Located in a grassy area near a parking lot and a path that leads to a picnic table, a wayside exhibit features a panel angled atop a rectangular stone base. Beyond the exhibit, a gentle berm of rocks lines the shoreline.
The exhibit's title, "Natural Seawall," appears over a photograph of a rocky beach, in a faded blue sky tinged with orange and yellow streaks. Rippled water washes to the cobblestone-covered shore. The filtered light silhouettes a stretch of rocks and several fir trees.
Text reads: "Many of Maine's beaches are covered with cobblestones, but here powerful ocean storms have assembled them into a massive seawall. As the waves break, they scour rocks from the base of the beach and carry them up on the shore. As the tide rises, the waves pile the stones higher and higher. When the tide recedes it leaves the larger, heavier stones at the top and drops the smaller, lighter stones down the slope."
Two insets overlay the photograph:
The first inset offers an illustration: White-crested waves tumble cobbles along the ocean-floor. A berm forms along the beach. "Strong currents and storms pull cobbles into the surf and then deposit them in new patterns on the shore."
The second inset shows piles of stones covering part of a paved road.
Text offers Safety Tips:
- Watch for slippery or loose rocks.
- The water is cold — 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Be alert to changing tides and strong waves that could carry you out to sea.
A note urges visitors to protect the park: -Do not take or stack cobblestones. Let nature move and shape them.
A quote: "The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place... an area of unrest where waves have broken heavily against the land, where the tides have pressed forward over the continents, receded, then returned." - Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea
