Semiahmoo Spit is a spit that protrudes from the westernmost expanse of shore on Semiahmoo Peninsula between

Semiahmoo Bay Semiahmoo Bay ( ) is the southeastern section of Boundary Bay on the Pacific coast of North America in British Columbia, Canada. The bay is named for the Semiahmoo First Nation, who originally occupied the area. The Semiahmoo Peninsula borders ...

and

Drayton Harbor Drayton may refer to: People * Drayton (surname) Legal cases * '' United States v. Drayton'', 536 U.S. 194 (2002) Places Australia *Drayton, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region *Shire of Drayton, a former local government area in Quee ...

off the coast of Blaine in

Whatcom County Whatcom County (, ) is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the Canadian province of British Columbia to t ...

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. The spit is home to Semiahmoo Park.

Geomorphology and geography

It is oriented toward the northeast, which means the direction of

longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle, shells) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming w ...

, a constructive geomorphologic process, is northeasterly. Longshore drift through the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

, therefore, tends to be northeasterly. Because waves are mainly powered by wind, the waves approaching Semiahmoo hit the shore obliquely, at an angle of approximately 30 to 45 degrees to the northeast, and thus the prevailing wind through the Strait of Georgia must also be northeasterly. Because of longshore drift, sediments are picked up from the

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

and deposited according to size and based on wave energy. High energy wave action can carry large sediment, such as cobbles and gravel, but only as long as the energy exists. Since the waves repeatedly hit the shore, energy is lost, and so larger, denser sediments are quickly deposited near the headland. Smaller, less dense sediment, such as gravel, sand, mud, and clay, can be carried and deposited farther away from the headland because they do not require as much energy for transport. One mile to the north of the tip of the spit is the border between the United States and Canada. Approximately four miles to the northeast of the tip of the spit is the city of

White Rock, British Columbia White Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It is bordered by Semiahmoo Bay to the south and is surrounded on three sides by Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey. To the south ...

. The spit is approximately long and contains approximately of land.

History

In 1858, prospectors came to the Semiahmoo area searching for the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

. The spit seemed like a logical place to set up a post as a launching point for further exploration into the mainland. A trading post was soon established at the spit, and the owner drew up plans for Semiahmoo City. Semiahmoo was expected to become a migration boomtown, but it eventually developed into a fishing town, as the spit provided shelter for Drayton Harbor and an abundance of coastal resources. Whatcom County's first salmon cannery opened in 1881 in Semiahmoo; in 1891, the Alaska Packers Association was the largest salmon cannery in the world.

Salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

canning was to be the main source of revenue in Semiahmoo until 1980, when the land was purchased by the land development corporation. Recently, a park with a small, seasonal interpretive center was built near the headland, and the Semiahmoo Resort and Golf Course was built near the spit.

Use of the spit by the Lummi Indian Nation, and current archaeological investigation

Because of its location, the spit provides access to countless resources that thrive in both the calm waters of Drayton Harbor, and the ocean currents through the

. Historically, the Lummi Indian Nation used the spit for its natural resources; a major village was built on the spit. Today,

shell midden A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...

is clearly visible in many places, on either side of the spit, as wave action has cut away at the shore, revealing historic artifacts.

References

*http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/wa/semiahmoo.html *http://www.nathpo.org/News/NAGPRA/News-NAGPRA49.html

External links

* {{Coord, 48, 59, N, 122, 47, W, display=title Landforms of Whatcom County, Washington Headlands of Washington (state)