The resilient land of Acadia National Park continued to rise relative to the sea until about 10,000 years ago, when it finally stabilized. Since that time, the level of the sea worldwide has risen to its present height, and continues to rise at a rate of about two inches per century.

The rising sea and depressed land mass created a "drowned coast." This means that what appears today as arms and fingers of the sea were once river valleys; islands were the tops of mountains; headlands and peninsulas were rocky ridges.

The bedrock gave substance and the glaciers gave character, but without the sea, Acadia would be like a gem without a setting. Each headland, bay, and inlet reveals the majestic interface between sea and land. Acadia's rocky headlands bear the brunt of enormous energies unleashed in waves that batter cliffs and erupt in lofty spray.