low tide line the closed it to everyone. You could not place one foot on the sand anywhere on the beach at Cape Point. Wonder if there was a bit too much confusion for all??I

                              Graph on the tide levels

Searching deeper I found on the NOAA site below, where it had the Mean Low tide levels, and the 19 yr data etc, but to be honest even with that data, I’ll be darned if I understood!!!  Closest ocean side I found were for Cape Hatteras Fishing Pier and Duck Pier.  Maybe others understand it, but I was unable to determine where in the heck was a safe area to walk without causing issues.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/datum_options.html

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?stn=8654400 Cape Hatteras Fishing Pier, NC&type=Bench Mark Data Sheets

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?stn=8651370 Duck, NC&type=Bench Mark Data Sheets

hiking down ramp 44 some areas of both sides of the road were closed off

Again I know most are much smarter than I, obviously I was not able to determine with the information I gathered where exactly I was allowed to walk without being in violation.  And with all that were found  in violation of the protected resource area, I can understand there is not a clear understanding as to where "BELOW THE MEAN LOW TIDE LINE" is.

                 confused, ya the Royal Terns even seem confused!

Hopefully there will be another time I will have an opportunity to hike to Cape Point, and others also.


  With all the unintentional violations into the resource protected areas maybe, just maybe there needs to be a little more education out there on behalf of the NPS and others on the Island.  It should not be an us vs them.  So much of the beach is OOS and we all have to do our parts to educate others to understand that WE JUST CAN'T GO THERE right now and just stating it is because NPS are *#@&%  does not help with  anything.


  But explain that the Island is a beautiful place, with vast wonders, wildlife, history and right now we have Sea Turtles, Sea Birds nesting, How cool is that!!!  Talk to them about the turtles and the birds, say hey there is a nest over here and show them and explain they cannot go there, but you can go over there though. With all the cut backs there will be less and less NPS employees and there will be less information  passed on to the public.   I bet if people/visitors understand there would be less violations, less hassles from the NPS and less restrictions!   You can still explain the struggles about access because it is not just about the piping plover, it is far deeper than just about the birds.  Just my thought

                     hiking down ramp 44