On Oregon's coast in the United States, Bandon greets visitors with salty air and the gentle clang of harbour bells. The town began as a small settlement in the 1850s and grew into a centre for timber and salmon fishing. Its maritime past endures in the restored Coquille River Lighthouse, whose beacon once guided ships safely to shore.

A short walk from the lighthouse leads to the beach, where an evocative coastal landscape unfolds: Bandon's sea stacks, featured in today's image. Sculpted over millennia by waves, wind and the slow collapse of arches, these formations tell a geological story. Each rock formation—whether sharp, curved or solitary—bears the slow signature of erosion and time. Protected as part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, these stones shelter seabirds and reveal the patient force of ocean. Similar coastal formations could be found far from Oregon, such as the basalt columns of St. Mary's Islands off India's Karnataka coast, shaped by the same meeting of rock and tide.