Mile Report Browser

Lovely, quiet October Monday morning. Recently there have been an increase in dead birds on the beach. Representative photo attached.

There were about 50 people exploring Cobble Beach: playing with children, taking pictures, looking through the wrack and shore line, and a couple surfers closer to Agate Beach. 13 birds along the cobbles, mostly cormorants with other unidentidfied species as well (too far along in decomposition for positive identification). Small and recent rockfalls have occured along the cliff face (most rocks about the size of an apple, with fewer larger rocks). 

Photos show damage from erosion and vandalism. Also the dead bird that is possibly a Caspian Tern.

More tire tracks than we have ever seen.

More exposed stone fields on beach toward north end.  Large sand drift against cliff mid beach.  A few sea stars visible from the shore on outlying rocks.  Debris line to the south of stairs has lots of plastics.

Nice morning for a beach walk, not much to report, only one dead bird (murre) , picked up a few pices of plastic trash but not much, gulls, cormorrants, geese  and a couple BOC's were the only wildlife we noticed.

End of summer,  Not much in the way of driftwood left on the beach(campers burn it thru the summer).  The beach was carn clean being it was just a week ago the SOLVE did the fall beach clean-up. 5 dead birds is a concern, I am cusrious as to why?  

A beautiful warm windless sunny morning on the beach, enjoyed by about 25 adults; 7 kids; and 11 dogs, 3 leashed, 8 running free. The wrack line consisted chiefly of crab parts. At a couple of spots the wrack lay right at the base of the bluff. One large chunk of bluff has come down recently, and certain of the narrow clayey layers are continuing to decay. Aside from a few small pieces of plastic and one bag of dog doo, the beach was clean. As some waves were already washing up to the base of the bluff 45 minutes before the predicted high tide, I turned around after walking about 2/3 of the mile. 

The big tides have brought lots of bull kelp to 220 along with styrofoam pieces and a good length of fishing gear (ODFW tag # in photos). Counted at least 8 dead birds, I did not see tags on them yet. The black drainage pipes seem to continue to be eroding out of the bluff and I saw a few large cracks down the sandstone "wall" before the RV park steps. 

Due to recent beach cleanup and minus tides, our beach mile was very clean. Only an occasional gull and the curlews for bird activity.

All looked normal - very summery.

The beach was relatively clean with some scattered logs. There were many, many gulls on the beach and out onto the shoreline. Our furthest northern point on our mile was barricaded by military from Camp Rilea with orange cones, a jeep and two officers letting us know it was a "live fire rangers" activity! We could not travel beyond their barricade.

It was a lovely sunny un-windy day.  People were sun bathing, agate hunting, meditating, and poking around on the beach.  There were not many birds, but we were surprised to see oyster catcheers cleaning themselves along with the gulls in the fresh water of Tenmile Creek.  We found three large ( 16") Moon Jellyfish on the sand and several smaller ones, all on the main beach.  Summer sand is still covering the cobbles so it was easy walking.  

Dead baby marine mammal (seal or sea lion), reported.

Beach getting wider with change of season. When we started monitoring 7 years ago we would fill trash bags with styrofoam, glass and plastic bottles, flip flops and shoes, rope, shotgun shell casings, and other debris. We now find a few small plastic fragments and an occasional plastic bag. Beach is much cleaner now.

Large amount of squid eggs observed.  Otherwise typical contents of driftline.  No development threats observed.

SOLVE litter pick-up taking place.  A fissure appears to be developing at the base of a bluff.

Quite a few birds; most observed in the past few reports; lots of small wood at driftline; larger logs washed ashore.

A number of people were at the Lookout at the Otter Crest State Wayside observing the grey whale activity that could be seen below and to the west.  One close-in whale could be observed skimming along just under the surface of the calm water well before and after surfacing to breathe.  Otherwise, the most notable wildlife was pelicans on the large pyramidal rock previously mentioned.

The contour of the beach has changed again so that there are numerous patches of standing water at the base of the embankment.  Despite this, and despite the increased amount of trash, it is still a lovely and relatively unfrequented beach.  The embankment continues to show signs of ongoing boulder falls and other erosion.

It started out to be a sunny day, but while I was walking it started to rain hard.

There were 10 people and 2 dogs walking on the beach.  They looked at the barnacles, muscles and anemonies at  Arch Cape.  There were 2 oyster catchers and 1 sand piper on the rocks by Arch Cape.  I saw one razor clam shell on the beach.  The beach was unchanged with nothing unusual to report other than the razor clam shell.

A long walk on a wet morning. Not many people out this day. Wind was calm although it was raining lightly. Surf was low. Have noticed more birds moving south over the last few days. Whether this is weather-related or migration or both, not sure. Certainly, this time of year we always see pelicans flying south, low over the water behind the surf. 

At least one cormorant and one common murre were found in a weakened state and taken to a local "bird" man, Harry Dodson (who the Oregon aquarium suggested I call), for help. Though the cormorant didn't live to make it off the beach. 

Note: Oct. 11-12, ten - 14 dead common murres were seen washed up at the high tide line, in a range N and S of SW 35th Street, Lincoln City beach access.

Due to change of flow of the Johnson Ck. and dune formation a nice lagoon has formed, that attracks many shorebirds including one Pelican.

Lovely day on the beach. All but two folks were enjoying a walk on the beach. Two were sunbathing on towels. Only two dogs running around off leash.  A lot of seagulls ( like 50) out of the water resting by Johnson Creek. Four dead birds observed along the driftline. Not much trash to pick up today.

This was a calm day, warm with big clouds.  The beach is long and flat now although the high wood has not been exposed yet.  The wrack is thick with seaweed in some areas.  There were two groups riding horses and a few other people walking, none with dogs.  However, there were some dog tracks coming over the dunes. The restriction on traveling above the high water line to protect snowy plover nesting is over as of the 15th.   Only one flock of shorebirds and a few gulls were seen.  Two carcasses were found, one a Rhinoseros Auklet, the other a Common Murre.  There was no human debris.

A nice quiet wind-free afternoon to stroll Heceta Beach after the summer crowds have dispersed.  A recently deceased yearling sea lion is on the beach about halfway between the jetty and Driftwood Shores Resort.  No obvious trauma beyond scavenger recycling.  The mile is coated with white octopus(?) egg clusters, apparently ripped free from their seabed attachment by the recent high surf on Tuesday.  Each individual egg is about 1-2" in length. 

In spite of the recent crowds of visitors, the beach is surprisingly clean of man-made debris.

Normal beach.  As usual, typical movement of sand that change the slope of the beach to the waterline.

More people on the beach today.The sand has moved back in over the gravel beds. There are a lot of dead jellyfish in the wrack line. There is one large jellyfish a foot across.

Today was a perfect beach day. Given that schools are now in session there were only 20 people on the beach either wallking or sunbathing. I picked up litter but given the busy laborday weekend there was less than I expected.

We were informed by Westwind staff that a live trap had been set for a dog that had been roaming the beach for several months, living off a whale tale that had washed ashore. We saw the trap (see picture) but not the dog. We saw several dozen people access the beach from the Salmon River over the Labor Day weekend (we can see the beach from our home at Cascade Head Ranch), but the area was pristine with no signs of people having visited.

Perfect weather, weekday, one day after holiday weekend. Quiet beach. No trash observed. Seven vehicles in parking lot upon arrival. Five when I left approximately 90 minutes later. Nobody was fishing, surfing, or otherwise playing in the water. Most folks walking dogs. Three vehicles observed driving on the beach (legal). Two people were rock hunting with pole devices. I spoke to them to determine what they were doing (I thought they may have been clamming). Beach was very clean. Limited washed ashore debris of shell casings, seaweed, wood. A couple of dead crabs. Bluffs looked healthy but there are a few bald spots near Five Mile Point. Minor to moderate rock sliding observed at the point. Only one access to this stretch of coast, which borders on two private properties, each owned by different business entities with the same contact person. Did not see any reason to contact owner. Graffiti observed on one of the monument rocks. Abundant driftwood. didn't appear to be any harvesting. Overall, a very healthy section of the coast.

Shocker sound deposition is normal. Unusual to see two people surfing. Very unusual to find a decomposing seal. Very unusual to find a few dozen small desiccated jellies and one big one. Unidentified Critter on ceiling normally inaccessible cave.

Since this is Labor Day there was lot of activity on the beach.  Many people and dogs. We noticed the bluff had been excavated about a quarter mile north of Vingie Creek. Sand and vegetation had been removed from a section about 15 feet wide going back about 40 feet. The removed height was about 3 feet. 

Low tide made for great viewing of tide pools, and coastal caves.  

Calm cloudy 65' morning, 8 vehicles in parking lot. 19 people, 5 dogs enjoying early morning beach stroll.Beachside campground nearly full. Some brown drying seaweed strands, crab molt, live mole crabs laying eggs in sand near tideline. Some predation by gulls. Clean beach. Fall has arrived.

A quiet day at Sea Star Beach. With the City of Newport continuing work on treatment substation at NW 68th and closing the road they have limited the number of persons using the portion of the beach.

Mile 238 was very calm and empty today. No people or animals (except birds). No debris on the beach, only dried seaweed, driftwood, small logs, etc. A natural bluff has formed along much of this mile near the waterline.

All looked normal.  Northing unusual.

Very warm, sunny day with very little wind.

45 people and 7 dogs observed on beach.

12 cars/trucks in parking areas.

2 people had started to surf fish in the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve as I was towards where they were at. I stopped and asked them if they knew that they were in a marine reserve and fishing was not allowed. They said that they did not know that and stopped immediately. The husband had already caught and released one fish.

Cleanest driftline that I have observed on this beach

New step of wood steps coming down bluff from Beachcomber Cottages. There had been cement slabs there for steps. See pictures

Summer sand has returned. Large pile of rock that had been deposited naturally at the outlet from Tenmile Creek into the ocean was gone.

A beautiful day at the beach. It was great seeing so many peeople out enjoying the coast in a variety of ways. There were a lot of crab molts in the driftline and a few dead birds. Also many visitors on the mile today playing in and out of the water. 

It was a lovely, calm day for a beach walk with my dog Westly. Many other vsitors were enjoying the 804 trail and the beach north of Starr Creek. The driftline was free of human debris, but there were numerous crab molts. There was no activity of concern to report.

Noticed an increase in dead birds, mostly common murres and on the north end of Roads End beach.

A beautiful day at the Beach. Some days earlier a juvenile humpback whale was beached around the middle of mile 202. It was eventually euthanized and buried somewhere on mile 202. 

Sunny, warm day at Shorties with a mild crowd of families and surfers. Most notable as always is marine debris including microplastics in the sand and in the wrackline.  Large log covered with pelagic gooseneck barnacles was a cool sight. 

Second Harbor seal found in as many days on Mile 220, this one bigger and a bit more decomposed than the smaller one found yesterday (who is also on the beach today- further south). 10 turkey vultures waiting in the trees on the bluff above.

In general area free of significant litter, but much new graffiti spray painted at the outlet of Gwynn Creek just north of the North Neptune parking lot.  Also a large graffiti painted inside the culvert at same location, though we do not know if this is new.  Graffiti and firering inside large cave on far south portion of Section 189.  Visitors have been moving a lot of large driftwood around to make sculptures, and there are some recently used fire rings throughout section.  We observed gulls and ravens, dragonflies, lots of healthy starfish (no wasting diseases seen), green anenome, tadpoles and small fish in the tidepools.  One dog off leash chased gulls.  A visitor has made a small dam with rocks across one area of Cummins Creek as it nears the high tide line.  It was not tall enough to really hold water back and we thought it would probably wash away when rain and storms begin again.

Mile 300

8/18/19

Sunday Morning

6:30am - 9:00am

The surf was 3-4 feet waist to chest high. The scent of beach fire was notable.

There was evidence of human beach activity prior to my arrival - 6 sand castles, 4 large holes in the sand, misc. clothing and some trash.

Tide pool sightings included 1 sea star impaled with a feather and a sea star being consumed by a gull.

Photos attached.

A wrackline filled with eelgrass, jellies and crab carapaces. Also a dead young harbor seal noted by the South end where the houses are over the bluff. 3 Turkey Vultures were nicely starting to clean it up for us. 

Found today 10-12’ decomposing body of a sea lion washed up on the rocks at the cove at the most northern point of mile 8 

appears to have been dead for some time and is very fragrant 

Turkey vulture activity has been high here for the last several days and I guess I discovered why!

photos attached 

Warm, sunny summer afternoon that would have almost seemed too warm if it weren't for a strong breeze; surprising that there were only a few folks visiting. Summer sand accumulations have completely filled in previously eroded sections of foredune. Not much trash on beach, only carried out one small bag of litter. Most notable observation was the massive number of dungeness crab and pacific mole crab exoskeletons littering the drift line, the majority of which were of smaller size crabs. Presume the die-off is evidence of warmer ocean temperatures and reduced oxygen levels in seawater off the coast - sobering to consider the long term consequences to overall crab populations.

Beautiful warm, calm day.  Both Wade and Coal creeks quite dry/very little runoff.  25 people 5 dogs all having a great day most walking and getting feet wet!  Some concern about tent/camp on beach north of Coal Creek.  also dead fire with gas can in debris.  

1 very dead bird observed.  Seaweed and casings on beach

Very little trash on beach

More trash than our last few walks...possibly due to the kite festival last week.  Lots of twine from bundled beach firewood, some fireworks remains, lots of plastic and leftovers from s’more party’s.  A long dead skate and seagull.  10 or so brown pelicans gliding over the waves, and numerous seagulls on the dry sand.

Summer conditions bring very changed conditions on mile 99 since the last survey. Johnson Creek on the south end and Crooked Creek on the north are following significantly different paths and now empty into the ocean much farther south. North winds have created sand dunes against the bluffs and along the dry sandy beach. No signs of new bluff erosion noted. A dead large skate was in the tide line, approximately 6 feet long. 

A lovely overcast day with not much wind.  The sand was back for the summer making walking the beach easier.  We saw 12 orange seastars out on the rocks.  Hopefully they are coming back.  One dead on land.   Two new things for us, the worm like creatures on one part of the beach and the strange fish skelton.  Both pictured.  There were a lot of people out enjoying the beach, and one group having a marshmallow roast.  There were 14 species of birds seen and four seals.   The path to the beach is getting overgrown with vegetation and the former parking lot by the beach is now a sand dune.

Numerous violations observed, including campfire in unsafe location and harvesting tidepool organisms in the marine reserve.  There has been an uptick in problematic activity on the mile due to more visitors, partly caused by an increase in short-term rentals.

Overcast, slightly cooler than the rest of the week, typical summer people doing typical summer things. No drama, no crisis. High sand even at low tide limited tidepools and created bank near tideline. 

I saw 12 people and two dogs on the beach.  No dead animals or trash.  Small waves.  The tide comes almost all the way up to the rocks and flattens the beach.  Cool cloudy weather seems to keep people from swimming.  

There were lots of people enjoying the roads and campground at mile 181, but not many people on that paticular beach.  Cool and cloudy weather on a weekday may explain part of the reason.  A few campers told me they like to visit lots of places and use the campground as a base camp.  It seemed mostly quiet and deserted on the beach.  People were having lunch or exploring somewhere else.  The waves were small and it was easy to walk close to the water.  The tide line showed fewer tiny sand crab shells than my last visit a few months ago.  

Miles 141 and 142 provide nice solitude and good wildlife viewing.  Noted several snowy plovers near marked nesting areas, 11 brown pelicans, a Caspian tern, along with the usual sanderlings (~75 total), Western gulls (~20 total), cormorants (7), and a few western sandpipers (7) were noted along the waterline. Two large harbor seals noted (one in mile 141 and one in mile 142) were sitting in the shallow low surf zone and appeared to be waiting fish or other morsels to come their way.  They only moved when we passed close by. 

A nice quiet stretch of beach.  Wildlife sitings for both miles 142 and 141 are noted on the 141 report.  Active plover nesting with good signage and protection. 

Still restricted access to 220 due to the sewage project. Quite a large rock fall off the southern end of Mile 220. The bluff continues to eraode and slide. 6 COMU noted. Small amount of plastic debris. 

Lot's of people enjoying the ocean on this beautiful summer day. We walked the low tide line north and followed a steady stream of crab shell debris in the high tide line on the way back south.

Calm overcast morning, 59'.  6  people walking beach, 1 dog.  Usual  late summer amounts of brown and green kelp clumps along beach. 1 immature common murre carcass. Of note was large amount of about 5" crab carapaces and legs scattered along tideline. Did not appear to be molt as quite a few were female, and  somewhat intact. 5 people, 1 dog walking beach.  Clean beach.

A beautiful and pleasant day for checking out the year's lowest tide! Having witnessed the sea star wasting epidemic, I am always amazed by the ongoing recovery. I only saw one harbor seal at Strawberry, a place where there are usually many more. I am not much of a birder, but the swallows (?) that nest in the sand cliffs at the north end of the Strawberry beach are gone for now.

People were being respectful of the fauna, flora and physical environment- a pleasure to see.

An aside- Please list my name as Bill Watson, rather than casparboy. Thanks.

Beautiful near windless day at he beach. Felt much warmer than the 66 degrees noted.

Big surprise of the day was two turkey vultures dining on a dead crab. Plus, a colony of 19 seagulls...usually there are between 0 and 4 birds total on this stretch of beach.

All the people debris was hiding today.  Also, most of the broken shells, crab casings, small rocks and seaweed were also hiding. (note the photos) .A very clean beach.

The occupants of the vehicles in the parking area seemed to be heading towards mile 170 where the south jetty is located. 

Could have been most any day this summer  when tide is very low in morning ... less dune erosion  than usual last winter, more driftwood on beach.

As noted regarding live animals, on the day prior to this report I saw numerous whale spouts along Mile 255.

Everything was normal - typical summer day - nothing unusual.

From my perspective on horseback, the beach looked in great shape and was being used by visitors just like a beach should be on a nice summer day.

Another fantastic day for debris surveys at the Peter Iredale. Sunshine with slight breeze made for suitable walking conditions. One carload of folk thanked us for picking up litter and debris. We engaged another out of state visitor with a dog, that was interested in what we were doing. Great oppotunity for chatting up Oregon Shores. (These are the folks that may have been in a no permitted area, possible mobility issues?? ) 

We noticed many concentrations of Cellphane worm casings and crab molt(older, as shells were rather bleached out) on our walk.  Coast line was rather clean with a few noted items. We filled one bag of litter/debris. 

We noticed that when we placed our trash in the garbage cans, someone else had previously come along and cleaned up additional debris/litter. That was a pleasant surprise.

Most everyone enjoying the beach in a responsible manner. All cars but one in allowed area. Always seems to be one group that thinks the rules are not for them.

I walked through mile 222 on the way to and from my mile which is 221. I entered from the Wade Creek access where there were 8 cars parked. (Last Sunday there were 17 cars parked here which is by far the most I've seen.) I observed 23 people including 6 chidlren. The tide was low and 4 people were searching through exposed rocks for agates and fossils. Another was searching for fossils along the base of the cliff. There were 2 groups picnicing. I observed a total of 6 dogs, 5 of them unleashed. Unlike mile 221 which had no birds, there was a large group of birds along this mile. I do not know what they were but I've seen them several times and attached a picture taken last year. There were no gulls. There was some picnic debris and bits of sparklers and other fireworks debris near Wade Creek as well as evidence of 2 campfires but in general, the beach was clean. 

From the entrance to the beach from the state park, walking north, I saw about 40 people, eight dogs, three horses, lots of washed up upside-down crabs, and several small beached jellyfish.  There was one pair of car tire tracks.

Walking south from the access point there were large two signs above the high tide line prohibiting seasonal beach access to people and horse and dogs beyond the sign. Access to the area was restricted to walking on wet sand only. From March through October the sandy beach and dunes are closed to protect the nesting snowy plovers. In the 30 minutes we were in the restricted area I encountered six people and five unleashed dogs who said they didn’t see the sign noting restricted access. All parties I encountered were polite and left the area after I informed them about the snowy plovers.

I did not get any pictures as my camera is not working correctly at the moment. I picked up a bag full of garbage on this jaunt. Most of it was gathered on my return from NW 15th St to the "D River WaySide". Other than the garbage things were looking pretty good. Lots of people hanging out and having fun.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with no wind and a very low incoming tide. Of the 22 people observed, 20 were walking and 2 were surf fishing. I observed 2 dogs: 1 leashed, 1 unleashed. No picnic debris or marine debris was noted but there was a lot of bullwhip kelp, sea palms, sea grass, etc near the driftline especially on the south end of the mile. There is more sand built up on the beach than I usually see in July. There is moderate cliff erosion on the north side of Schooner Point as shown in the attached photos and one fallen boulder. Most notably, I did not see any shore birds along the mile. There is usually a large group of gulls near Moolack Creek and sometimes others further south on the mile but today, not a single one. 

The major concerns are the number of fires involving the logs that are piled high up on the beach and the quanity of jelly pieces on the beach was much above anything we have ever seen.

Beautiful day with a lot of human activity. No new changes noticed. Possibly a higher than usual amount of small to medium dead crabs washed up, but possibly a normal seasonal thing?

Summer was in full swing on Manzanita's beach. 179 people and 17 dogs were counted amongst the sand castles and hammocks. Families frolicked in the cool Pacific waters.The driftline content, also known as the wrack, contained a multitude of Dungenous crab parts. Vistors assumed there had been some big die-off but it was all just remnants from a recent routine molt.  

Came across these 2 mystery egg cases this morning.

North of the Nehalem River mile 296 is accessible only by an ~2 mile beach walk (or bicycle or horse) or a similar distance on a sandy track running down the center of the spit. Human use is relatively low, moreso during Plover season when bicycles are banned on the beach. Most notable feature was the high number of dead invertabrates in the wrack line. South of the Nehalem River there was much higher human use and impact, including debris (much of it fireworks) and drift log fires. The photos are quadriped printsfrom the Snowy Plover protected area north of the Nehalem River that did not correlate with human footprints. Possibly a coyote?

36 people and 11 dogs on mile 306 at low tide. 7 surfers, a higher number than usual. Adult bald eagle. Continuing bluff erosion.

Beach walk include 9 SEA members and new Coast Watch coorinator Jesse Jones.  More dead birds than we have seen in past, one dead Harbor seal (old & has previously been reported to MMS network) and a dead fish (Cabazon).  Evidence of bluff sluffing in back yard of home on the bluff. Did not include all photos of dead birds.

Classic mid-week summer day with lots of people enjoying the beach. Unusual concentration of mussels on the beach for about 150 yards around NW 24th Street. Also, unusual number of small clumps of kelp along drift line and spread on beach. 

Landslide observed.  Large quantity of crab shells in the wrackline.  No human impacts visible

Warm ( 63') sunny morning with light winds, distant cloud line to West.  17 people 3 dogs enjoying beach.  Mod. amounts Dungeness crab molt and crab parts along driftline. Few western gulls and crows seen.  Of note was an Ultralight flying at about 30-40' altitude over beach- people and children present.  No identifiying number. Shook my fist at it at third pass over people.  Removed one plastic bottle from beach, clean beach, well used this holiday weekend. 

My husband and I spent 3 hours (6 man hours)  picking up trash.  We ran into one other couple who were doing the same.   I added their trash lbs to our total count  of 80lbs.  It is reallly frustrating that people don't clean up after themselves.  We did find 2 pair of sunglasses.  Mismatched shoes.  A coat.  And lot's of kids beach toys.  Next year I will probably contact SOLVE  and create and official clean-up event for my mile.

A beautiful 4th of July at the South Cove. Many people accepting the invitation by the Park to explore the tidepools. Most people on their best behavior, though I did see some kids climbing a crumbly cliff.