Mile Report Browser

Sunset Bay was overwhelmed by visitors presumably drawn by the "High Surf" warnings on their weather apps or, I suspect, by awareness of the "King Tide" phenomenon. Sunset Bay State Park day use area took heavy damage from the King Tide. I have to question the intelligence of those wanting to put their surfboards in on such a day. Most people were trying to get into Shore Acres, but the entire Cape was recieving well above usage. 

Catching some photos during King Tides.

Winds were 20 mpg--with gusts to 30mpg

Waves at 13-17 feet.

I was able to get to the point which was only 25 feet from "normal" beach access and take some photos.

I tried to pick up and carry back to trash collection area all plastic pieces I found larger than 1 square inch, but for every piece I picked up there were at least 100 smaller pieces, a great increase over the amount of plastic just a few years ago.  Beach was relatively deserted late on a cloudy Thursday afternoon in January.

Nobody else on the beach.  Found lots of plastic bottles and other trash.  Two dead gulls and one salmon.

Very few people on the beach. A lot of fun invertibrates including sea gooseberries, red eyed medusa, and sea cherubs. 

Cloudy day with mod SW winds, 48'. Of note, mod. amts of razor clam shells, lack of usual small pebbles, many small ( less than 1/4") plastic pieces along driftline, otherwise clean beach.  7 people walking,5 dogs. Usual winter overtopping of winter tides into areas of closed Beachside park campground- leaving some sand deposits.

Lots of large pieces of woody debris. However, it appears human removal of wood is common.

There was enough trash to take some time and collect the larger pieces. 

Walked the northern half of Roads End beach (into Mile 246).  Clean, windswept beach with only a scattering of tiny plastic and styrofoam.  No dead birds.  I counted 30 people and a couple of dogs.

Happy New Year Ocean Beach!  It was a very warm winter day so lots of people and dogs were enjoying the beach.  The rocks at the base of the stairs which are normally up against the bluff, were moved by the high tides down into the surf.  There are many more exposed large rocks mid beach.  More large driftwood logs are scattered all along the beach.  The wind gusts were quite strong and the sneaker waves were coming up past the high tide line.  I also noted some sort of egg like blobs in the drift line.  I don't know what they are.  The waterfall that is present at mid beach is roaring and flowing to the ocean.  

Windy, cloudy late afternoon beach walk covering 0.44 miles of mile 327. Significant amount of sea foam blowing across the sand and along the low tide line. Large woody debris and tree trunk washed ashore from winter storms. Observed 7 WEGU (western gulls) on the beach.

A lot of large wood has washed up with the recent tides and the driftline is almost up to the dunes in places.  

A rare calm day after the heavy storms, blustery winds and high seas of late December. A sneaker wave alert caused the cancellation of the annual New Years Manzanita Polar Plunge where the intrepid annually venture into the 46 degree water. Only 2 kite flyers, 3 dogs and 15 folks walking on the beach were out and about. One female bufflehead was dead in the sand. Buffleheads are common in the bays but uncommonly seen in the ocean.  

First morning of the year, and our first report as Coast Watchers. Arrived to the beach, and were the only ones there for a while before people started to slowly show up. 27 people total, 4 dogs. Most were to there to walk the beach, 3 people were playing with a small drone near the base of the parking lot steps.

Lots of seafoam today. a few greater moon jellies in the tidewrack, but mostly small bits of wood, plastic, and some fresh bull kelp. Saw some gulls, one raven, and a couple steller's jays.

No noticeable changes to the physical environment since our last visit in December.

Holiday week with groups of people and way too many dogs running off leash. Beach scoured by King and high tides previous few days. 

A beautiful morning on Mile 202.  A beach hazard/sneaker wave warning was in effect, and I anticipated few people on the beach, but I encountered at least 60 people and perhaps half as many dogs, people just walking, running their dogs, a few people jogging close to the surf, a few people fishing on the bay side of the spit, everyone just enjoying themselves and seemingly oblivious to any potential threat from sneaker waves.  No wildlife of note, just a few crows, a dozen or so gulls sitting on the bank near the people fishing, and one concentrated group of a few dozen crab molts.  The beach was pretty clean except for a few pieces of cellophane-like plastic, an old abandoned kite, and a length of plastic-ribbed matting, all of which I removed.  The only evidence of unusual human activity I saw were two areas of sand dumping over the edge of the steep sand bluffs towards the southern edge of the spit, which I had seen occuring on my previous visit on 12/23/2019, when I photographed a front end loader dumping sand over the edge of the bluff onto the beach.  After finishing my walk on 12/23/2019, I later drove down Oceania Drive, which parallels the beach, and saw the origin of this sand, a front end loader clearing sand from the driveway of a house on Oceania.  This appears to be an allowable activity, but I will continue to monitor.

Very bad year for the seagulls and oystercatchers on the Cleft of the Rock sanctuary.  All of the seagulls hatchlings were killed by eagles or other natural reasons.  The eagles seem to be thriving on this mile.  I had 7 at one time on the rocks just east of the sanctuary.  Previously 5 is the most I had seen at one time.  The seals didn't have as many babies this year - 6 in 2019 compared with (if memory serves) 11 in 2018.  However, the number of adults living on the sanctuary is roughly the same - generally around 23.  A lot of new large logs.  All pictures were taken at high tide, which was 11ft.  

No people were observed along the shoreline of mile 226.  There were three people at the Lookout near the south end observing the ocean, but the gift shop had closed, it was getting dark, and was somewhat cold, so the numbers were minimal.  The only notable wildlife observed were the cormorants previously mentioned.  No physical changes were observed since the last observation in September.

A beautiful day at the coast at Cape Perpetua, very strong winds, tide remains high 2 hours following high tide, Devils Churn full of water, foam whipped to consistency of whipped cream.   Cape Cove beach remained covered by water 2 hours after high tide.   Many people enjoying the day, cautiously negotiating the rocks.

Visited the beach during the high tide.  Waves were coming up over the stairs from the picnic area.  Large amounts of driftwood moving in tide.  Numerous large tree trunks crashing against the cliff walls. It appears that the driftwood piles normally seen on this beach have been moved out with the high tides. The rocks that normally are against the cliff area were spread down the beach and visible as waves receded.  None of the large rocks normally visible could be seen.  

I have always been curious what is happening at my mile during high tide. I generally go at low tide to access the most sand and tide pools I can.  Since Christmas day had a king tide, I did a brief survey. I was surprised to see the number of vehicles I did,  but I saw only 3 surfers in the cove.  A woman and her dog were running down the trail as I was walking up. I will return later this season to do a more thorough survey. 

I went out to observe the King Tides. The access point to mile 246 is on 245 and the water was coming right up to the base of the walkway. Therefore I only took pictures of 246 from mile 245 and didn't access 246 directly.

Relatively unchanged since the last walk.  Beach is clean and flat due to large tidal swings.

There is a lot of debris washed a shore after this weeks storm.  I picked up trash Saturday and today monday.  Some from the fisheries(big tangles of rope-see photos)  a lot that washed down the rivers and out the bay.

I would love for someone to verify that I have ID'd the dead bird correctly.

The beach was relatively clean of natural and organic material, driftwood included. Sand was piled fairly high. One area of uprooted pines pushed over the edge of the bluff was concerning. There is much piping, old cement structures (septic tanks and paving), primitive attempts at erosion control. These are not new concerns, we have seen them for years, but they need to be watched. I will send an inquiry to Calum Stevenson regarding the small house which is beginning to hang over the bluff edge, as well as the use of the beach as an apparent builder's dump. There are at least a half dozen homes within spitting distance of the bluff edge. 
On a happy note, the Powdery Dudleya seems to be making a comeback on our single stack at the south end, and in a few spots on shore in the conglomerate cliffs.

It was the day after a major wind and rain storm so the beach was totally barren.

Limited amount of debris on beach.  Several people but not crowded and no unusual activities noted.  Lots of large trees (some burned) seemed to have been washed up after big storm.  Found a sea star out of water and nowhere near water line, so I gently placed him back in water.  Not sure if he was still alive.  Found a large mass of thick rope and tried to pull it away from water line, but it was buried so deep in sand that it was not possible.

Except for dune erosion, everything looked normal.

Nice day on the beach. Folks walking, and some walking their dogs. Only one seagull seen today. No dead birds or mammels. Dozens of moon jellyfish scattered all along shore.

A pleasant afternoon on the mile, warm and almost windless. Only a few beachgoers out. The driftline was unremarkable except for some small invertebrates I'd never seen before (see photo). I noticed one large crack in the bluff, plus ongoing disintegration of a clayey layer. As the tide was coming in rather energetically, I turned around before reaching the end of the mile, with maybe an eighth of a mile to go. 

More people on the beach today. Two surf fishing.The waves are undercutting the dune wall at Muriel Ponsler.

logs and more gravel on the beach.

Coastline along Mile 147 and the preceding Mile 144-146 were clean of major garbage and trash.  No accumulation of dead sealife or birds.  The Sparrow Park Road leading from Hwy 1 down to to ocean is once again in very bad shape in one spot in particular.  There is a very deep depression that spans across the gravel road that fills with water.  It was almost impassable and we barely got through it with a Toyota 4 runner SUV.

There were no items to report on. 

One person on the beach.  There were a few shell fragments in the driftline.  The beach and shoreline were very clean.  The ocean has shifted the sand and shoreline rocks which is normal throughout the winter months. The pictures were shot on Dec.8 because it was foggy on Dec. 7.  There was nothing unusual to report.

Calm,cloudy beach, light breeze from SW. Few seagulls in distance. Crab parts, shells and pebbles at drift line,  We did pick up  some bottle rocket, roman candle debris, otherwise clean beach.

This was a pleasant day with clouds and little wind.  The beach is very wide and clean.  The wood is still covered except high by the dunes.  And the grass is growing back on the large area that was bulldozed north of the jetty.  Two people and two dogs were observed along with a few gulls and shorebirds but no bird carcasses.  Most notable was the large number of relatively fresh jellies at the high water line along the whole mile.  A group of deer had come down on the beach at the south end and there was a truck track the whole way.  Otherwise there were no disturbances man-made or natural in this area. 

This survey was all about the jelly fish that covered the most recent wrack areas.  The jelly fish were found on the entire 4.5 mile spit.  This was our first survey since the beach restrictions were lifted.  During nesting season, dogs are prohibited even on leash.  We feel guilty leaving our dog at home so I've decided not to survey when the beach is restricted.  This mile is remote, and there probably isn't any enforcement.  So there is a very likely chance that not all the other visitors with dogs would comply.

Calm, low tide. Hazy air from local controlled burns. Quiet Thursday for Harris Beach. Really not much to report. Debris was minimal, I expected more since the Bomb Cyclone was just last week. 

This was a relatively uneventful beach day on South Harris Beach. I was expecting more drift and erosion issues post-Bomb Cyclone. It was beautiful outside but the air was a little hazy with smoke from controlled burns in the area. Mellow December Thursday for sure. 

Overall, Mile 247 continues to be an an exceptionally clean, pristine beach, owing largely to its remote location.  In addition to what was noted above, we saw two dead seals or sea lions and about a dozen or so live harbor seals at the north end of the beach on the south bank of the Salmon River. Although this is a very clean beach, close examination of the high tide line did disclose a large number of tiny pieces of plastic, as well as a few sectons of rope and one float.  The cage we had seen the last time, which WestWind was using to try to capture a stray dog, is no longer there.  We have learned that the dog was captured.  This beach is in generally fine condition.

Rainy day so fewer people on this holiday weekend Sunday. Friday was sunny and more than 200 people and their dogs were enjoying - walking, running, exercising dogs, throwing footballs, kites, surfing, a few splashing in the water.

No animals other than one flock of birds on Sunday - a group of sandpipers - maybe a "bind," a "contradiction," a "fling," a "hill," or a "time-step." 

Recent king tides have swept in and left the beach relatively bare.  Not much wrack left behind and minimal debris on beach. Lots of people since it is the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

A dead harbor seal occupied the mid-tidal area several yards south of the 8th St. stairs but not as far as the Coquille Point pass to Elephant Rock. No injuries were apparent except for pecked-out eyes and blood below the jaw. I sent 2 photos to Jim Rice and filed a Stranding Report.

A cloudy day, although tide slightly less than yesterday by 0.1 foot it was further up my usual entrance of beach.

Very high tides recently are dangerous, with sneaker waves running up across the beach to the rocks quite rapidly. No access on beach through much of Mile 238. Some unofficial accesses are usable (at lot #281 and at Beach Grass Lane) but some are not usable and quite dangerous (#50A, Circle Road and lot #333).

A drizzly day for King Tides--Hatfield reported over an inch of rain for the day

Several mushrooms species in the dune forest area immediately east of the Mile 325. See photos.

Calm, mostly sunny day.  A few people out on the beach, walking or looking for agates near low tide.  Almost no trash.  There were no harbor seals in their usual resting place at the tip of the Salishan Spit; two were spotted in the rivermouth.  This has happened before - I'm sure they will be back.

On this beach walk, I noted a great deal more of plastic debris towards the north end of the beach.  The pieces were larger than previously noted in other mile reports I have documented.  This was the fewest amount of people I've documented on this beach, especially given the good weather and lower tide.  New rock formations continue to be uncovered with the higher tides.  There were also lots of pieces of jellyfish in the debris line.  

A beautiful morning on South Beach, with few people, and hundreds of jelly fish washed up with the evening tide from the night before.  Counted 31 Snowy Plover hanging out on Mile 214

Everything looked normal for this time of year.

Sea lion or large seal carcass on Gearhart beach between D Street trail and Pacific Way trail. See attached photo.

Nice day on the beach, saw a few gulls and comorants, heard but not see BOC's.  Most impressive find was the Red Footed Bobby or what appears to be one, picture included.

I took more photos of underside & tail of Pacific Ray (tentative ID) then I uploaded.   Will send to anyone who can confirm ID if more anatomical information is needed to confirm ID.

Tentative ID of a pacific ray on the beach lying in run off stream that, according to linked Google map segment, that is located a little north of NW 20th in Newport, OR.    I've walked on beaches often for many years in on this part of the coast, not seen one washed up on the beaches before, thought its presence worth noting.   Measured approximately 45" at widest point, unable to measure length.    ID'd by viewing online photos & descriptions for skates & rays found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.   If I can get there tomorrow, will count the teeth & take a few photos.

A nice evening--mid 50's, setting up of a good sunset. The sand is still on the beach, with winter decrease still to come.

Beautiful sunny day on 220. Amazing to see the big chunks of rock/bluff/hillside continuing to fall onto the beach. 3 long black pipes are sticking out of the bluff (not further out than they had been previously). The substation project appears to be going full force, road has been widened and the bottom of the valley is remarkably changed. 

A warm, calm day for mid-November. Beach was very clean and smooth with very little along high tide line. We found no plastic or other garbage.

A great day along Mile 235 on the Oregon Coast, especially for rock and shell hunters taking advantage of low tide. 

The beach looked very clean today, save for one loose buoy floating in the surf of North Neptune parking area, and one buoy with ropes tangled around log on shore in that same general area.  Unable to reach these to clean out.  There was new spray painted graffiti near Gwynn Creek culvert (big smile faces like what we had recorded in last report), and on Cummins Creek Bridge.

It was a calm sunrise at South Beach this morning. I saw some jellyfish washed up along the drift line from the last high tide as well as strands of bull kelp.

A very cold, foggy windy day.  A new sign at Surfland's access to beach warning about slippery mud.  Probably put there after accidents.  It can be hard to use that access due to rocks and large concrete blocks. 

Many gulls, and a few miscillaneous birds, most notably a pair of peregrine falcons (one dive-bombing a smaller one until the small one dropped the bird it had). Others included western grebes, murres, auklets and cormorants.  No mammals sighted.  Huge number of small green anemonies just below waterlind mid-tide, which I haven't seen before.

Overall there has been few noticable changes since the last visit and the mile appears to have had light use. An additional fire pit in the rocks at point 2 and a new trail was observed halfway down the trail from the quarry pullout to point 4. The trail sidehills in a northerly direction to the grove of trees (see photo). Existing trails appear to have light to medium use and people tend to stay on them. The fire ring at point 5 was gone this visit and the vegetation is recovering. There were 2 women and a child sitting in the tree stand enjoying the day. The area was free of litter. I observed 6 Gulls on the rocks and 4 Cormorants floating in the water.

Cloudy day, Temp mid 50's  light winds.  Tide ( 6.4) was almost high. 

6 people 1 dog on the beach.  2 adults tending a small beach fire.

beach was very clean, wrack line was insignificant,  no dead birds.

Hawk Creek cafe was moderately busy.

51' foggy day, moderate winds from NW. 6 people on beach, 2 biking, 4 walking, 2 dogs. clean beach, with pebbles, some crab molt and shell pieces present at tideline. Wildlife- few gulls, about 30-40 sandpipers at tideline( probable Western and sanderlings) moving away from observers. preventing definite ID. Of note were fresh tractor and tire impressions from Beachside state park S. almost to big Creek. Over the past 14 years. we have occasionally reported an old vehicle at very low tides, buried in sand, upside down, exposing axles and tires in late fall when sand has been scoured. It appears that this vehicle has been removed- and it is noted that this vehicle has very recently been reported on Yachats community facebook page.

Nothing extraordinary today, but picked up more stuff than anticipated...lots of cans and bottles, numerous pieces of yellow plastic rope, a few beach balls and toys, and some styrofoam.

Human impacts observed included rock-hounding, vehicle tire tracks, and large plastic marine debris items.

Nice day at the beach. Not many vistors despite the fair weather. Saw lots of crab shells in the wrack line. Not sure if it's a molt. See pix. Tide higher than when I normally visit.

A beautiful, brisk Fall day on Mile 99, with very few people. There were still sand dunes along the beach from summer winds, and no signs of additional bluff erosion since last report. As has been the case for the past several weeks on Bandon beaches,  more than usual (9) dead Rhinoceros Auklets were present along the high tide line. COASST representatives are aware of this trend.

More graffiti on rocks and under bridge.

Someone has used a chainsaw to cut up a large logs/driftwood.

Looks like someone might be camping/living at the rock Creek parking area.

We saw 5 other humans (2 when we started walking south and 3 when we returned) and one dog, besides we two and our dog.  They were all walking on the beach, but none went very far (it was a chilly, windy, sunny day).  Most humans who come to Umpqua Dunes stay on the dunes, racing around on their infernal ATVs. 

One small dead crab, some crab legs/claws/shells, many dead sand dabs (not sure what their proper name is: the little oblong crab-types who bury themselves in the sand).

Physical changes included new logs/tree root balls washed up on the beach.  One human-built lean-to, made of driftwood pieces; on the beach, near the bluff.

It was a beautiful sunny, warm windy day.  I walked south along the beach all the way to the massive rocks at the boundary of the USFWS refuge at Crook Point.  The tide was low (-0.4) and the exposed rocks were covered with massive populations of acorn and gooseneck barnacles, bay and surf mussels, and green anemones; sea palms and other algae were scattered amongst the animal life.  The highlight for me was seeing that the sea star population has rebounded in this area.  In 1/2 hour I counted 87 ochre stars, mostly orange-colored, with a few purple-colored individuals interspersed.  In terms of avifauna, I saw 2 pairs of oystercatchers, 3 turkey vultures, multiple western gulls, and a peregrine falcon. Regarding mammals, I saw a harbor sea just beyond the breakers, and tracks of grey foxes along with their excavations were visible above the tide line.

The sand is starting to wash away and some rocks that haven't been seen since July are beginning to reappear. The large kelp tangles of a couple weeks ago are gone and there was not much in the driftline but eelgrass and dead mole crabs. The beach is flat and the sand is hard packed up to the cliff bottom in most places. Some minor rockslides and cliff erosion from all the recent rains.  This is my first trip to this beach since the high waves and tides of 10 days ago. I removed 20 plastic bottles including 4 with labels with Asian characters. Also removed several pieces of nylon & marine rope, styrofoam, pieces of plastic, bottle caps, food wrappings and a fishing float.   

Large, 4' to 5' diameter heavy equipment tire on beach in front of Chinook Winds ramp access. Photo attached. 

Clear and warm. Very few people out. Watched the sunset. Saw one fishing boat at mouth of bay.

Nice day with few people, no major problems

Took a short walk on the beach and found 10 "intact" beached birds, most likely Common Murres. (no gloves!)

Score!  I was checking out the numerous kelp piles when I came upon a Finders Keepers float in blue/green Seahawks colors.   Nice day with about 20 people on the beach, 6 dogs.  I counted 10 dead seabirds, all common murres except 1 seagull.  

The large sand drift observed last month mid beach is gone with the higher tides.  Lots more rocks and rock formations exposed. One of the larger rocks down the beach is halfway covered with sand. Waterfall on cliffside mid beach is flowing fast.  Observed sea stars again on large rock formation in middle of beach.  Lots of tidepools on north end of beach observed crabs and anenomes.  

Snowy Plover and Seagulls look happy.  No recent slides visible.   8 cars in the pullout.  

It was all quiet along mile 181 today.  Few people and almost no trash to be found.  Sand: clean..Water: clear, Birds: appear well fed.  Sand level high.  No dunes.  Blowout Creek water level is low.  

All looked about the same as last month.

After days of rain the skies cleared providing a sunny afternoon on the beach.

This was my first trip to this beach in over a week. The rain and high waves caused some minor cliff erosion and the sand is packed up to the cliff.  I removed 21 plastic bottles about half of which had been piled up by the cliffs by someone else. Also found several bottle caps and other small pieces of plastic. No other types of debris found. 

Another nice Saturday afternoon for a stroll on Heceta Beach!  Lots of visitors out watching the big waves roll in, with the occasional "sneaker wave" chasing tourists (and me) up to higher ground.  The wrack line contained lots of greenish-pale beige sea foam (photo), bits of palm kelp, surf grass, and numerous smashed pieces of reddish "Sea Nettle" jelly.  Only a few sanderlings were feeding in the outwash today, with the occasional harbor seal feeding further out in the surf.

All looked the same.

Report filed during a very high tide (see photos)

Human activity - 24 people and 7 dogs.  15 people walking, 4 playing in the sand, 2 sitting and 3 surfing.

Shoreline wildlife - 5 dead birds. 4 birds can not be identified due to the condition of the carrcases, the 5th bird can be identified but we do not know the species.  Picture attached.

Physical changes - there is new plant growth growing out toward the ocean in many places along the whole mile.  Picture attached.

The season is definitely winding down with only 33 people and 11 dogs. 8 beached birds including a barred owl and 3 rhinoceros auklets. There were many large translucent moon jellies at the tide line.  

I observed fewer people and dogs than on any other previous walk, but more natural debris than at any other time. Surprising, because the weather was nice and it wasn't yet the stormy time of the year. Debris was washed up all the way to the top of the beach, also not typical.

Cloudy still morning, 8 people 2 dogs walking beach.  Few western gulls and crows foraging. Small pebbles, crab parts and shells at low tide line. Of note is a new home ( frame at this time) being built about 100 ft. south of boundary of Beachside State park campground. It is about 50-75 feet back of beach, in sandy grassy foredune, and about 12 feet above beach level. It certainly is in the Tsunami zone, and doesn't not appear to have modifications  at ground level for winter storm surges, which in the past have reached this area( in our experience)..

Notable birds:  rhinoceros auklets, red-necked grebe, and harlequin duck.