Something a bit different...restoration on the shoreline

The fundamental idea behind this blog was to provide modern perspectives of Washington's historic shorelines, and highlight the transformations that Washington's shorelines have gone through over the last 100 to 150 years.  I've decided to do something a bit different with this post though, and focus it on radical change to Washington's shoreline associated with a restoration.  I've been incredibly fortunate to be part of the community of scientists focused on studying the effects associated with the removal of the Elwha River dams.  In particular I've been interested in the coastal influences, both physical and ecological.  Through that work, I've revisited spots on the Elwha River delta repeatedly for well over a decade, including this spot right here. Back in 2011, the view from this spot looked like this:

Photo taken looking up the beach during low tide, on 2 August 2011.  Photo originally published at https://coastnerd.blogspot.com/2018/06/elwha-update.html 

Just a handful of years later, after dam removal transformed the coastal landscape near the river mouth, the view from that exact spot is radically different:

June 2018 photo looking south from what used to be the beach.  Photo originally published at https://coastnerd.blogspot.com/2018/06/elwha-update.html