Many people think about walking every inch of Whidbey Island’s 160 miles of shoreline but few ever complete the trek — or even begin it.

Sometime next year, depending on tides, Clyde Johnson of Coupeville will finish his walk around Whidbey — but it won’t be considered just a stroll on a beach.

“I’ve always to walk all of Whidbey by beach,” Johnson said. “Having a purpose makes it all the more pleasureable.”

Johnson is circumambulating the island surveying and plotting shoreline hardening for Washington State University Cooperative Extension. Johnson started the program in June at Deception Pass State Park. Since then, he’s covered about 60 percent of the shoreline on two- to three-hour jaunts during low tides. He totes a global positioning system in a backpack to gather precise satellite readings; he also takes digital photos and makes detailed notes on building on beaches.

The survey records man-made structures on Whidbey beaches, Don Meehan, WSU Island County extension agent, said.

“That’s what shoreline hardening is,” he said. “Anything man has created on a beach.”

But Meehan said the survey doesn’t focus on houses. “We’re looking at man-made structures at or below the high tide point.”

While the high tide point varies beach-to-beach, Meehan said anything man has created on a beach is of interest.“We want to determine what, if any, changes, good or bad, concrete, stone or wood structures make on shoreline habitat,” he said.

He explained that Island County is one of the state’s most important habitats for forage fish, the sand lance, smelt, herring and other small fish that sustain salmon and marine life that depends on salmon.

The island also provides critical eelgrass beds where young salmon find refuge and grow before heading out to sea. “Island County is a tremendous area for young salmon that depend on nearshore habitat to survive,” he said.

“Everything’s one big food chain,” Meehan said explaining that many species — seals, orcas and man — feed on salmon which provide food for eagles and smaller critters including crab. What affects one species affects all the others eventually, Meehan said.

“It’s hard to improve on Mother Nature,” Gary Wood, chairman of Island County’s Marine Resources Committee, said. The hardening survey is funded by a $10,000 grant from Northwest Straits Commission through Marine Resources Committee and the extension office.

Wood said data from this survey will be combined with other regular beach surveys done by Island County WSU Beach Watchers and with results from a new study on “feeder bluffs,” which will analyze how bluff erosion helps create habitat.

Wood said the hardening survey data will be compared with data from a beach survey made by Western Washington University in the 1970’s.

“We don’t have an agenda for this survey,” Wood said. “We want to find out what works and doesn’t work in terms of development.”

He hopes the survey results will give useful information on shoreline hardening so property owners and developers will know what types of projects work long-term and what designs and materials don’t last. “A beach might look peaceful but it’s always changing,” Wood said.

This survey looks at what’s there on the beaches,” he continued. “We’re providing information for developers and environmentalists.”

When Clyde Johnson and a volunteer assistant, Island County WSU Beach Watcher John Mellow, walked the beach from Long Point to Harrington Lagoon, the sun was just coming up on a Saturday in late September. Great blue herons chose their breakfast spots, gulls and crows argued, clams spit arcs of water.

Johnson hoisted a bright yellow backpack onto his shoulders and walked around, starting the global positioning system, trying to pick up satellite signals.

“On several beaches I’ve been the first person in days to walk there,” Johnson said.

Then the pair headed south, crunching across sand and mussel shells.

Just a few minutes later, they stopped to record the remains of a concrete pier. Johnson walked the length of the concrete debris punching data into a handheld computer and stepped over large bronze jellyfish.

After Mellow took a few photos, the pair continued their walk. The beach changes from sand and shell to firm mud. Wooden rollers barely visible under heavy barnacles were probably the remains of a boat ramp.

“I think that’s all of them,” Johnson said after taking information on four sets of rollers.

As they walked, cobbles covered with seaweed mafe footing precarious. Stopping to take information on outflow pipes and collapsed bulkheads was an exercise in equilibrium and ankle strength.

Large tractor tires washed up on a deserted stretch of beach were covered with seaweed and tiny barnacles clung to the rims.

“These probably weren’t put here by anyone,” Johnson said. “But they obviously aren’t natural structures,” he added while coding the find.

In some places, where bluffs and trees blocked satellite reception, Mellow took numerous photos and Johnson made detailed notes. This information will be combined and eventually placed o- line with a study done on Camano Island.

After several miles of surveying the beach, the pair ended their hike at Harrington Lagoon. “I never know what I’ll find out here,” Johnson said as he shut down the GPS unit.

“After seeing all the houses from the road, I thought I would find much more development on the beach” he said.

“Instead, we found much less than I expected.”