Report Details

The ocean never disappoints me.  It is constantly changing the beach and foredunes.  It is always beautiful.The amount in the wrack line on this trip was more than I usually see.  There was a lot of Seaweed.  The wrack was a good source of food for about 500 gull (various species), one gull was banded and there were 20 American Crows.  No other birds were seen.  The sand dunes that had been created were greatly diminished and the tide is reaching up to the foredune in many places.  There were more people than I usually see on such a foggy day.  Dogs were unleashed for the most part.  The gulls and crows would move as they approached.  There was a lot of graffiti on the walls of the dunes by Buckley Creek.  The creek has carved a new path.  It seems to be every changing.   There is a new home being build in Sandpiper Shores.  The Ranger shared that a coyote had taken what was left of a harbor seal pup and dragged it off.

Conditions

Temperature: 51 F. Cloud Cover: Foggy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 4.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 35. Number of dogs: 15. Walking or running: 35. ranger in his truck

Concerns

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Vehicles

Cars/trucks on beach, allowed: 1.

Notable Wildlife

over 500 gulls of various species. one gull was banded, 20 crows (one group of 8). wrack was prime for good foraging

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces.

Man-made Modifications

Dune modification/removal. A lot of graffiti at Buckley creek on the dune face. Causing continual erosion.

Natural Changes

Landslides/major boulder falls, Major cracks appearing in bluffs, Erosion of vegetated foredune, Visible retreat of solid bluff. Buckley creek banks have eroded a lot in 2022.

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All Mile 203 Reports

Showing 8 of 79 reports

Mile 203

January 23, 2024

The beach has had substantial washing away of old dunes and washing up of beach grass into the dunes. There were 45 bird carcasses of we believe are Cassin's auklets.

Jeff Hildreth

Mile 203

January 19, 2024

Today I and my two CoastWatch partners conducted a NOAA Marine Debris survey on our 100 meter survey site at Sandpiper Beach, Mile 203. On reaching our marine debris survey site, we saw a lot of Cassin's Auklet carcasses, which COASST calls CAAU, all high up on the beach among the beach vegetation and washed-in sea grass, many carcasses partially covered by sand or vegetation. After we completed our debris survey, I returned to our survey site and began collecting CAAU carcasses in groups of 9, as COASST recommends, ultimately collecting 40 carcasses in 4 full and 1 partial grouping. Below is a link to our Sandpiper Beach NOAA debris survey site where most CAAUs were found, reached by a boardwalk that enters the beach midway in the debris survey site. COASST defines a "wreck" as more than 20 beached individuals of one species per kilometer, and a "MME" (Massive Mortality Event) as a spike of up to hundreds of carcasses per kilometer. We also found a beached Northern Fulmar and what is I believe was either a female Gadwall or White-winged Scoter, which I took note of but didn't measure or report on to COASST. I submitted documentation with photos of the CAAU beaching event to COASST, and COASST responded that they had received reports of CAAU beachings from Southern Oregon sites like Coquille Point and Cape Blanco but also as far north as Manzanita. All this sounds very dry, but it was really sad to see and handle all these beautiful little dead birds and wonder if this is completely natural or if climate change, and perhaps a decline of prey species making these birds more vulnerable, factors into these mortality events. https://mdmap.

Jon French

Mile 203

September 30, 2023

The storms and rain caused some beach washout from the ocean and from the land.

JLcoasties

Mile 203

June 21, 2023

The dunes have reappeared due to the spring winds.

JLcoasties

Mile 203

April 12, 2023

Last year at this time, Jesse Jones helped us set up a 100 meter NOAA marine debris survey site on Mile 204, which we later moved to Sandpiper Beach on Mile 203.

Jon French

Mile 203

January 28, 2023

It was a beautiful day for a walk.

Nancy Thomas

Mile 203

January 24, 2023

After observing 8 snowy plovers on Mile 200 yesterday, I wanted to check up on the plovers on Mile 203.

KFunk

Mile 203

December 6, 2022

New beach access point, 66B, has been installed on mile 203.

JLcoasties