Mile 205 - Driftwood Beach north, Collins Creek, Squaw Creek - October 6, 2008

Report Details

As stated above, there has been little remarkable activity along mile 205. We generally see between 6 and 15 people on each visit. There are almost always dogs present. This is a sandy, relatively well protected stretch of beach, and is apparently sufficiently isolated that the opportunistic beach-trashers have ignored it. We do see seasonal changes in the amount and kind of plastic washed up on the beach. None of this seems to be locally generated.

Conditions

Temperature: 63 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: 3.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 8. Number of dogs: 3. Walking or running: 4. Playing in sand: 2. Other Activities: 2- shell hunting. People were largely enjoying a nice day on the beach. Everyone was behaving appropriately. The dogs were either on leash or under voice control. We had our dogs with us and there were no incidents.

Concerns

Apparent violations: None observed.

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 3.

Notable Wildlife

We saw several dozen small shorebirds, probably sandpipers. There were several crows, one eagle on the wing, and 10-12 brown pelicans flying low over the water.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 1. The bird had been dead a long time. My best guess is that it was a murre.

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Styrofoam.

Natural Changes

Landslides/major boulder falls. There appeared to have been some small scale losses in the cliff.

Actions & Comments

There was really nothing remarkable happening along this mile is any of the three observations we made during this quarter. We have not begun our winter observations. We are waiting for a reasonable combination of weather and tide.