Mile Report Browser

Martin Luther King holiday weekend...mild weather. Breezy enough for kite flying. 14 people, 1 dog, 1 dead Northern Fulmar, 1 dead seal, algae at the driftline.

It was very noticable since I surveyed in october that the "D" river was flowing straight into the ocean. In October it was crooked and channel like from the sand. Notice new graffiti panted on the wall below The Sea Gypsy Hotel. Sunday was a great day for the beach, perfect weather.

A beautiful afternoon at the beach. It was low tide but there were many swells from an oncoming wind or storm. I had never seen dead crabs with one to two small holes in their backs and legs and claws intact? There are less pyrosomes on the rack line.

It was a glorious day - 60 degrees, with a moderate wind from the northeast.  The waves were beautiful with the wind raising the spray high in the air.  Since this was a long weekend, there were more people than usual, with 28 cars in the parking lot and 25 people on the beach (4 with dogs), mostly just walking in the sun.  There were no birds in the air and no carcasses on the beach, although there were parts of a clean skeleton of a larger animal.  The sand is high, with a long slope to the water, and a second dune is forming in front from the old large logs and beach grass there.  A sign at the entry from the parking lot indicated some work on the beach soon to help encourage Snowy Plover to nest here but there are no restrictions on using the beach yet. 

Happy to see such a clean beach.  Live animais 5 gulls and a duck.   20 people on the beach including 4 on horseback. No concerns

It was a beautiful winter day and many people were out enjoying the beach.  The beach was quite clean probably a combination of the fact that the OR Parks Department had recently been on the beach cleaning up debris and the King Tide.  We did see a very large piece of debris (see photo) that was about 20 feet long with 3 pieces connected together --- probably a retaining wall.  We saw this piece about 1.5 miles down the beach a few weeks ago -- reminder how powerful the ocean tides are!

There were a few large tires on the beach. We cleaned debris off the beach but was unable to remove large tires.

Vandals have spray-painted the vehicle barrier rocks (3) on the Siuslaw River North Jetty.  It is jarringly offensive in this otherwise pristine ocean beach environment.  Phones calls and emails sent to the local newspaper editor and Florence Public Works department.  No one seems to definitively know what gov't agency "owns" the jetty structure.  Hopefully a crew from the local Coast Guard base or Honeyman State Park might have a portable power washer or something appropriate to remove the paint.

Calm, cloudy, 46' morning, 1 person, 1 dog walking on beach.  Shells and pebbles on clean beach, only 1 plastic empty garbage sack  removed from beach. Several gulls flying at a distance. Nice conversation with  new camp hosts at closed Beachside State park campground.

Mild day, people even walking barefoot. Lots of driftwood compared to the usual for this stretch. Very little debris. I picked up maybe an ounce of small plastics.

It was a beautiful warm day at the beach.  Nothing abnormal to report today.  Several man made structures made out of driftwood to look at.

Day was mild, cloudy with intermittent rain, mild wind. Surf was higher than I've seen it. There were more logs and wood debris than usual at Yachats State Park. It seems as if there is more shore erosion occurring both north and south of the Yachats River, and south of the river I saw an uprooted willow and what seemed like more vegetation barely holding ground.Surfbirds (I think) were grazing at the north end of mile 193, fleeing the large waves and spray. 

I am filing this report to add photo documentation of the king tide today. My previous post for January 2, 2018, explained that today’s  high tide according to the tide chart was 8.1 yet in actuality it was much higher than yesterday’s high tide which was supposed to be 8.3. The tide reached the rap and/or sand bluffs of miles 244 and 245. In fact the north end of mile 245 at Roads End was dangerous today during the king tide. I did not walk my full mile today due to the high surf and tide. I hope the dead sea lions get washed out- what a stench! On the beauty side i watched rainbows fly off the waves for a long while which was amazingly wonderful.

I was three times at the beach.

The times were 8:30AM (four hours before King Tide, 4.9 ft.), 10:30AM (two hours before King Tide, 8.65 ft,), and 12:26PM (10.5 ft.)

The first two times I took pictures North and West from a point 45 ft. Southeast of normal entry to beach. At King Tide at 12:26PM I got picture to the North from that point--but had to time the waves. In order to get picture to the West, I slighty angled camera to WNW, and moved back another 40 feet to Southeast (total of 85 ft. from normal entry of beach in order to stay dry--wave came within 5 foot of that position.

Coast Guard and Depoe Bay fire crews rescued a 19-year-old male hiker in the vicinity of Whale Cove, after he reportedly suffered seizures and became immobilized Tuesday evening. Sector watch standers received a report from Lincoln City 911 dispatchers at 4 p.m. of a male with medical issues on a cliff and was unable to be moved by local rescuers. Members of Depoe Bay Fire and Rescue and Pacific West ambulance were already on scene and had stabilized the patient. In addition to the Dolphin aircrew, a crew from Coast Guard Station Depoe Bay took a station vehicle to the scene, where they used radios to relay information between the fire members on the cliff and the aircrew. Due to the tree height and a strong east wind over the steep terrain the aircrew was unable to hoist the hiker from the cliff and landed in tidal pool on a cove shelf, which was only accessible due to it being low tide, 100-feet below the cliff, where they could safely conduct the medevac. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, from Coast Guard Sector North Bend and forward deployed to Air Facility Newport, medevaced the hiker and safely transferred him to medical personnel. He was first flown to a local hotel for assessment then transferred to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital.

Warm (55 degrees), sunny with high clouds, calm/slight wind.  King High Tide today.

Human Activities

• Observed 17 people and 4 dogs on beach.
• 8 vehicles in parking areas.

Wildlife

• 6-7 dozen seagulls observed.
• 1 dead crab observed.

Physical Changes

• Large amount of small pieces of trash on concentrated on several hundred yards of beach west of Sea Perch RV Resort to Beachcomber Cottages. (see pic)
• 9 sets of steps observed and photographed.  One set of stairs was made from rubber tires with cement and rocks imbedded in them. One of these tires have “been moved” and is in front of a small waterfall on the beach. (see pic).
  • This waterfall was producing enough water to erode sand from the beach (see pic).

See 'Comments' on observing the king tide.

Dispatch- photo of molting elephant seal.  

The afternoon low tide -- and mild weather -- on New Year's Eve brought out 40 people (and 3 dogs) on to Cove Beach, mile 306. They were walking, taking photos, crabbing, playing on the sand, and partying around campfires. An unusual sight for Dec 31st. 

Very pleasant ending to 2017. Moderate amount of trash. Most trash was close to the dune line.

Paddled solo on a beautiful calm day with small surf and a light off-shore breeze.  I paddled around the entire cape and into three or four caves with the notable blow-hole that is in the back of the large sea cave at cape's end spouting on my way south but on the return was exposed enough to actually paddle into!  What a great surprise.  It turned right for around 50 ft, then turned left with a low roof angling down with a lot of rumbling and turbulence signaling the end of the line for me.  The caves on the south side were unusually colorful and beautifully lit.  I generally steer well clear of these due to the abundant birdlife around these, but very few birds this time of year.  The most people that I have ever seen were at the end of the trail high above, probably looking for whales.  I didn't see any on this day.  I landed on the small beach in front of the large shallow cave in Well's Cove, north side of the cape, and picked up some foam floats that are so abundant.  The winter surf has cleaned out the usual debris that at times is quite a pile.  Since it has been so wet lately, small waterfalls were dropping into the ocean in many places.  Some caves had a wispy curtain of water from abave at the entrance.

All and all a very good day with the cape looking good.

Unusual to see so many people this time of the year. It was a delightful day, sunny after other rainy days and holiday vacation. Families from Kanas, Texas, Pantagonia the usual Utah, WA and CA.

It delighted me to see others sharing my love of mile 11. The Whale Watching signs brought them in. It's rare to see more than 2 cars at either House Rock or Cape Ferrelo view points. 10 cars and some 14 people parked at Cape Ferrelo December 30, including plates from Washington, Texas, and New York. Elusive though the whales were folks curiously questioned the well informed volunteers. Who, by the way, happened to be a fellow Coast Watching couple. The weather invited a good time and the low tide kicked it up.

I'm getting cut off from accessing a little more of mile 11 due to the ocean throwing more 'path' blocks (boulders, log jams, etc.) in my way but I trudge on.

I miss the seastars but as I mentioned I did see an odd totally black pisaster about 6 inches across. I looked it up and according to someone on the internet starfish color is determined genetically. If true, the black isn't due to it's physical condition or diet. He's just diverse.

News on the vegetative front screams on. Since the 'view restoration' project (aka tree removal) on House Rock viewpoint the Sitka Spruce have rebounded with a vengence. I have 2010 photos of regrowth 3 feet high which now tower 3 - 4 times my height. Also, I'm anxiously watching to see what will become of those plots where they have come back impossibly thick. Those trees' growth is quite different from those on the perimeters. They are maybe only 4 - 5 feet tall and squeezed in 4 per square foot. 

All for now

We walked from Access #50 to the tip of the Salishan Spit.  Almost no trash - picked up 4 small items.  A large group of seals in their usual resting place ... but we were concerned about one who had a red plastic "Flying Ring" toy around its middle.   The animal didn't look like it would be able to wriggle out of the ring so it will probably be stuck with it for the rest of its life.

P.S.  I am able to capture the close-up shots with the zoom on my camera so I don't need to harass the seal population by getting too close.

A cool ,cloudy day on Ocean Beach. Hundreds of Sanderlings along the shore running back and forth with waves. They seem to be getting a lot of food- think small crabs and a few seemed to have very small clams that they worked hard to get open. Pounding with their beaks. 

A lot of drift wood- medium and large tree size up on high part of beach. 

Significant eroision of dunes --  See Pictures.

Nothing unusual.

Stunning afternoon on this stretch of beach, perfect conditions for walking and enjoying the area.  Very little debris in the wrack line however, hundreds of a never before seen invertebrate.  The near-transparent finger shaped creature varied in size from 3/8 inch in width and 2 inches long to an inch in width and 8 inches long. Query answered identifiying these creatures as pyrosomes.

A beautiful, windless day on the beach. Randy made the comment that it was "about as bland a beach mile as we've ever walked". Not too much excitement other than gulls and a raven taking turns eating on a fish carcass.

We only saw one other person on the beach on Christmas Day.  No dogs.  Beach was litter free.

There was driftwood at the Rogue River jetty end.  Lots of small rocks near the surf.

A sunny, winter day on our coast. Our only odd observation were the wood chips all along the shore from an earlier high tide.

Human activity was confined to The Lookout (Otter Crest Wayside State Park), where there were several people inside the building and at the viewing area to the south.  While inside the building, I observed a grey whale spouting just to the north of Gull Rock.  Others there observed a peregrine falcon while I was there.  No physical or man-made changes were observed on this mile.  The hard basalt in the cliffs is very resistant to change and the inaccessibility of the shoreline at the base of the cliffs precludes human impacts.

Lethargic, skinny, young sea lion on north end of Roads End mile.  Submitted Marine Mammal Report.

Beautiful winter day; few shore birds and notable "sea foam" at the south end of the mile.

Llive gulls and sandpipers.  Signs of dead/molted crabs.  I was happy to find almost NO garbage on the beach.  The beach looked great!

It was a lovely and very quiet day. Few people on beach, surprisingly. Within 5 minutes walk south of entrance onto beach, I had already collected half a bucket full of small plastics and small piece of fishing rope. Saw no wildlife.

I have been a volunteer naturalist ranger, trail crew, trash-picker-upper at the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area since 2008.  I have never seen wave-tossed driftwood logs launched so high into the creek-side underbrush salal before.  Some of the logs are 6-8 feet above the regular winter driftwood log collection at the creek mouth.  One large log, approximately 7 feet x 4 feet x 3 feet, must weigh close to a small car and it was tossed well up into mature salal underbrush that has never been impacted by winter tides or storm waves before. Photos attached.

You can observe the driftwood logs on the Cape Cove Trail (Cape Perpetua Scenic Area) as it crosses over the concrete drainage tunnel for Cape Creek as it flows under Hwy 101.  Winter storms usually re-arrange the driftwood pile every winter, piling them up next to the culvert, then the next high tide/winter storm pulls them back to the beach area.  I've never seen beach logs tossed so high into the underbrush before!

Overall condition of beach is very good.  Land slide slowly in process due to water flow from mountainside.  Cape Lookout South trail crosses creek, land slide not close to trail but should continue to monitor.

We took advantage of nice weather a week prior to the soltice for this survey.  The beach had a lot of debris,  mostly the result of an early flood event in Tillamook Bay.  Sand continues to grow at the base of the jetty, and the jetty itself is being destroyed (retreating in length).  The problem with the jetty is dangerous for maritime traffic and can cause erosion south of Mile 289 further down the spit.

It was a sunny wind-free hour on the beach. No people or dogs. No debris.  A couple of exposed gravel beds with some nice-sized agates.

Clear balmy 57' winter day. 1person 1 dog walking on beach.  Clean beach.  Notable were some drifts of cellophane tube worm( Spiochaetopterus costarum), mod. amount finger sized firm clear 4" unidentified sea creatures. ! carcass of western gull, recently predated. Most interesting were about 12-2"X4" clear flat rectangular leathery bodied sea creatures. Thickened rounded area and darker at one end ( almost chiton-like, without any bony plates.) Could not ascertain a head, spinal chord, GI tract. Clearly not a jelly fish. Not in any of my books.  Pictures sent to Fawn Custer for help with ID.  

identified as a salp

A beautiful sunny day on mile 307.  No wind, a clean beach with a few shells.  Six people were walking on the beach.  A bald eagle flew along the beach in the morning.

There was a new rock slide on one of the high banks on mile 307.  The rock slide contained about 10 cubic yards.

A calm, warm, dry December day.  Low tide.  Almost no trash on the beach - we only picked up a few small items.  The harbor seal colony was in their usual location at the tip of the Salishan Spit, estimated count 150.  Noted a few pyrosomes in the seaweed at the beach wrack line.  No particular winter erosion.

Not a lot of garbage on the the Natural trail, but the Arch Rock trail did have quite a few plastic bottles and pop cans.

Beautiful Dec. morning on the beach. Very low counts for both humans and vehicles. Beach was generally free from human trash. No dead birds noted. There had been a lot of pyrosomes about two weeks earlier but no sign today. 2 New sand drift fences at Breaker's Pt. Condos and Ecola Creek. Shown in pictures labeled drift fence 1 and 2.

This was our first trip to this area. Parking areas were clean, beach has a lot of rocks (tennis ball to bowling ball size) just north of Tenmile Creek.  Beautiful sunny, warm and virtually windless day on the Oregon coast.  Approximately three dozen seagulls plus one unidentified bird on beach at the mouth of Tenmile creek. Did not see any dead, trapped or injured birds, fish or animals.

We saw a total of eight people and four dogs on the beach.  There were two men that parked in lot 86 that were going to go fishing on the beach until they saw the no fishing sign. A combined total of six vehicles were seen in parking lots 85 and 86. 

Observed a very large amount of debris concentrated in the driftline for approximately 300’ (see pic).  This debris consisted primarily of small pieces of plastic less than ½”.  The debris was concentrated in this area although small pieces were found scattered throughout the mile.  Did not see any identifying marks on any of the debris.

There were steps in multiple areas that were in place coming down from the bluffs to the beach. 

Multiple small waterfalls were observed coming out of the bluffs. At the north end of the beach where we found the largest waterfall we found a rubber vehicle tire sitting over the top of a rock (see pic).

Beach access by Sign #85 on the north side of Tenmile creek is through a "Hobbit" hole in vegetation (see pic). Very hard to get through this access as the opening is too small to walk thru standing up or walking straight. 

Pyrosomes... In the 10 years I have monitored this beach I have never seen these before.    

Summer sand deposits are mostly intact,  few steep dune faces

Myers Creek is flowing strongly and directly into the ocean 

Issues with visitors climbing the Rock after USFW "Do not Enter" sign blew down. USFW notified and working on replacing sign. There are still multiple signs posted on the Rock informing visitors not to climb and that it is a Refuge. Last week a seal pup was spotted at the Rock. Notified Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Seal left after a few days. Just south of mile 313, at Hug Point, a large boat washed in from Japan with possible invasive species attached. OSU professors notified and collected samples and OPRD was on the scene. King Tides haven't been as dramatic this year, but photos were taken along mile 313. 

What a beautiful, mild, sunny December afternoon! The dunes are flattening out, and piles of bull kelp dot the beach. I was surprised not to see any pyrosomes, which have been making the news lately by their unusual appearance on the northwest coast. I have seen them on Agate beach previously, as well as other beaches, but today they were absent, and it looked like the high King tide had cleared the beach of most of the wrack. As expected, many people were out enjoying what my husband used to call a "bonus" day. I stayed to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Two things of note.

I have included several photos of the lead up to King Tide. The pictures at my usual entrance (path down from 57th and Meander) are roughly 50 feet back from where I normally enter the beach. I have also included pictures of the plastic pellets--I don't normally find them in the driftline.

The sea lion carcass noted by Hillsideshack on November 27 was already report by me to Jim Rice at Marine Mammal on November 23. Today there was no sign of the carcass.

There is still a minor amount of standing water on portions of the beach.  Also, it appears the level of the beach is dropping enough for a few small rocky areas to be emerging from under the sand (44.568638N, 124.070851W).  Not much washed up in high tide line except for usual shells, small rocks etc.  No dead birds that I saw.  Very few people on beach, but it was a Tuesday afternoon in December.

I am also volunteer with Solve and their adopt a mile program.  Myself and 3 others collected over 50 pounds of trash.

Awesome surf during this very high tide!

Lovely winter day for observing the last day of the December King Tides. Sunny, soft offshore breeze from the northeast, calm ocean. When the high tide was at its peak, waves covered the entire beach and reached the base of the foredune all along the mile, but did not overtop the foredune at any location. There were only 6 people walking on the mile during the 3 hours we visited, which is the fewest number we've observed in some time. Given recent reports of large numbers of pyrosomes being observed on the beaches in this area, we were surprised to see relatively few of them; those that we saw were very small, ranging from 1-3 inches in length. While we have observed dead seals on the beach during previous visits, this was the first time we've seen a carcass that was obviously an immature piniped. Of note, a private landowner has listed a 50 + acre Bayocean property for sale; property is located in the center of mile 287 and stretches west to east from the ocean to (and including) Tillamook bay.

2 bags of mostly ocean-based debris; hundreds of water bottle caps.  Interesting objects (see photos).  Tubeworm tubes?  Whatisit?

At high tide, there was no beach in sections. The other photo is taken on my way back of that same stretch of beach but looking north instead of south. On the way, I had to scramble up the bank to avoid the waves. You can see from the second photo that the waves left foam up to the base of the dune.

Lovely calm day at the beach.  King Tide unimpressive (see photo).Total of 6 beach walkers with 5 dogs on the beach.  One birdwatcher.

Driftline was mostly clear of debris.  Some small pieces of white plastic and styrofoam.  No dead critters.

King Tide (8.6 ft.) at 11:13 am kept most of the people in their cars at Harris Beach State Park.

Note: Photo has been submitted to the 'King Tide Project."

Most people were looking at the boat that washed ashore, dogs nearby.  The boat has been cleared by USCG and John Chapman from OSU to not be a threat to our local environment.  One truck load of debris that had broken off the boat was collected, the entire vessel will be removed by a contractor. 

No marine mammals or birds present on the beach during this visit. 

Expected seasonal detritus and velella.  Otherwise, beach very clean.

High tides are now reaching all the way to the bluff in most places. All driftwood shelters have been knocked down by waves.  Found 15 pieces of large manmade debris over a meter in size, mostly wood and rope. Also there is a big increase in small plastic debris scattered at the wrack line and above. Saw 7 people and one dog.

Another beautiful winter day at the beach. Very little wind plus a lot of sunshine. Once again, very little human activity. Scattering of sanderings..perhaps in the 100 range. Just six gulls. More than usual jellyfish in the 9-10 inch diameter range washed ashore plus more kelp. Most noticeable was the multitude of pyrosomes. See photo.

Just a handful of people (15) but lot’s of driftwood and small wood pieces, along with a generous smattering of pyrosomes that had drifted in from warmer seas.  Saw a few seagulls making a meal of those sea pickles.  On this calm overcast morning a few hours after high tide, we picked up 1 1/2 bags of mostly ocean driven debris...plastic rope segments,styrofoam, bottle caps and other plastic pieces.  Also found a number of children’s beach toys...buckets.shovels, screens, etc.  Adults need to do a better job.  Lots of sea foam today, and it looked a lot like icebergs.  Also dozens of sanderlings were having their usual good time dodging the waves.

There was an extremly high tide this morning with several sneaker waves. The normal shore line was missing today; welcome to the winter coast in Oregon! Several pyrosome creatures were found on this mile. I believe the shore birds that I observed were snowy plovers!  Was not able to get a photo. Mile 200 was very clean today, with very little plastic/sterofoam debris.  

November 29th was glorious weather at sunrise, and the birdlife abundant in Mile 214, Sanderling, Dunlin, and Snowy Plover.  The high tide line was littered with tunicates.  Large and small piles of kelp scattered the beach and provided good cover for the snowy plover.  We also saw 5 dead and difficult to identify birds, we think were Cassin's Auklets.  We were two of a total of four people on the beach from 8-10am.

A sweet day on Mile 220. 8 people and 4 dogs. First time I had seen the single wheeled skateboard used on the beach! The loss of land continues as the solid bluffs fall to the beach, more exposed cement and plastic drain pipes noticed. Lots of vegetation/bushes/trees falling down. Not much trash today which was nice. No dead birds and one rather decomposed sea lion.

Tiffany from Seaside Aquarium spotted quite a few of these deformed velella recently on the beach. definitely more than one....

Large number of pyrosomes of all sizes on beach entrance just north of Netarts Bay boat basin. 

Nice late fall day and several goups enjoying the beach.  Lots of bull kelp and interesting organisms on the beach.  Some sort of egg sacks possibly.  A few birds but a fair number of people and high tide so not a lot of room for them.

Unusually balmy afternoon on Heceta Beach today!  The SE breeze was blowing the surf mist back off-shore so distant headlands stood out in sharp relief for a change.  Lots of eel grass (Zostera marina) and occasional bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) in the wrack line today, along with smashed bits of Pacific sea nettle jelly (Chrysaora fusecescens), hundreds of 2-4 " pyrosomes (Pyrosoma atlanticum), and a gazillion 1" long white-ish tubes from the cellophane tube worm (Spiochaetopterus oculatis).

A calm, mild late afternoon on a beach largely clear of debris. There were large tangles of bull kelp in the driftline. About 30 people, including 8 or so children, were enjoying the beach. There were maybe 5 dogs. South of the riprap at the campground, the big chunks of bluff that came down last winter are still being washed away; so far, no major new pieces have fallen. The bluff continues to look much taller than it did before last winter, when the storms took so much sand off the beach. I'm estimating it's 15 feet high.

It was a nice weekend on the beach. The most noticeable change from my last post was the way the beach has changed due to the runoff from pipes on top of the bluffs creating channels on the shore. My favorite find was a tiny angel, 1" long, on the beach which I deem my favorite photo of the weekend.

I could not get to the Yaquina cliff--the tide was higher than low tide (which was at 5AM), there was extra wave height. The beach is losing its sand--which also prevented my making Yaquina cliff, would have tried to walk cobblestone access but wasn't sure I could even get to previous camera placement for photos showing "keyhole" and other erosion.

A pleasant day at the mile with people collecting trash. One woman collected a rock.Two hundred gulls.Pyrosomes and a jelly fish were on the shore line.

Some erosion near large drainage pipe from highway.

Blustery weather today contributed to low numbers of people and dogs...just 7 people and 3 dogs. Only kelp and algae were noticed in the driftline. Blowing sand obscured anything that might have been on the beach...a single dead bird, a northern fulmar was seen. Northern fulmars spend their lives at sea and have developed an interesting way of ridding their bodies of excess salt. They have a special gland in their kidneys that concentrates the salt into a liquid that drips out the external nostril on top of their bill. It is common for dead fulmars to begin to wash ashore in the fall with the onset of stormy conditions at sea.

Everything on the trail, dunes and cliffs was normal. Beach is unaccessible on this mile.

We did our survey the weekend following King Tide. It was very cloudy, and it rained periodically. A lot of wood debris along the beach, various sizes, and noted throughout the mile until D River. There were a few people collecting driftwood. Others were sifting through the rocks. And many people noted just walking/running on the beach. There were no concerns observed regarding disturbance to wildlife. There was a large crate among the driftwood. But other than the driftwood, there also wasn't much marine debris noted along the beach.

I can't get down to the water on much of my mile but I will try as soon as I get a dry day.  Most of these observations are from cliffs above the water.  Suprised by how much large wood and tree roots have washed up.  Some buoys as well.  The tides have been really high with a lot of surge.  The Cleft of the Rock gull colony in front of my house was almost completely underwater two days ago, which I have never seen before.  See pictures showing the difference one day makes! The surges are also bringing water within inches of the grassy part of my embankment, which is also something I have not seen before (its been worse for the two days following King Tides).  Not many people out and about today due to the weather so not much activity to report.  

While eating lunch at Georgie's Beachside Grill above Nye Beach, I noticed an excavator driving on the beach by the Vietnam Memorial Walk. On further investigation, I found a strip of the cliff beneath the Elizabeth Street Inn (232 SW Elizabeth St. in Newport) bare of vegetation with another excavator at its base. I don't know whether the bank gave way and the excavator was cleaning up the mess (I'd think they'd leave that to the tides) or some kind of construction is under way. (See attached photos.) I don't know whether the small rocks on the exposed slope were remnants of the slide, or were put there by the excavator to shore it up.

I followed up on this today (11/13/2017). The hillside has been reinforced with rocks at its base, so I presume that the hillside gave way, not that the Inn is carrying out a building project. I talked to a clerk at the Inn who said that the subsidence happened recently, but he wasn't sure exactly when. He said that management was "bringing stuff in" to stabilize the bank, but he didn't know any specifics. I checked the OPRD website for pending and issued Ocean Shores permits (http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/RULES/pages/oceanshores.aspx#Pending_and_Issu...) today. So far, nothing is listed for this property.

Very usual.  See photos.

Pyrosomes... In the 10 years I have monitored this beach I have never seen these before.    

Summer sand deposits are mostly intact,  few steep dune faces

Myers Creek is flowing strongly and directly into the ocean 

Breezy, 48 degree, rainy morning with heavy offshore dark clouds abbreviating our walk, due to earlier thunder and lightning. Beachside campground closed. Beach clean, 2 western gulls at tideline. Small amounts shells, pebbles and occasional bull kelp strands. Sea is rough with whitecaps present.

Rainy day.  We walked the beach to the north only for 200 yards as the Nov 2017 King Tide was on the rise.  We stayed through high tide.  The waves  were lapping at the botton of the rip rap.

Pictures were taken from a central point along mile 229 looking to the north and south

Quiet day at the beach. Few people and one dead sea lion.

A recent storm pushed some large tree stumps and logs up to the beach. There was an abundance of European sea grass along the driftline. Some American Searocket and Seabeach Sandwort near the bluffs. We picked up about 15 pounds of trash. There was a very heavy piece of painted wood that washed up that we could not carry to the car. Overall a quiet morning. We were glad to not see any stranded or dead sea lions on this trip. The two forts observed from the last mile walk in August were immersed in sand from a recent storm. Took pictures from the north and south end of mile 238 at a high tide of 6.7 to compare with the king tide in December. 

A lovely sunny day without much wind.  We watched a gull take a mussel shell, fly in a big circle, gaining altitude till the bird was over the rocks.  Then it hovered, dropping the shell onto the cobbles to break it.  It was fairly succcessful about half the time.  The scoters floated in the surf, diving under the waves as they broke.  We assumed they were feeding there.  Several big tree trunks pushed up near the bluff by the storms.  The tide was too high to see the seals that are usually on the rocks.