Mile Report Browser

While it was overall a lovely day, it was deeply concerning to observe recent tire tracks along this stretch of beach. This was the first time I've seen evidence of vehicles in the closure area in my 10 years of visiting regularly. Over the course of the summer, the privately-owned property adjacent to the beach in the center section of the mile has been more fully developed as a large campsite, complete with a large camp stove/oven and large picnic table covered with a canopy. Several pipes, apparently inserted to serve as flagpole bases, have been drilled into the sand at the top of the foredune immediately west of this campsite. Another first was finding the carcass of a dead sturgeon on the beach. Photos of notable findings are attached.

There were 15 people and 2 dogs walking on the beach.

There was no land based debris on the beach.  There was one dead harbor seal on the beach. see picture.  There were 6 brown pelicans on and around Gull Rock.

There were new rock slides from the hillside south of Arch Cape.  There were 5 trees hanging from the top of the hillside.  The high winds beginnning September 7 caused a large number of trees to fall.  see pictures

September 15 ended the nesting bird restrictions on mile 289.  We always take our dog so it was the first complete survey for some time.  Originally the zone started at the south end of 289, but now the start is farther north.  It probably is a kilometer in length, .6 miles.  The area at the jetty has a legal passage way between the jetty and the restricted area.  A loop is still possible, but don't bring the dog during the nesting season.

The dry sand area was very clean. I saw just 2 plastic bottles.  The wrack line had a heavy deposit of eel grass.  Most of the human produced garbage was in the wrack and made of  plastic. 

This survey was about two weeks later than we had intended.  It was delayed because of the Echo Mountain Complex Fire.  By the time of this survey, the local air had cleared and people were out enjoying a fresh air Sunday on a beautiful beach.  We saw more people than we usually see, but still not many owing to difficult access.  We saw remarkably little evidence of plastic waste, either from people on the beach or washed in from the surf.  Not sure of the cause for this positive development, although fewer people recreating this year, and interruption of the cruise line industry because of Covid-19, may be causing less trash on our beaches generally.

This survey was about two weeks later than we had intended.  It was delayed because of the Echo Mountain Complex Fire.  By the time of this survey, the local air had cleared and people were out enjoying a fresh air Sunday on a beautiful beach.  We saw more people than we usually see, but still not many owing to difficult access.  We saw remarkably little evidence of plastic waste, either from people on the beach or washed in from the surf.  Not sure of the cause for this positive development, although fewer people recreating this year, and interruption of the cruise line industry because of Covid-19, may be causing less trash on our beaches generally.

Another sunny windless day. Large number of jellyfish on the beach. See pics. First walk north on 61 since Western Snowy Plover protection season ended. 

Since the smoke had now cleared, there were several families with children frolicking along the shores. The beach itself was very clean!

There has been an increase in people using this beach due to the lack of parking on the beach in Pacific City, a more general awareness of Tierra del Mar, and more access trails from Sitka Sedge. After the huge storm on Labor Day, there seems to be a lot of land vegetation debris like tree limbs and pine cones that spread over to the beach. 

There were tire tracks along the entire stretch of beach, which I'm positive belong to the beach ranger who comes this way. September 15th is when OPRD takes down all snowy plover signage and essentially 'opens the beach' back up, including around the southern dunes. This section will now be open to dogs, bicycles and horses until March 15th when snowy plover season starts again. 

The day was overcast and mild. It was a relief to be out of the smoke. A lot of people were parked at the parking area at Yachats State Park but not so many on the beach. More people fishing than I've seen before.  I suspect the ocean is continuing to erode the shoreline but it is difficult to notice any dramatic changes. 

 photo

cracks forming in cliff erosion 200ft south of  grant creek

44°34'41.7"N 124°04'10.0"W

white worm like clusters (2)

Unusual to seastar washed up

The main observation was a ladder that was placed perhaps 100 ft. above the water at a tricky spot for someone to gain access to the southern part of the cape's end, which goes through sensitive bird and penniped areas.  Also, I only saw one sea lion and a couple of seals and no pigeon guillemonts, though the pelican numbers were much higher than I usually see.

Pretty typical beach experience. The 2 dead pinnipeds appeared to be sea lions. One previously reported in August. Large flock of sea birds floating offshore. 

This tiny area in Oregon was the first to break free of the putrid smoke that has pevaded the state for more than a week due to the record breaking wildfires. The air was fresh and a welcome change! I spent considerable time just taking deep breathes and exhaling to clean out my lungs... it felt so good!... The weather was overcast with light periodic showers, but overall pleasant... Nothing out of the ordinary to report...

Nothing much different than last month.  Typical summer beach.

Pretty uneventfull observations today. The dead whale from last report is still composting on the shore. Beach seemed pretty clean of garbage. Only 4 dead birds. Many crab shells. Very few jellyfish. Muggy warm weather following a week of fires in the hills east of here.

Live injured bird. ?American Coot?

Long hike on the Oregon Coast Trail from Floras Lake to Blacklock Point. Started at mile 60 and ended at the southern portion of mile 59. Most of the 4 hours was spent on the trail above the beach. Except for the very northern most point of 59, the beach/rocky habitat is inaccessible from the trail until one reaches Blacklock Point. 

Today's weather forecast called for areas of fog with a Dense Smoke Advisory because of the wildfires, but I didn't smell any smoke, just dense fog all along the beach, with hardly anyone to be seen. Although a Saturday, there were only a few vehicles in the Driftwood Wayside parking lot, where I met a worker with the PacWave wave energy project who was measuring the water level in a borehole the project had drilled (see my previous reports).  He said things are still in the design phase but that the project may begin construction in a few months. This will be exciting to monitor and report on.

It was very calm on the beach with low visability because of the smoke from inland fires and the fog.  There were 17 people from 8 cars, walking, running, riding horses, fishing, biking and just sitting.  The sand is so high that the wood piles are not visable leaving a long smooth run of beach down to the surf only interrupted by a line of kelp as wrack.  A few gulls and shorebirds were about.  There was no human debris or disturbances. 

Very smokey from all the fires in central and eastern oregon.  Lots of debris from trees had blown into the ocean from the wind storm and wash up at the high tide line.  4 dead birds that had all washed up as well, including one skeleton.  A few trees had been knocked over from the windstorm on the south end of Arch Cape beach.  

The day was foggy/ smoky due to recent fires so visibility was very poor. I did not take any photos. Ocean was very calm.

Two items of note today. Unusual mortality of starfish. Found about 20 in the space of a half mile. All about 3-5 inches long. Also ash in wrack line.

Smoke clouded the skies today, but by the time I did my beach clean-up, the wind had changed direction and the temperature had cooled to 62 degrees. Some fog seen out along the ocean. Today, crews were manning 2 front loaders digging a burial site for a juvenile Sei whale that washed up on shore 2 days ago. When I arrived, the whale was already buried in the sand at 15-20 feet in depth according to Rangers. Rangers reported whale weighed around 20,000 pounds. Crews were placing sand over the burial site when I was there around 12noon.

The weather was stunning, which may have accounted for the larger volume of visitors to the mile.

A smokey, foggy, walk on the beach. Had to shorten the walk due to the smoke. Nothing else of significance. 

Around midnight last night, from our condo observed lights from a fishing boat apparently beached on South Beach, just south of SouthShore community. Notified Coast Guard Yaquina Bay who informed me they were already aware of the incident. Extremely windy and smokey, so didn't venture out. In the morning, walked down to the scene and took some additional photographs.

15 people and 5 dogs noted on a quiet foggy day at the beach. 1 man was surf fishing at the waterline...an activity that is quite unusual to see on Manzanita's beach.  

This is my first report in 2020 although I have walked all or part of this mile several times this summer. No significant changes to the beach or cliffs was noted since last fall. In all my visits, I have only noted one dead bird which is unusual and no dead marine mammals or fish.  In general, there is more activity on this section of beach than I have seen in most previous summers. On July 28, 2020 I did a beach clean up with 6 family members. Items found included: plastic bottles and bottle caps, beverage cans, food & snack wrappers, treated wood including plywood with fiberglass backing, bag of dog poop, a diaper, flip flops, clothing items, marine rope, some small pieces of plastic although no large amounts of micro plastics, several cigarette butts & 2 disposable masks. 

I walked mile 222 on September 3, 2020 & again on September 5. Sometime during that time period, a large section of cliff fell. Also, I observed a pallet in Cole Creek that appeared to have come from the ocean. See photos.

The fog increased as we walked but we saw two carcasses of sea lions and 4 dead birds. They were all within 50 yards of each other and fur, feathers and bones were all that was left. Several turkey vultures were on the two sea lion carcasses. 
 

An amazing summer morning on mile 184, with lots of gulls, sunshine, and peace. 

Additional photos of the dead humpback whale

Summer has brought incoming sand piling up. A  couple driftwood structures have been made for a windbreak. Plants are encroaching out into the sand since there has been no high tide to wash them away. During the last month we have only seen one mask discarded on the beach so it doesn't seem to be a problem here so far.

It was a pleasant, sunny day with well-separated groups of people--including young children--just relaxing on the beach.  There were more people than usual on this beach, but I had expected even more given the crowds of folks coming to the coast this summer.  I thought that I might find some problems with litter, fires, or campers, but the beach was very clean and seemed problem-free.

8 Eugene Hikers ("Hikers") parked at Tahkenitch Campground day area and accessed the beach on Tahkenitch Dunes trail.  Hikers were on Mile 154 for 2 hours.  They observed 6 other people walking on beach and one dog.  The ocean was flat from high tide, beach calm, weather low 60's and overcast, wind 10-15 mph and no live birds seen.  Hikers did see 4 dead birds in various states of decomposition and a bird wing.  Could not determine species of birds, but see photos.  No evidence bird deaths caused by humans, eg, oil or rope entanglement.  Hikers found bones of: a large animal, rib cages of a few smaller animals, and a partial carcass/bones of a seal, possibly.  There were small rocks, shells, dried kelp/seaweed, crab shell molts, clam shells on or near the driftline.  There was a little driftwood.  It was noteworthy the amount of human originated litter/debris the tide washed into some of the snowy plover protected area along Mile 154.  Hikers collected litter/debris that was away from this protected area.  

No unusual or significant changes. Wide open mostly deserted beach. The group of 11 adults and children at "secret cove" playing in the stream was the largest number of people I have ever seen there. 

Walked the northern half of Roads End beach, to the Point.  Clean, windswept beach.  About 40 people and a dozen dogs.  Only dead bird was a murre, recently deceased.  Lots of pelicans this summer.

A family of six was playing in the surf in the little Cove south of the dock Beach. The actual dock area seems very quiet, although we did see some dredging activity.

A beautiful walk on the beach during a negative tide revealed lots of visitors on the beach. Haystack Rock tidepooling was quite popular given the -.8 tide. The surprise was how busy Chapman Point was, so many walkers, dogs and folks enjoying the beach.  The human litter on the beach was surprisingly low, but given the wind and rain of the past two days, debris may have gotten buried or blown away. So many dogs, but no dog poop bags were noted.  Also, no masks were seen on the beach, again could be because the wind has been strong over the last couple days and the debris was blown or buried.

Very pleasant day. Many people enjoying the beach. Dead birds distributed throughout mile, at least 3 different species. Removed a grocery bag full of litter including firework leftovers and dog poop in bags.

Today was windy, mixed with rain.  A steady 10-20 MPH wind from the SSW meant fewer people on the beach.  Saw lots of juvenile gulls near Haystack Rock.  The walk was beautiful, it is so great to have rain and cooler daytime temperatures for the first time in a couple weeks.  Most notable thing from the walk was the human litter, especially along the dunes.

A beautiful mild, mostly sunny day on the mile. I counted approximately 27 people, including four children and one infant. Seven dogs, two of them leashed. A very low (-1.1) tide, with the damp sand completely clean and the dry sand also just about pristine. A good number of crab carapaces; it looked as if the gulls had had a hearty breakfast. Bright green seaweed also in the drift line, plus the usual sand crabs. At Big Creek on the N end of the mile, a very large flock of gulls was gathered, sitting in the shallows and occasionally finding something to eat in the water. The two large chunks of bluff that started detaching last winter are still standing, much to my amazement. Surely this winter they'll come down...

I planned my walk hoping to reach the northern tip of Alsea Spit around 8:45 a.m. for the predicted low tide of -1.05. I thought it would be an easy walk over flat sand but hadn't counted on the stretches of exposed rough seafloor covered by standing water dotted with sand islands. The spit finally disappeared under water ahead and on either side and the tide beginning to come in. It was fun back home to export my smartphone GPS map of where I had walked onto Google Earth's most recent image of the spit and see how much of my walk had been over what was usually water.  See photos and Google Earth/GPS screen grab.

Natural slow erosion of hillside.  Picture.   Parking are appeared over crowded.  

Fewer people using the beach generally over the summer and shorter visit times is helping to keep mile 181 wild and clean.  The high sand keeps most of the beach above the tide.  It protects the path people take from erosion as people walk down to the sand from the parking lot.  Steam was coming off the sand in places, a reminder about cold air coming off the water.  The beach seemed nearly empty and 1/4 mile wide.  

Nothing unusual to report.

It was a quiet trip to the beach--being early at 6-7 AM.

Mostly clear, with a slight marine layer which was already burning off by 7AM.

I am concerned about the picnic table--will it be removed before winter storms or will it become flotsom.

More cars parked at the end of Pollock Ave. than ever before and  more people on the beach than previous years.

Lots of high wind action left new foredunes 1-3 ft tall 10 ft long in rows on the beach causing one to have to walk the tide line.Four sea aninomes on the wet sand, five ladybugs eating in the wrack line, hundreds of white feathers in the wrack line.

Dead humpback whale is on the beach on Mile 238. It has been there about a week. 

All is well!

Excluding by sea, the entry to Whale Cove beach requires passage on private property and an easement provided by USFW, so it was unusual to find such a collection of beachgoers. The beach is normally quite clean as it was this time, but with two unusual findings: the door of a small refrigerator with Japanese (?) writing (probably from a boat, and pieces of a fiberglass boat hull.

Also noted was damage at the bottom of the ladder leading down to the beach. This likely occurred during a king tide storm. A king tide storm in the winter of 2019 took the entire ladder down when it launched large driftwood against the bluff. This replacement ladder is bent at the bottom and a step is missing.

It was a busy Friday afternoon at the beach! Lots of groups of people enjoying the warm sun and cool breeze. Not much mask wearing. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone so wasn't able to take photos.

Mid week of very busy summer-Covid19-week on the beach with lots of groups of 8-10 people, multi-generational, 40-50 cars at NW 15th.

I walked this mile today and just wanted to note the abundance of newborn sea stars inside Lost Boy Cave and the surrounding tide water. I have just never seen them this small before in the wild!

Final low tide of the summer brought lots of people to the beach at this early hour.  Lots of people rock collecting, some fishing and lots of great tide pools.  There are large sand banks all along the beach and many rocks and rock fields visible on past visits, are no longer visible.  I noted small shrimp like crustaceans all along the drift line along with lots of crab casings.  I also saw a small flock of guillemots on the far end of the beach.  They were quite vocal.  The marine layer rolled in and out for the two hours I was on the beach.  

The only known snowy plover nest this year on Mile 202 failed.  Of the fourteen known plover nests located and monitored this year between Seal Rock and Patterson Memorial Recreation Site just south of Waldport, only three nests were successful, producing five chicks.  At failed nest sites, eggs usually disappeared without a trace, leaving just the nest scrape in the sand. At a few failed nest sites, crow tracks were seen, crows being the primary predator of plover nests. The Mile 202 nest site just south of Bayshore Beach Club was covered with small plover tracks and larger crow tracks. With all the plover tracks, the crow tracks are hard to see but were numerous in the vicinity, and it's likely that a crow was responsible for this nest failure. Compared to other failed nests, it looks like a struggle occurred here. Three successful nests out of fourteen is a pretty dismal record, but at least the plovers are here and trying.

Large numbers of people at the beach today. Mostly social distanced between groups except in parking area. Roads end is getting heavy use this summer.

I saw so many different types of birds along the jetty, I'm no bird expert but I thought I saw pelicans, herons, cormorants, and sea gulls. I also noted thousands of Mole Crabs in the sand with the tide water washing them around. Found and collected some agates along this mile as well!

Half of mile 195 is on the 804 trail. During the covid crisis, I have been avoiding that portion, which tends to be crowded with visitors not wearing masks or keeping a safe distance. But I braved it to walk with my dog Westly, in celebration of his tenth birthday. As you can see in the photo, we had ppe.

It was a beautiful, warm and mostly sunny day. As expected, the trail was crowded, but there was plenty of space on the beach for social distancing. There were more than the usual number of visitors, hiking, picnicking and playing in the surf. Dogs were having a rollicking good time. I even spotted a whale.

Very busy with people and dogs, but beach still clean and no major problems.

Driftwood Wayside is open again after remaining closed beyond the COVID restriction period due to construction scheduled to begin on the PacWave South wave energy project (see my report for 6/6/2020). The work was apparently postponed, but things look to be starting now judging by the surveying equipment in the parking lot, so the wayside may close again to vehicles. For those who venture beyond the warning signs at the pathway leading down to the beach, long stretches of what had been flat sand have been transformed by the summer north winds and blowing sand into a mini-Sahara of sculpted dunes. It will be interesting to see how this changes when the winter winds from the south come even stronger.

A beautiful day with people enjoying themselves. Warm enough for some people to go into the water, some people wearing bathing suits/bikinis. A Coast Guard helicopter seemd to be flying over the crab oats off shore, as opposed to the usual flight up and down the coast. Also noted a biplane flying by (rides from the airport near Gleneden Beach. For me, the most wonderous observation was a bald eagle (picture included) that circled me 3-4 times and a low altitude.

Pleased to see so many  families exploring South Cove's tidepools respectfully.  I  saw a racoon out there. I  do depend on other visitors to cue me in on interesting finds, but in all my years of coming here, this is the first time I've seen one. I brought my binoculars to try and identify any birds I saw, but alas, I had no success. Did hear their distinctive calls, however, as well as an oft repeated refrain,   "I found a starfish!" Beautiful indeed! I need to become more familiar with birdsong,  but I  could identify that last! I  remembered seeing a message advising us CoastWatchers to try and balance the sad fact our rangers our stretched thin. With that in mind, I  did introduce myself to one family and spoke with several more.  I  let 3 know that the tide was on it's way in. I was just out here last month but that one was to make up for missing the Spring survey.  This has been my Summer survey and what a lovely way to spend my morning. 

This is such a beautiful mile, the series of hidden beaches beyond the first headland never seem to get added to the reports so I wanted to help out. 
I noted there were agates present on the shoreline! There is a set of sea caves full of tide pool life and each had some marine debris inside. I also noted some of the islands had large amounts of Brandt's Cormorants and on the last beach I saw small deer hoof prints in the sand. With binoculars I was able to see 3 deer up the ravine. A smaller 4 point buck, a larger 6 point buck, and a young doe grazing. 

No violations  or unusual environmental damage noted.  Healthy sea star population and flock of brown pelicans observed.

"Snowy Plovers are Here!" announces the children's artwork sign posted by Beach Ranger Doug Sestrich at the Bayshore Beach Club beach access just north of a new Western Snowy Plover nest. See photos. On July 13th, Doug spotted a plover and nest with one egg, and Roy Lowe subsequently saw two eggs (three is optimum). Snowy plovers winter on the beach along Mile 202, but successful nests are rare here in large part because of the heavy recreational beach use. Due to the location and strong north winds with blowing sand, Doug waited to see if the nest survived before putting up a protective rope buffer. On July 19th, he roped the nest, now with only one egg, the second probably buried by blowing sand. As of today, a plover is still on the nest--mom usually incubates during the day, dad at night. They're tough little birds, and hopefully they'll prevail against the human disturbance, dogs, kites, coyotes, crows, wind and blowing sand, and we'll see a chick around August 10th or so.

Snowy Plover nest Mile 202 (this was reported to Plover Patrol), Plover on mile 203, Skeleton of Seal Pub

This is a very beautiful mile of coast. I was able to walk the whole mile along the shore at low tide. There are enormous boulders all over the shore and major cracks in the cliffs. Some small sea caves were on the western portion of the mile and I noted some very interesting rocks and minerals present. Lots of sea birds here and on the eastern portion of the mile there is a smell present in the air and I did see numerous dead starfish scattered around the sand and in the tide pools. 

Super foggy day on this isolated section of beach. The trail to the beach is getting more use than historic numbers, but still very low use on this beach. Plover signs and fencing in this area are new as this area used to be "closed" but left unmarked due to high maintenance required. 

The north bluff face of Cape Kiwanda is a sheer cliff now, much eroded from my last trip. There was evidence of many campfires in front of the vegetated dune all the way along my mile. Some, unfortunately, had been buried in sand by folks not realizing that just keeps the embers hot for anyone with bare feet stepping on them. Some picnic remains but mostly a pretty clean beach. Few people when I arrived, many by the time I left.

We spent a good number of hours watching birds (cormorants, pigeon guillemots, adult and juvenile bald eagles, great blue heron, osprey carrying fish,  pelicans moving north, oystercatchers).

There is a large colony of river otters along these rocky little beaches, especially numerous coming out of a small creek which flows out of the Nature Conservancy property. We see many of their tracks of all sizes but this visit did not see the animals as we have in other visits. I am glad the beaches are seldom used so that these otters are left alone.

Very impressive numbers of new mussel beds, tegula snails by the million, small starfish, dog periwinkles. The snails in particular had been waning poulations for some years in my own experience, as one who has looked them for my entire life. The olive shells are not back, nor the gooseneck barnacles.

Powdery Dudleya is having a great comeback as well. I saw it in big clumps and in many places.

There has been a great deal of large rockfall as well as soft bluff slumping. What was once 3 separate little beaches is quickly becoming one.

The Harts Cove trail was recently maintained by Forest Service so it was good access to the top of the cliffs there and surrounding the cove itself. I noted some huge trees washed into the cove most likely from the erosion in the miles to the south. I also noted 30+ Sea Lions lining the shoreline south of the cove and on the Two Arches rocks. 
 

Nothing unusual.

Observed a beached Sunfish and took some photos.

After a rainy morning people were just starting to come out to Nadonna Beach. The tide seemed much lower than 1.7, and had created a sand bar forming a large shallow “lake” just at the shore south of the jetty. The NW wind was strong but the sea was fairly calm. The upper beach showed covered remnants of lots of bonfire pits from the Fourth of July holiday. Aside from two tires that had evidently been dumped in the parking lot and a wooden pallet stranded at the high tide mark about half a mile south of the jetty, I saw no human trash on the beach--the SOLVE beach cleanup on July 7 must have picked up all the fireworks remnants and bonfire trash. The jetty tip sports a new big driftwood tree, weathered white. It must’ve taken a huge wave to put it up that high on the rocks. The lower sand is smooth and hard-packed since the last high tide.

When I started the mile walk south from the jetty at 12:15, about 21 people were on the beach and five on the south jetty, and five dogs. Three teenage boys were peeling off their wet suits after surfing. When I returned north to the jetty, I counted some 40 people on the beach and 3 or 4 different dogs. Kids flying five kites took advantage of the strong winds. A couple of children played in the waves, a family grouping set up a wind tent, others brought beach chairs and sat in groups up near the dunes. Most people just walked on the beach near the water. A couple of runners strode by, and one cyclist on a fat-tired bike rode up from the south to the jetty, then turned around and rode back south along the hard-packed beach. By the time I left at 1:30, two of the surfers were now dressed and starting a small bonfire at one of the many 'fort' shelters up by the dunes.

The highlight of my walk was finding two small 4-inch fish at the edge of the water, one dead, one flopping its last flops, about 3/4 of a mile south of the jetty.  First time I found a fish still (barely) alive. Not much else had been washed up. The wrack contained a mix of small stones, shell parts, some foam and a little seaweed here and there, as well as a few crab bodies and legs and an occasional jellyfish.

Arrived at Mile 246 around 12:30 pm and ended the walk about 2:30pm.  During my time there I saw 40 people and 8 dogs.  I am not counting the 2 people and 2 dogs that came with me.  Saw quite a few shrimp and crab casings along with lots of mussel clusters, some with banacles attached to them. Didn't see any water flowing down the dry streams, the tide was out so access to the rock areas was very accessible with dry pools.  The tree at the top of the hill is still clinging to the rocks above.  The beach was exceptionally clean, I  collected 2 plastic ropes, 1 starbucks cup, a motts snack package and a clump of plastic twine attached to each other.  

The beach is now very long, with the sand high against the cliffs.  The wrack is full of crab and sand shrimp shells.  20 people were there today, with 3 biking on the hard sand and 2 riding horses.  Little wood was visable.  There were no dead birds or human debris.  A group of about 50 gulls was resting on the sand and pelicans were fishing in the waves, but no flocks of shorebirds were around.  The area where the dunes had been bulldozed to enhance the habitat for the snowy plover is growing grass back.  And the zone set aside throughout this mile to protect the nesting for the plover is mostly undamage although there were a few dog tracks moving through from the back dunes. It was a good day to walk the beach with no problems to report. 

Lots of people enjoying Ocean Beach on this warm day.  Lots of sand lance burrowing, un-burrowing, dead and dying along the surf line.  There was a bald eagle walking along eating them the entire time we were at the beach, about 2 hours.  Noticed 2 gapers burrowing into the sand.  Large flocks of cormorants and surf scooters right off the beach.  There was only one rock field on the beach compared to other visits.  Very few exposed rocks.  The waterfall at mid beach is still flowing.  

I drove this mile in my vehicle while birdwatching. Notable dead animal sightings included a dead elk being scavenged by turkey vultures (see photos below), a dead harbor seal being eaten by turkey vultures (see photo) and a recently dead harbor porpoise 95% intact but had its eyes pecked out (see photo). I submitted an Oregon OSU Dead Marine Mammal Stranding Report via email. With a low tide of 0.5ft during my drive, many clammers had parked cars on the beach and were actively searching for clams, along with plentiful numbers of western and california gulls, as well as whimbrels foraging in the shallow water pools near a great blue heron. A sea watch yieleded the following avifauna: surf scoters, white-winged scoters, caspian terns (some males carrying fish in their bills to present to females for breeding), and brown pelicans. 

Summer was in full swing on Manzanita's beach with 82 people noted along with 13 dogs. Folks were kiteboarding in the moderate north wind, playing volleyball, building sand castles and dozing. Very few masks noted. Only 1 dead bird...a juvenile common murre.   

The summer has brought more sand in, and dunes developed. Both creeks are low with maximum depths below the knee. No evidence of advanced bluff erosion since the last survey. Suprisingly, there was minimal marine and land-based debris with only one bag collected. 

We thought it would be a good idea to take a look around on our mile after the 4th of July because in past years we have found quite a bit of fireworks debris.  To our pleasant surprise there was very little ... just a few paper casings.  Not much trash at all, in fact.  The sand at the end of the Salishan Spit had eroded into a steep dropoff, a natural phenomenon that occurs from time to time.  Eventually it will even out again.  Came across a dead harbor seal on the bay side of the Spit.  It obviously had been there a while.  Appeared to be an adult, although thinner than the live ones we see.  No visible signs of trauma.  The harbor seal colony looked large and healthy, maybe 200 animals.

The Morning After -- July 5th here in Bayshore, on an otherwise beautiful weekend, means residents spending hours beginning to clean up the fireworks debris left by the few thoughtless holiday visitors who don't believe the "Fireworks Prohibited" signs should restrict their freedom to trash the beach. Attached are photos of the debris my wife and I and neighbors have been collecting, piece by piece, some of it now being partially covered by blowing sand. Unfortunately, it's not harmless trash but also toxic stuff potentially deadly to wildlife. The little red plastic shards look vaguely edible, and there's no way of getting it all. I know this is just preaching to the choir, but it makes me feel better.

high sand level, able to clear Hug Point on foot by 50 yards at ~-1.0 tide, beach relatively flat, sporatic diftline content

Observation is from the first dune in the dry zone at NW 38th Street access.  I took photos north and south from that position.  This is my first day back on my beach walks in a long time.  While I can see my whole mile from most places along it, my report detail is abbreviated to a localized people - (4) and walking or airborn critter-count (0).  I did find a cave that had been pressed into the dense vegetation zone.  I took a photo of this too, but there was an error and the photo did not record.

Wow, today was a reminder that people love the beach. It was surprising so many people were in town, given the covid-19 increases. The humans overwhelmed the space, I don't have much comment for this report except about the people.  My counts are likely low, I did my best but it was impossible. The photos below tell the whole story .

I noted one section of recent erosion where the sand ends and the cliffs begin. There are huge boulders laying below and a gaping void in the cliff above. 
 

Tide pool life was very present, I was happy to see so many sea stars around again. I also noted anemones, and rock crabs all over as well. Common Murres, Guillemots, and Brandt's Cormorants we're nesting on the visible rocks and sea stacks. 

Overcast, maybe a few sprinkles. Not many people using the beach this morning. However there is a lot of burned driftwood, large logs and smaller fir pits towards back dunes, and in the midst of the dunes. This is very close to 4th of July, it appears that there is a lot of evening beach use/bonfires. I found a large pile of broken up furniture debris, presumably to be used in a beach fire. There was a gentleman that appeared to be making his home down in a hollow in the dunes, between and underneath some small shore pines.