By Kasey R. Jacobs, TCS Communications Chair
While researching the coastal effects of the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017 for TCS Blog article “Coasts in Shadow“, I reached out to fellow TCS members in Oregon and South Carolina to find out about their eclipse plans. Oregon will be the first state to experience the eclipse and South Carolina the last.
Below are their responses.
We will be following up with these TCS members post-eclipse to capture their experiences. Please share your own plans or experiences in the comments section below.
OREGON
Oregon State University’s TCS Student Chapter
The Chapter (a.k.a “Fisheries and Wildlife Science Club”) will be attending a lecture by Associate Professor Jonathan Fram on the offshore Endurance Array and the measurements it will be collecting before, during, and after the solar eclipse. We will be broadcasting the lecture live on the TCS Facebook Page on Saturday, August 19th at 2:00PM PST:
The lecture description by Associate Professor Fram is:
View from the Coast: During the eclipse, a vast network of sensors on oceanographic moorings off the Oregon Coast will be measuring its effect on the ocean through tides. Hear from oceanographer/professor Jonathan Fram about how bioacoustic sonars will measure fish and the zooplankton they eat, while other sensors will detect how the eclipse affects light and temperature at the sea surface.
David R. Perry | So. Coast Regional Representative. Department of Land Conservation and Development. Ocean and Coastal Services Division
We live within the path of totality. There is a ton of hype coming from the local chamber of commerce about visiting the coast to view the eclipse. The cost of a room or campsite on August 21st can be 5 or 10 times the usual rate. Even so, we expect to be inundated with tourists coming for the event. The problem is, meteorological records indicate that there is a 50/50 chance that a marine layer will prevail along the coastline at mid-morning when the eclipse will occur, so the sun may not be visible at the beach during that timeframe! If the marine layer is evident that day, my wife and I will head inland with some friends to higher ground in the Siuslaw National Forest where we hope to get above or beyond the cloud layer. For us, the total eclipse presents an opportunity to see one of nature’s most rare and awesome spectacles from our own back yard!
Meg Reed | Oregon Coastal Management Program, Newport, OR
Oregon is expecting about 1 million more people to be here to view the eclipse. I work with emergency managers coast-wide who have been planning and preparing for this event for a year or more. I will be heeding their advice to locals to “shelter in place!” I plan to watch the eclipse from my backyard, but if it’s cloudy or foggy, I will probably just watch NASA’s live stream. It will be exciting, either way, to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event and the sudden darkness that will occur when the moon covers the sun.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Rebecca Love | Coastal Management Specialist at NOAA Office for Coastal Management
I’m going to avoid hitting the roads and stay local to watch the eclipse. My family and I will walk to Hampton Park (in Charleston, SC) with some neighborhood friends. I’m looking forward to the period of totality and being able to experience this event with my two daughters. I’m curious to see how dark it will get and whether we’ll feel a brief drop in temperature.
Margaret Allen | The Baldwin Group at NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management
I am definitely planning to watch and do something fun! There are so many fun events here to choose from. I was thinking I’d stay close to home, but I might go out to my family plantation to watch. Wherever I am, I am just excited to see the look on Lizzie and Ellie’s faces (5 and 3), and I want to make sure they wear their glasses (don’t care to blind my children at this point).
If not out there, we’re going to our local pool club with a bunch of other families. They have a special event with eclipse themed cocktails and food.
Anyway, it is a HUGE deal here. All the local schools are closed. (they start next Thursday, go for 2 days, then are off for the eclipse). Everyone from the county parks, to county libraries, to neighborhood associations, to private clubs/restaurants are hosting events. There’s a yoga event, all kinds of things.
The other funny thing is watching/hearing about everyone trying to get their eclipse glasses–lots of places here are selling them, local libraries are giving them away, but there are a ton of places (esp online) selling fake ones that don’t really work, and that’s been a problem.