South Sound
Though Anderson Island isn't relatively far from San Juan island, the terroir of Anderson is markedly different. Firstly, the coast and beaches are almost completely opposite: up here the shores are a vertical wall of rock, but on Anderson, we have rocky shores all the way around. I have found very few beaches like the ones on the island, but many that are drastically different. Jackson beach is like the ones on AI, but the ones by the labs are different- they're the vertical rock wall that plunges directly into the sound without stopping.
The trees even seem different here. I don't think that they are, but San Juan island reminds me a lot of the Northern California or Southern Oregon, while Anderson Island has the familiar lush green feeling that most of Western Washington has.
I've also noticed that the wildlife in the very southern sound is much different than it is in the north. Down south there aren't as many seals or sea lions, and I've definitely never seen a harbor porpoise down there. I believe that this is because there's less activity and less productivity down in the south sound than up here in the north due to the much greater amount of water that is exchanged from the ocean through the straits. In contrast, the water in the south sound has a much longer turnover rate. And there can be whales up here, and I've never seen a whale down in the south sound.
Both of these areas are stunningly beautiful and wonderfully diverse, but for being so close geographically I see many differences between them.
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