Mile 172 Report
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
May 19, 2018
Took the missus out for a trial walk with her new walking sticks, initially heading north into the wind from Driftwood Shores Resort up to Sutton Creek and return with a nice tailwind.
Report Details
Took the missus out for a trial walk with her new walking sticks, initially heading north into the wind from Driftwood Shores Resort up to Sutton Creek and return with a nice tailwind. The on-going stranding of "By-The-Wind Sailors (Velella velellas) is piling up gazillions of the creatures all along Mile 172 and the rest of the Heceta Beach area. Almost of the sailors were in the 2-4" length range, with only a few small examples observed. There were hundreds of weekend visitors also out on the beach, most of whom were trying to figure out what all those little blue things were.No significant marine mammal activity observed today. Lots of grey/white Glaucous-winged gulls migrating northbound (slowly) into the wind, with one bird actively plunge-diving into the Sutton Creek outflow multiple times until driven off by a bald eagle who power-dived into the shallow water and grabbed a 4-6" fish from the same spot.No litter or dead furry/feathered critters on the beach today - just a lot of folks out enjoying the sunshine!
Conditions
Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW.
Human Activities
Number of people: 75. Number of dogs: 9. Walking or running: 30. Playing in surf: 3. Playing in sand: 10. Sitting: 6. Photography: 10. Other Activities: Cautiously checking out the stranded Velella velellas on the wet sand beach.
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 15.
Notable Wildlife
Bald eagle
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
Unusual concentration. Gazillions of washed-up Velella velellas on the beach
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt).
Report Images
oldMGguy
CoastWatcher
All Mile 172 Reports
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
Another glorious sunny winter day at Heceta Beach! The recent high tides have washed away most of the summer dunes that accumulate on the high beach in front of the vegetation zone. Just another day in paradise!
Dick Mason
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
Lots of wood debris stacked up on the beach from past high tide and storms.
Lyndell Wilken
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
Louie the Lab and I chased his Chuck-It ball from Driftwood Shores north to Sutton Creek and back today.
oldMGguy
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
Nice sunny day for flinging the "Chuck-It" ball into the surf for the dog.
oldMGguy
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
There were two dead sea lions in a 1 mile stretch between Driftwood Shores and the north jetty.
Lyndell
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
A 60-degree weather report brought out lots of people on the beach.
MooreC
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
Jelleyfish for a quarter mile.
Lyndell
Mile 172
Heceta Beach North, Driftwood Shores
Took the missus out for a trial walk with her new walking sticks, initially heading north into the wind from Driftwood Shores Resort up to Sutton Creek and return with a nice tailwind.
oldMGguy