Seagull at Cocoa Beach

A seagull stands in the shallow water at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Actually, he was walking more than standing. If I had to guess, he was probably trying to get away from the crazy guy with a camera who was following him around.

What I like about this photo is how well the blue sky was reflected in the water on the sand. That looks really cool to me, as do the ripples in the sand in the foreground of the photo here. It’s the little things that impress me, I guess.

Have you ever wondered if there is a name for that part of the beach where the water is only an inch or two deep, as it is here? So have I. So I looked it up, and that is known as the intertidal zone, which makes sense because it is in between the low tide level and the high tide level. But then it is also called the foreshore, which sounds like the start of the Gettysburg Address. “Fourshore and seven seas ago, pirates went and did something or other…” So maybe that is not how the Gettysburg Address started after all. Unless Abraham Lincoln had wandered away from the Hall of Presidents and found himself in Pirates of the Caribbean by mistake. That would make “O Captain My Captain” by Walt Whitman make a lot more sense, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, that area is also known as the littoral zone, which according to its Wikipedia entry has several different meanings. Why can’t things be simple?

So we will just stick with the intertidal zone. That sounds nice and neat. And not Pirate Abraham Lincoln-y.

About the photo:
A single RAW exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about the photo software and gear I use at the camera gear page.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus 14-42mm IIR