When does the tide come in?

From the air, this tract of Mockhorn Island on the Atlantic coast of Virginia's Eastern Shore could pass for gentle farmland. But what you're really looking at is rugged tidal marshland, visible when the tide is out—the rest of the time, much of this area is underwater. Mockhorn is itself part of Virginia's coastal island chain called the Barrier Islands, which run down the east coast of the state from the Maryland-Delaware border for about 70 miles, stretching to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. The green vegetation you see is grass, although not the kind you'll find in a suburban lawn. Instead, it's saltmarsh cordgrass, a type of perennial deciduous species that grows in wetlands and salt marshes like this one.
© Shane Gross/Minden Pictures