A high-angle coastal shot of rugged sandstone cliffs and sea arches at Cape Flattery under a foggy sky, featuring a dark cormorant perched on a rocky cliff ledge in the foreground.

Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)

Where the Continent Ends

David S. McMeans · Fujifilm X-T1 · Fujifilm XF 18mm f/2 R

Cape Flattery, Makah Indian Reservation, Olympic Peninsula, Clallam County, Washington, United States

Image

Channels

Where the Continent Ends

Where the violent swells of the Pacific plunge into the fractured fringes of the Pacific Northwest, a raw landscape of layered sandstone and ancient rock tells a story of constant environmental friction. These monumental sea arches and deeply hollowed caves are sculpted by the unrelenting battery of coastal waves, carved over millennia from steep headlands. Perched precariously on a weathered ledge, a lone seabird sits amidst streaks of white guano, overlooking jade-colored waters that surge through the rock channels. Overhead, a dense canopy of Sitka spruce clings tightly to the eroding cliffs, blanketed by a persistent maritime mist that frequently swallows the horizon.

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