Mile 271 Report
Cape Lookout
December 31, 2017
Paddled solo on a beautiful calm day with small surf and a light off-shore breeze.
Report Details
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.
Conditions
Temperature: 45 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: E.
Human Activities
Walking or running: 10. Kayaking: 1. Other Activities: I was the sole kayaker and I spotted many people at the top of the cape at its end hiking and whale watching.. Unfortunately, I could easily hear the dune buggies from the end of the cape, many miles away.
Notable Wildlife
6 seals, 1 sea lion, large flock of herring gulls, many cormorants, 1 loon, half dozen ravens, 1 bald eagle, 6 western grebes, 6 small grebes, 10 surf scoters, 2 ancient murrelets, 1 large lion's mane jellyfish, moderate number of sea stars - all healthy, occasional chiton, various colors of organisms coating rocks such as a bright scarlet (soft coral?), pink coatings on cave ceilings with one cave having a striking red coating, a firm spongy yellow patch of what looked like soft coral but perhaps and ivasive tunicate (It felt similar to those that I touched in Drakes Estaro and reported to the NPS which they confirmed).
Driftline Content
No driftline.
Natural Changes
No significant change noted.
yakinsea
CoastWatcher
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Paddled solo on a beautiful calm day with small surf and a light off-shore breeze.
yakinsea