Photo contest: Your extreme high tide photos needed!

Grab your camera and head to the R.I. shoreline June 2 and 3 to photograph some of the highest high tides of the year. Send your photos to Rhode Island Sea Grant, and you may see your photo published in the magazine 41°N. The photographer who captures the best photo will receive a prize worth $50.

Rhode Island Sea Grant is partnering with the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and Save The Bay to record ongoing flooding from high tide events, and we are particularly interested in photos capturing the effect of flooding on shoreline homes, business, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. These areas are increasingly vulnerable to flooding during extreme high tide events, and as sea levels rise due to climate change, extreme tides may become the norm within a few decades.

This spring’s extreme high tide will be most pronounced at approximately 6:55 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, and at 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, June 3. These times are for Newport, R.I. Visit NOAA’s webpage on tide predictions (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.html) for specific times for your location, as timing of high tide varies along the coast. (Providence is 17 minutes later; Westerly is 41 minutes later.)

When taking your pictures please remember to record your location (street and town), time and date, description of what you are seeing, and contact information so we can give you credit for the picture and consideration for the prize. If known, please also include the direction (e.g., “facing north”) the photo was taken. Taking “before and after” shots—that is, showing what an area looks like when it is and is not flooded—are also helpful. And please, be careful! Take precautions to avoid slippery rocks or other hazards.

If you have a Flickr account, upload your photographs to the Flickr group “Rhode Island High Tide 2012” at http://www.flickr.com/groups/ritide2012/. If you do not have a Flickr account, please e-mail pictures to allard@gso.uri.edu.

The Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island/Rhode Island Sea Grant has been working in cooperation with the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, Save The Bay, and other organizations on issues related to sea level rise and its impact on communities, as well as identifying ways to adapt to its effects. Pictures will provide important information for local and state planners.