Lower-than-usual tides bring out people, octopuses along Puget Sound in Pierce County

The Tallon family came to Titlow Beach about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday looking for a live octopus.

Three-year-old Declan was particularly eager to see one. His 5-year old sister Parker and his mom Madelyn had spotted a sand dollar-sized octopus and a larger one being eaten by a seagull on a previous shore walk the two of them did; but neither he, his father Mitch nor his 5-month-old brother Bennett had ever seen an eight-tentacled sea creature in the wild.

“That’s what he’s been talking about all morning,” Madelyn said. “He’s been trying to see one.”

The family, like others across Pierce County, decided to go to Titlow when they found out a unique lunar position in the moon’s 18.6-year orbit around the earth would lead to some abnormally low Puget Sound tides Wednesday morning and afternoon. As a Lakewood local and Tacoma native, Madelyn knew this particular beach would offer many opportunities for their children to observe marine life.

“I grew up right here off of Sunset, and this was the beach we came to all the time,” Madelyn said. “It’s just rockier and has more natural tide pools.”

Parents trickled in over the next hour with curious children searching for surprises. The Tallon children wandered along the shore, spotting bright-red crabs and clams that squirted water above their heads. But neither they nor their parents spotted an octopus.

Then, around 11:30 a.m., News Tribune photographer Tony Overman and I were walking north when Overman suddenly stopped and said, “Check it out!” Just next to us, about 30 feet inland from the shoreline, lay a sprawling translucent octopus. Knowing that the Tallons had been looking for an octopus all morning, we called them over to take a look at the sea creature.

“Can you see its tentacles, Parker?” Madelyn said as her daughter stared at the animal. “They’re scared of us, remember.”

To prevent the octopus from being eaten, Madelyn and Mitch decided to transport the animal back to the water. Madelyn nudged the creature into a neon green plastic sand bucket, in the process getting her hand stuck to one of its tentacles.

“I don’t know how to get him off now that he’s holding onto me,” Madelyn said. “He’s kind of giving me a high-five, I think.”

Even in the bucket, the octopus stayed attached to the Madelyn’s hand until the family reached the seashore. Once at the water, Madelyn, Parker and Bennett each made gentle attempts to release it back into the water. The creature, no longer attached to anyone’s hand, remained in the bucket throughout most of the attempts but eventually chose to return to the Sound.

To Madelyn, tide-pool experiences like Wednesday’s serve as a reason to be both grateful for a shared family memory and a warning about the impact of humans on the Sound’s marine life.

“I notice way less wild animals,” she said. “Like we used to come and there were sea anemones everywhere.”

While climate change, pollution and invasive species threaten the Sound’s biodiversity at a macro level, Madelyn knows individuals can also do harm to animals. It is one reason why she and Mitch trained their children on how to interact with the wildlife before they came to Titlow.

“The kids have grown up learning the rules of like anything you flip over you put back to maintain the environment and maintain their space,” she said. “We try to enjoy it but leave it.”

Pierce County residents had another opportunity to see the unusually low Sound tides Thursday afternoon. According to Tide-Forecast.com, the waters were to be receding throughout the day until they reached their lowest levels around 1 p.m.

For families could not make this week’s low tides, these organizations will offer free opportunities to interact with local marine life throughout the summer:

Tacoma Ocean Fest

▪ Marine biologist-led beach walks (tours will meet by the Ocean Fest flags).

▪ Saturday, June 18 beach walk: 2-3 p.m. at Dash Point Beach.

▪ Sunday June 19 beach walk: 3-4 p.m. at Titlow Beach.

“[The marine biologists] actually have done a lot of education and are just fabulous at not only spotting hard-to-spot creatures and identifying them but really drawing people in and making them very curious and passionate about learning about what’s on the beach and what’s down in the ocean,” said Rosemary Ponnekanti, the Tacoma Ocean Fest director.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Metro Parks Tacoma

▪ Explore The Shore at Owen Beach. Friday, June 17 from 1-3 p.m., Friday, July 15 from noon-2 p.m., and Friday, Aug. 12 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

▪ Tiptoe through the Tidepools at Titlow Beach. Saturday, June 18th from 1-4 p.m., Thursday, July 14 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., and Thursday, Aug. 11 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

“We are really really excited to look for some octopus,” said Zachary Hawn, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium conservation engagement coordinator. “They are usually found a little bit lower in the tide line, so we’re hoping for some octopus, some moon snails, and some other fish that are a little harder to see when the tide is higher like mossy head warbonnets and northern clean fish.”

Tacoma Public Library

▪ Wednesday, July 13 from 10-11 a.m. at Jack Hyde Park in partnership with Harbor WildWatch.

▪ Saturday, July 16 from 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. at Titlow Beach in partnership with the Tacoma Nature Center (registration required before July 15th).

“It’s a perfect tie in with the Summer Reading Club theme this year at the Tacoma Public Library, because the theme is ocean of possibilities,” said Maria Shackles, the Tacoma Public Library neighborhood services manager. “We know that this topic is something that really resonates with our visitors, and we’re so excited to work with both of these nonprofit groups who are really focused on education.’

This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.