Whatcom Waterway

Whatcom Creek flows through Bellingham and tumbles down rocky ledges to meet tidewater. I suppose it once flowed from there through a small estuary and then out across a broad intertidal delta into the bay, but now it enters the head of the straightened and dredged waterway and flows through the old Georgia Pacific site before reaching deep water. The mill itself was built on fill over the original tideflats. Some of the inner estuary is being restored, but there's not much evidence left of the stream delta or the original shoreline.

A small pocket beach had formed on the inside of the old log pond at the mill site - confirmation that if you have loose sediment, wave action, and a favorable geometry, beaches can form anywhere. This beach should serve as a useful guide when it comes time to redesign a new shoreline park along here.