Mile Report Browser

Barefoot on the beach day with brilliant sun, clear sky and temps that felt warmer than weather app reported. Quiet waves, people casually enjoying the beach without drama or conflict. 

very wide beach at low tide with people widely separated enjoying themselves in various ways

Very calm day with more activity than usual due to the presence of a middle school class doing PE on the beach. No concerning observations made.

It was a cloudy day. Not many people out mid-week and mid-afternoon. By and large there have been no significant changes south of the Yachats River on the beach next to Yachats Ocean Road. However, the stairs and railing at marker 77 had to be replaced a couple of months ago because of significant wave damage. North of the river, new asphalt is being laid down on the west side of Ocean View drive; no repair of guard rails yet. Apparently the road will remain where it is, and no bluff/shoreline reinforcement is anticipated, making the whole exercise seem futile. Also at end of mile by 7th street, from the beach one can see on bluff a sign indicating "restoration in progress," presumably to prevent further human caused damage to the bluff below the house above. 

There was a lot of gravel beside China creek as a lot of sand had washed away leaving gravel beds exposed.the cliffs have more undercutting on Muriel Ponsler.Some logs had washed up over the cliffs.

The wrack line had feathers, kelp, crab,sea weed.

Beautiful sunny morning on Wakeman Beach, with just a slight breeze.  I was unable to access the southern half of the beach because of rocks. (see attached photograph.)

Last month we had contacted State Parks regarding the need for a Doggie Poop Station. To our great surprise in just a couple of weeks they installed the station as well as a new pedestrian bridge. A big thanks to State Parks. They also visited the homeless camp near the mid-point of Mile 217 and cut away the willow hiding the camp from view. Unlike our previous walks we saw only Seagulls, one Osprey and a group of a dozen brown Pelicans. The sands that comprise the beach change day to day. Most recently the dunes have become shorter and the high tides have left small ponds of water high up the beach. In and around the Cow Parship we also found some Sea Watch or Wild Celery, and Ovate spike rush, both near the entrance to Agate Beach Wayside and found near the other small drainages along the bluff. Although we did find plastic, plastic bags and other garbage in our several outings, it was less than in our first report despite the fact that many people visited the area.

Last month we had contacted State Parks regarding the need for a Doggie Poop Station. To our great surprise in just a couple of weeks they installed the station as well as a new pedestrian bridge. A big thanks to State Parks. They also visited the homeless camp near the mid-point of Mile 217 and cut away the willow hiding the camp from view. Unlike our previous walks we saw only Seagulls, one Osprey and a group of a dozen brown Pelicans. The sands that comprise the beach change day to day. Most recently the dunes have become shorter and the high tides have left small ponds of water high up the beach. In and around the Cow Parship we also found some Sea Watch or Wild Celery, and Ovate spike rush, both near the entrance to Agate Beach Wayside and found near the other small drainages along the bluff. Although we did find plastic, plastic bags and other garbage in our several outings, it was less than in our first report despite the fact that many people visited the area.

Just a usual day on the beach, nothing noticible as far as errousoin. Some dune movement. There were spotty clouds. About 15 people walking, low number possibly due to the high winds making it cold.

Clean beach with the usual organic matter in the wrack line, including the papery remains of an old velella velella stranding.  Very little garbage and I did not see any dead birds.  First beach walk since January, due to foot surgery, and it felt real good.

It was a pleasant Sunday evening on Mile 206! Despite the cloudy overcast and wind, several individuals were enjoying the coast. I saw several shorebirds (being undisturbed), 2 sea stars, 3-4 seals beached on a rock several yards into the water, and 5 sand crabs that were alive. It was fun to see so much marie life on my mile this visit. It is the most I have noticed since starting to report on mile 206 this past year. There was barely any human debris on my mile this weekend, which is always nice. The vast majority of debris on the shoreline were sea shells and mussle shells.

The last few months have brought in driftwood along the high tide line, including some large logs. Minimal plastic debris at this time. 

This report was filed primarily to note observation of black oystercatchers feeding/hanging out on rocks exposed by low tides on this mile. On June 1, I observed between 4-6 black oystercatchers, on June 2, 2-4. I haven't been seeing them often on this mile in the past year or so I believe it's because of the increasing number of people w/dogs (often unleashed and too often unsupervised/allowed to harass shorebirds). At this time the # of human visitors is somewhat limited because the NW 68th Street access is closed to enable the city of Newport to replace the pumping station (or the pump) for its sewage treatment system at NW 68th Street. The intertidal zone rocks are located off the beach near the NW 68th street access. My visits occurred from 3 to approximately 5 pm. Low tides at South Beach were 5:35pm, 2.3', and 6:17pm, 2.5' respectively. I walked from north of Yaquina Head to Moolack shores. 1/4 mile south of Moolack shores I saw several youngish (20's) people w/2 dogs that they permitted to chase seagulls again & again & again. However, they did keep their dogs from harassing my dog when I leashed my dog to walk by them. On Saturday, it was foggy, windy (up to 30 mph or so) & a bit chilly on the beach, on Sunday, partly sunny & warmer, mild breeze. On Sunday, I observed illegal campers (camping on the beach is illegal w/in the city limits of Newport, however this rule is rarely enforced), the campers were also violating a state park rule by building a campfire in an area w/trees (mostly dead trees). The latter rule is also rarely enforced. The campers were not far from the base of the north side of Yaquina Head, near NW 56th-NW 58th streets (if those streets ran all the way down to the beach), or definitely within the Newport city limits. Beach looked pretty clean both days. To all those who visit the beaches on this mile, please respect the need of shorebirds, some of whom are nesting/raising their young at Yaquina Head, to feed on species on exposed rocks or the sand (mole crabs, etc) and GIVE THEM PLENTY OF SPACE, to go about their lives. Please don't let your dog(s) get anywhere near them, let alone chase them and don't chase or get close to them yourself. The beach is a fun place for you, for the birds, it's where they forage for food for themselves, for their young, rest and in the fresh water, bathe.

Light breeze from NW on a cloudy morning. Mod. amounts of Velella velella , pebbles, crab molt, and mole crab carcasses along high tide line. 2 people walking along beach. Notable was one 3 rd. year eagle flying northbound, few crows on beach, several vultures flying. Swainson's thrush songs heard in Beachside campground.

Very pleasant day & time for a walk on the beach, very few people. Most of the people I saw were walking/sitting near the long stairway down to the beach at the north end of the mile. Saw 5 whimbrels, a crow or two, seagulls (mostly flying overhead) & one vulture, soaring. Rarely see many birds on this mile & was surprised to see the whimbrels, I haven't been seeing them (lately) further south. I've not seen as many this spring as last spring (not that I consistently visit the same beaches at the same times, etc., from year to year). Until today I thought they'd departed from this part of the coast (this part = north jetty of Yaquina Bay to Otter Rock). On the beaches w/in the city limits of Newport, so many people allow, even encourage, their dogs to chase shore birds (or chase the birds themselves, I've seen adults do that too because you just can't harass other species that are 1/50th of your weight enough) that it's hard to for me to know when migrating birds like whimbrels are leaving of their own will (i.e., time to get moving) or leaving because human/canine activity have made the beaches unsafe and useless as a place to rest & refuel for the next step of their migration. I stayed upslope/upbeach from these whimbrels & made sure my dog did as well (not like that's hard to do). While the low tide was listed in the tide table as 2.1, the water seemed further out then I would expect to see at that low tide level, there was a vast expanse of beach for part of the mile. Winter/continued erosion of beach bluffs noted, seemed as though there might've been a little more then usual this past winter. Overall, beach seemed clean despite a little snack food left on the beach which my dog immediately scented & ran to. I buried it.

 Beautiful sunny day with a strong wind on the beach.  The wind was stronger on the north side of the Rocky Knoll.  Ocean beach picnic area had little rock or debris on the sand, drift line was full of By the Wind Sailor.  Rock creek, southside of  Rocky Knoll, normal amount of small rocks and expose sand.  Someone has tied a rope at the trail leading to the beach which is very helpful.16 people and three dogs, most on the north side of the Rocky Knoll, enjoying walking with one gentleman at the tide pools.  Seagulls, crows and 10 Whimbrel.  The remains of one dead bird, one wing with feathers and partial skeleton.  Not enough remains to identify bird .No trash found on beach or in parking area. 

Pretty usual day. Some Velella velella washed up. Minimal litter or man-made debris. Oregon State Parks truck driving on beach near Beaver Creek. One photo shows a property owner's landscaping bricks on unstable/eroding ground. Unsure if new or old, will monitor.

It was a cloudy cool morning with little human activity. There is little change from last observation witn the exception of a newly established fire ring. The are has seen light human use as evidenced from the trail conditions, obvious recent fire ring use. Dog tracks were only seen near point 4 fire ring. Shore birds were present in small numbers. At the south end of mile 227, 5-10 birds were observed either nesting or in the process of building nests on the cliffs. The area looks healthy and litter was almost nonexistent. 

Over 150 people enjoying the Memorial Day weekend, velella in wrack line, no areas of concern....beach clean of trash

Increase in human activity, new path along bottom of cliff. Need for bathroom facility. 

This survey was conducted on Sunday of a holiday weekend, which is likely why more people were on mile 99. The expected shorebirds and seabirds were seen on the offshore rocks, including a large population of pigeon guillemot around Haystack Rock. No erosive changes were noted along the bluff since last survey, and several sand dunes were developing along the middle section of the mile. There was less inorganic debris than on previous surveys. 

It was a calm evening on Friday with few visitors at the beach. The Velella velella have started washing up and can be found in high numbers just above the water line. The snowy plover nesting area is still under protection with snowy plovers present.  

Little human activity on the beach.  Beach relatively clean with very little litter.  Snowy plover study occurring.  One beached bird with green/yellow bands but only its upper wings found.  Truck tracks -- ranger?

Eight Eugene Hikers parked in Tahkenitch Campground lot and hiked trail to beach access at Sign 115.  (See picture 12).  The group accessed beach for Mile 154 at about 11:00 am and left about 1:00 pm at Three Mile Lake Trail at Sign 115A.  A snowy plover protection area was marked along bank for entire Mile 154.  (See picture 13).  There was better signage on the beach than at previous times.  Eugene Hikers did not observe other people, dogs, or birds.  At the north end, there was evidence of continued erosion of the bank. The group observed some driftwood, broken sand dollars, other shells, some dead "Purple Sailors", and seaweed.  Eugene Hikers observed, collected, and removed human and ocean-based debris.     

Today was a bit chilly with the cloud cover but is was a great day on the beach.  The natural change processes of the beach were evident from the last two months.  We do not have any concerns about human activity impacting the beach except for the debris that washes up on the shore.  Most of what we found had been in the water for a long period of time.  The build up of alge, dirt, and the state of decay is what tells us the items have been in the water for a while. 

Mild day on the beach, amazing amount of log debris near the dunes.  Foredune has not been replaced in area where it is now missing, but grass beginning to repopulate the big dune front.  3 trucks from Univ of Portland Research driving south from Takenitch Creek area in the restricted Plover area.  Very few birds.

This was a cool, blustery day with the sun peeking out just overhead.  There was no human activity on the beach but there were 4 cars in the parking lot.  The beach is long and clean except for the seaweed and small velella in the driftline.  The cliffs of sand mixed with wood are quite tall in some areas.  And the area that has been bulldozed south towards the jetty still seems stark even though the beach grass is sprouting up again.  No bird carcasses were found, and no snowy plovers although some pairs have been sighted by others.  Except for a few Vultures, Whimbrels, Crows, Gulls and shorebirds, there was not much activity on this mile.  

Significant increase in cliff caving and carving approximately 100 yards north of Chinook Winds. See photos attached

Beach continues to be very clean...no bottles, no cans, no styrofoam!!!  Found only 10 or 12 items of plastic, an empty sand bag, and about 10 feet of crab ring rope that I was able to untangle from sticks ,branches, and dried seaweed. It’s likely to be a different story after the summer crowds arrive.

Report submitted for new volunteers GailRobbw.  no dead animals 12 people on the beach evidence of someone climbing on the cliffs- carvings  overnight camper in the parking lot,

It was a lovely, calm day for a beach walk. The beach was as clean as I have ever seen it. The only marine life present included a few broken shells and beach hoppers. There was no human debris, as though SOLVE had just been through. One change noted was an artistic carving on the face of a cliff at the north end of the mile (see photo). It is not likely to last through the next few high tides.

The weather was not conducive to a lot of beach activity on this day. Rain off and on and a little wind. I was disturbed by the amount of plastic debris I found. I cleaned up as much as I could and plan to return to gather as much micro plastic as I can. There was some evidence of inappropriate behavior by visitors but I did not observe the behavior. It's a beautiful stretch of beach which I look forward to helping preserve.

A harbor seal pup, half white and half gray, was resting on the Elephant Rock side of the rocky pass below Coquille Point minutes before 6 a.m. close to low tide of 0.8 feet. There were several signs of haul-outs nearby, but the critters had gone into the sea before low tide. Another pup was on the wet sand at Elephant Rock a day earlier at about the same time. Both pups appeared healthy from a distance.

After being away since my last dispatch, my return has found further changes to Wakonda Beach. First of all, the two properties north of the Wakonda Beach access appear to have survived the heavy surf after the temporary rip-rap was installed that was shown in my previous dispatches. Today there was the activity of one track hoe building a sand ramp down onto the beach and another trackhoe was setting new rock in front of the first house south of the access previously permitted. The first image is of rock that was set to bolster the previously permitted rip-rap in front of the second house south of the access followed by an image of the repair to the rip-rap in front of the first house south of the access.

Nothing unusual to report.

All looks about the same.  Much marine debris including plastic bottles, shoes, large hunks of mfg. wood, shell casings and much more.

A beautiful Mother's Day at the coast - overcast/partly cloudy skies with light winds and a moderate temperature made for very pleasant conditions. There was one jogger whose running right along the surf line disturbed the large numbers of whimbrels that were feeding in the shallow surf; all the other folks we saw were walking or running closer to the foredune and appeared to be enjoying the lovely day and the feeding shorebirds as much as we were. The spring/summer reaccumulation of sand has begun to fill in some of areas of erosion we had seen at our last visit and there was very little trash visible anywhere on the mile. All in all, another good visit to Mile 287!

Pretty uneventful walk, we did place flags ind information sigins around seal pups and spoke with visitors about keeping some distance from pups

Observed significant increase in sea star population on the rocks at Chinook Winds. Have been consciously watching at low tide and was pleased when I found one or two but there were too many to actually count stacked on each other. Photo collage attached. Individual photos available. 

Also encountered couple harvesting mussels and suggested they move to 15th Street outside the Casade Marine Reserve. They said they would check out the map and restrictions and seemed to leave. Photos not posted but available. 

A lively seal pup was resting among the rocks close to the receding tide below Coquille Point, near Elephant Rock, at about 6 a.m. I noticed drag tracks in the same general area the day before, so this area bears watching.

Nothing significant to report.

Lovely day, low tide, quiet ocean.

Unplanned birding day at Heceta Beach this evening.  Just light breezes this afternoon instead of the recent hurricane force gales.  Those winds have created a large field of the temporary summer "transverse dunes" near the Driftwood Shores Resort.  No marine wildlife observed, but lots of birds.  Numerous large flocks of sanderlings feeding in the outwash, a juvenile bald eagle, several turkey vultures, willets with their long straight beaks, killdeers, and whimbrels with the long down-curved beaks on their seemingly undersized heads.  Of course, the usual mobs of crows were patrolling the wet sand beach, digging out mole crabs for dinner.

Technically on Mile 170, but the Siuslaw River's red navigation buoy #4 has been knocked out of its normal position and is now lodged against the South Jetty rocks.  The local Coast Guard station was notified and they are aware of it.

A nice day on Sea Star Beach--with just a few persons. The birds are back at Yaquina Head, and the hill near my "Keyhole" picture is still eroding--causing slight change to get photo of ocean through a hole in the cliff.

Calm day on mile 200 with a minus tide.  

Overcast morning with little breeze, 6 people, 3 dogs walking.  Driftline content lots of  small mole crab parts, few live mole crabs.  Usual summer sand deposition along high tide line up to 3 feet elevation, in places.  Notable were 15 whimbrel at low tideline feeding.  Clean beach.  Quick visit with Beachside park hosts and State parks employee. 

Photos of deceased birds (2) and skate egg case

Whrimbels sighting, trash and campfires, car tracks in marine reserve shoreline

The tide was low enough to allow access to the more distant monolith with a cave and marine garden nearby. Lots of anemones and 3 seastars.

Crab in the tideline.  Small landslide activity on Heceta Headland . Picture.  The Hobbit Trail is washed out and holes make progress challenging.  Tree roots make the trail uneven with many obstacles.  

I saw lots of dungenous crab shells and sandcrab shells.  I remember last year had remains of crabs in spring.   In the morning it's uncrowded and even more so due to school still in session.  I saw no trash.  

Other than the usual litter and homeless camps, there were no dead mammals, or much else of import to report this quarter. 

Windy day on Heceta Beach at noon.  The summer "transverse" sand dunes are beginning to form.  Numerous flocks of gulls and sanderlings either feeding or migrating northbound against the wind.  An osprey and a common tern were busy plunging into the surf in the hunt for lunch.

A recently deceased yearling steller sea lion is washed up at the high water line abouta 1/4 mile south of the Driftwood Shores Resort.  No obvious pre-scavanger injuries or tags observed.

The beach looked relatively clean, but we still collected an assortment of plastic debris (photo attached). We enjoyed watching the busyness of the small sandpipers and observed a larger sandpiper family in the surf zone. (longer legs/longer beak/taller) We forgot the binoculars, so couldn't identify.

Nothing of concern viewed during this visit. 

Tide .47 feet, foggy and calm breeze. Very quiet walk on the drift line. Lots of dead tiny crustaceans, crushed shell and large and small woody debris. At the end of the mile, noted small slide near a home (photo attached) and considerable woody debris built up at the outflow of Ransom Creek. Also spotted a single sea star, 2 Oyster Catchers, a pair of nesting scrub jays and an osprey. 

A very calm, foggy negative tide - .3 feet as I was unable to put in the - in the report tide section.  Effectively able to walk the entire mile with only some bouldering and logs across creeks. Saw about 20 people on the southern section of the mile just walking it sitting and enjoying the low tide. 1 small dog on a leash.  Not a lot of gulls or other birds this morning but one cormorant in flight and lots of live rock crabs plus one lonely, alive sea star on the beach. Last week I saw a single otter at the northern tip of mile 8! No sign today. Huge trees and other wood debris along all beaches due to storms several weeks ago. Saw very little micro plastic but did find one large fishing lure. 

Land slide south of the parking area. Tree down with exposed roots. Also plenty of poison oak on the trail behind the big rocks at the south end. 

Mile 238 was fairly empty and calm. Some more riprap had been placed in certain areas where erosion threatened homes in the winter. Some steep drop-offs still exist, eliminating a few access points for now. Smooth beach all the way up the bluffs in some areas indicating a recent high tide. 

Human activities: I observed 15 people on the beach, 10 were clamming at the low tide line and 5 were sitting on the beach. Along this mile, there was much evidence of clamming with mounds of wet sand piled from clam gun activity. I observed 21 vehicles on the beach, either parked on the dry sand or moving along the beach on the wet sand. 

Shoreline wildlife: Partly cloudy day with little wind in the morning. I observed 8 whimbrels foraging for mole crabs at the low tide line, 3 American crows, 1 Northern Harrier female hunting over the dunes, and 6 Western Gull on the beach. The high tide line below the dune grass had a high concentration of 2-3 inch Cnidaria: Velella velella or By The Wind Sailors, large piles of bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, and large logs. Dungeness Crab shell casings, shells, and organic detritus were also in the backshore. At the low tide line, I found a large cluster of California Market squid eggs (Loligo opalescens), 2 moon jellies, and more shells.

Physical Changes: some sawdust on the sand and a large wooden pallet (partially broken) were observed at the high tide line. 

Actions taken: I collected approximately 20 lbs of trash including styrofoam chunks, cups, maritime ropes, many plastic bags/10 bottles/7 bottle caps/ 2 toothbrushes, 2 shotgun shells from duck hunters, and litter from beach fires and human presence on the beach. I emailed Oregon State Parks to inquire if they can add a trash can receptacle to the Del Rey Beach parking lot at Highlands Ln or at the pullout near the beach entrance. The nearest trash can is 3 miles away at Sunset Beach parking lot. I hope this will reduce the amount of litter from vehicles on the beach. 

I came armed with two fully charged camers and didn't see anything unusual. Beach was cleaner than last time.

After more than a year's absence, it was good to get back out on the mile. I walked about 2/3 of the way. It was a mild, overcast afternoon, with only 11 adults and 2 children on the beach plus two dogs, one leashed, one not leashed. I saw a flock of about 50 whimbrels, mixed in with an equal number of sandpipers. Very small vellela vellelas were scattered in the driftline. Bluff erosion has continued; a very large chunk has recently come down. In lower layers of the bluff that have been exposed only for the past couple of years, one brittle-looking clayey layer has been visibly crumbling. Photos to be added later.

A large swath of the bluff is well vegetated with shore pines, willow and native shrubs like silverweed, and black twinberry. However, the southern third of the bluff is actively eroding and is devoid of vegetation. The bluff at Jump Off Joe shows signs of mass-wasting. Small thumbnail sized plastics are every few feet, sometimes in dense bunches, sometimes scattered about. Apart from plastics there are washed-up remains of kelp, mussels, sand crabs, mole crabs, and sand dollars. And lots of drift wood from diciduous trees less than 6-8 inches in diameter. The well vegetated bluff looks as though it is a favorite for some campers living rough.

A quiet day on Manzanita's beach with more driftwood than usual. Winter storms have carved the dunes back such that the berm created as the dunes meet the slope of the beach is steeper than in the summer months. 

Great day at the beach. Unusually large amount of driftwood due to recent storms inland. Also much more kelp than I've ever seen on this mile. Very few shells, rocks and likewise very little crab casings. One lady was walking her 7 well behaved basset hounds.

No birds on the beach (not because of the bassets)

There were a good amount of people out for a late Thursday morning, mostly a few school groups. I noticed more large woody debris than usual including some trees that washed up. Down near the south end of the mile, close to the neighborhood, they've set up a protected area for nesting birds until September 15. I didn't see any birds in the protected area nesting at the time. 

There was nothing unusual along mile 307.  Two people walking with their dog. 

The rock berm had a very steep slope.  There were wood pieces and kelp at the driftline.

A bald eagle has flown by every day of the weekend.

Photo 698 was shot in the morning and 699 was shot in the afternoon at low tide.

Cloudy 52' afternoon with mod. SW winds.Notable was large wracks and pieces of bull kelp, and other brown seaweed along driftline.  10 lbs garbage- plastic caps, bottles, styrofoam, and plastic debris removed. No pebbles present,  lots of small driftline wood, about half had barnacles attached. Also noted were recent axe chips  in several areas, that indicated that some driftline wood had been chopped up and removed. 6people,2 dogs walking the beach.  

The entire Mile 171 is heavily covered with river-sourced flood debris, from large trees, stumps, down to grass and pine needles.  Many of the larger pieces, which looked like they had not been out in the ocean for more than a week or so, are completely covered with baby pelagic goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera).  Numerous washed-in strands of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) were also coated with these baby barnacles.

Found a Brown Booby (sula leucogaster brewsteri) on the southern portion of Schooner South while doing my COASST Marine Debris survey!! That's a first for me!!

It was a stormy, wet and windy morning at Siltcoos Recreation Area today with dramatic clouds and storms coming and going. All visitors appeared to abide by rules to remain on wet sand in plover area. One volunteer plover monitor was on the beach and indicated that most of the plovers were further north today. Also mentioned that the one nest in the area had been lost over the stormy past few days. Saw two sanderlings, each hopping on one leg near the surf, 2 juvenile bald eagles, 2 turkey vultures, one hermit crab crawling and several gulls.

Quiet Monday after busy Spring Breaks for Oregon and Washigton. Cloudy with threats of light rain. 

The beach was extremely clean.  We always have somesort of Goldsworthy type art - this time is lots of cairns and some rocky pictures in the sand.

Really pleasant walk!

A first for Mile 171 today.  Found a dead American Beaver (Castor canadensis) washed in at this morning's high tiode wash line at the north end of Mile 171. This animal appears to have been killed and gutted by humans, as the skin edges are very neatly cut.  Likely washed down the Siuslaw River after being dispatched.

Ocean Beach Picnic area was busy with 13 people, 6 cars and 2 dogs. Most people enjoying a walk on the sandy beach. This side of the knoll,north,had little to no debris on the beach.

Rock Creek had 3 people and 2 cars. Rock hunting and tide pools seem to be the activity. I noticed 2 fishing boats, 32 seagulls and 2 crows. This beach,south, is mostly covered with rock.

A lot of people on the beach and crowded parking lot. People are enjoying themselves in the sunshine today.

Downed tree partially blocking the trail one-half mile north of Whaleshead

Beautiful morning on the beach. Spring break. One family in a tent, one family flying kites and 2 men with their dogs walking the beach.

We came across this flock of approximately 3,100 Dunlin a bit south of the Iredale wreck in Fort Stevens State Park.

In about 2 hours we saw 6 or 7 Grey Whale spouts out near the horizon.

Surprise sunny March day, Tuesday of spring break week, many beach lovers enjoying the beach. Deposition level of beach sand generally low, making low tide seem higher at Austin Point, Point Meriwether and Adair Point.

More beach litter than usual.  Signs of rock fall from cliffs.  Many people out on the low tide.

A very quiet beautiful spring day on the beach!  Beach had been cleaned of debris some of which was up at the foot of the dunes.  The foredunes in the middle portion of our mile has been eroded more than we've seen previously.  Only 1 seagull, but lots of small bird footprints on the several tide lines.  We collected a full bag of trash - typical content of water bottles, pieces of plastic and styrofoam and pieces of rope.

Huge (estimated about 6-8 feet) waves crashing about 1/4 mile out.  The waves came in toward high tide before we reached our pickup parked at the Plover sign!  A little panic, but we were able to get going back to the parking lot. That was much earlier than the predicted high tide time - the State Park lady agreed.

It was SOLV today and the beaches look wonderfully clean!! With the onset of Spring break people seemed to be enjoying themselves on the beach with the exception of the person stuck in the sand. It was a very calm day at the beach.

SOLVE spring beach clean-up day. While there were not many larger pieces of debris to be retrieved from the beach (amazingly only one plastic bottle), there was considerable microplastic. We retrieved as many small plastic pieces as we could without having an appropriate tool for the job, but it was distressing to see how much microplastic remained. As observed at our last visit, evidence of wave overtopping and erosion of the foredune persists. No other concerns noted.

The signage is up again keeping all dogs off Mile 289.  By all means,  dogs need to be on leash and kept out of the sensitive areas.  But to exclude dogs only and by inference allowing any other type of animal with a leash is wrong.  So much for windmill tilting.

There were no human activities noted below the level of the Lookout, some 500 feet above sea level, where there were several cars and a few people.  Very little was visible along the shoreline as the the tide was high and only a small portion of one cobble beach was visible.  Ropes were observed hanging down a cliff face where, according to a volunteer at the Lookout, fishermen lowered themselves and their equipment from an access point down to close to water level.

Of note:  unusual amount of small rocks; no birds.

Mile 99 seems to have weathered the winter storms with some erosion of the seagrass foredunes, but minimal loss of solid bluff. The creeks bordering the mile to the north and south have carved significantly wider and deeper paths to the ocean. One California Sea Lion was observed alive at the last high tide line, and was reported to Oregon Marine Mammal authorities. Local environmental scientists reported that the beach showed evidence of mole crab breeding activity from the previous night of a full moon. There were fewer people and dogs on the beach than during a summer day of similar conditions (sunny, light winds).

15 people observed, all walking along beach, some with dogs. No one in water or tidepools. Minimal wildlife observed, none dead. A few crows and seagulls walking on ground. This was my first report so unsure what, if anything, has changed. Did not appear to be any brand new construction of houses or stairways down to beach. One small area of possible recent erosion/fall of a cliff. 

Quiet, beautiful day.  The low tide did not seem to match the online posting for time nor degree as it was considerably low and the tide turned before the posted 7:26 PM (?) low tide.  The beach seems wind swept clean, almost no flotsam or jetsam aside from woody debris. The usual suspects... erosion near the basalt outcropping at the north end of the beach brought down a large chunk of the cliff and with it three trees.

It is very obvious that this winter's storms have been so strong that many properties along this mile have lost a lot of their beachside embankments. Some, especially the first two north of the Wakonda Beach acccess, were close to exposure of their sand filters. Due to concerns that these sand filters were a threat to the public beach, Oregon State Parks & Recreation issued emergency permits to allow temporary rock installation. Speaking with one property owner, it is likely that OSP&R will issue a permit to replace these with permanent structures. One big question is how the rock structure just north of the access will affect the access itself. It appears that the contractor did not place rock on state right-of-way (ROW) - likely because that is not allowed in the permit. It will be interesting to see what effect wave action will have on the unprotected access that is armored on its north edge.