Monday, January 12, 2009

Moon Effects On Tide

This is a piece of an article that tacked about the moon and its properties in relation to bass fishing. If you can't quite grasp the concept of tidal waters (like me) this should be a good start. I didn't get the whole article because the rest of it is pointless. Let me know if this is of any help.

Moon Effects

Please keep these facts in mind as we explore the effects of the moon: The moon and the sun have been timing instruments used by the earth's creatures since the beginning of time. It is only in the last few hundred years that man has used a clock, and man is the only creature that has a clock. All other creatures still keep time by observing the sun and the moon. There are two mechanisms that creatures use to keep track of the sun and the moon. The first, and by far the least obvious, is sight. Animals see the sun and the moon and react accordingly. The second, and far less obvious, is gravity. The moon has 1/6th the gravitation pull of the earth and it is close enough to our planet to have major gravitational influences. In some ocean bays the tide can vary as much as 50 feet! The sun has 2 million times the gravitational pull of the moon, but the sun is so far away that it exerts only about 1/3rd as much gravitational pull on our planet as the moon.

Tides are caused by changes in local gravity due to the positions of the moon and sun, primarily the moon. High tide occurs when the moon is directly overhead, and low tide occurs 6 hours and 12 minutes before and after high tide (when the moon is on either horizon). Ocean creatures have been timing their activities on gravity and the tides for millions of years. And bass evolved from ocean fish. There is much circumstantial evidence that suggests bass have retained their gravity/tide reading ability.

No comments:

Post a Comment