Mile 289 Report
June 20, 2014
The solstice survey featured some unexpected discoveries.
Report Details
The solstice survey featured some unexpected discoveries. The beach was really clean. Just a few weeks back there was an surge of tsunami and other debris. State Parks sends a ranger in a pickup down the spit and those tracks were visible. Volunteers and the ranger did a great job cleaning the mess upAnd usually at the end of the 5 mile spit, you see no other people. Today there were 8 humans and 3 dogs. It must have been the nice weather and the end of the school year.Lastly, COASST sent out a email requesting sea star surveys in collaboration with Cornell. The plan was to survey the jetty rocks for sea stars. There were none to be found. I spoke to some fishermen who walked out on the jetty rocks. They said there were no sea stars on the ocean side, but there were some on the channel side. Thinking back, I don't recall seeing sea stars at the jetty in recent visits. but there were many in the more distant past.
Conditions
Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 0.9 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 8. Number of dogs: 3. Walking or running: 3. Fishing: 5. Parking lot was the one on Bayocean Spit. There was heavy equipment working on repairing the emergency road to the south jetty. It was a federal project related to the Air Force survival training held twice a year on the spit.
Concerns
Vehicles
Notable Wildlife
Just a few gulls and shorebirds
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Shells, Small rocks, Wood pieces. beach was very clean
Man-made Modifications
none
Natural Changes
no erosion
Report Images
All Mile 289 Reports
Mile 289
This mile is not surveyed 4 times a year since it became a designated bird nesting area.
ollikainen
Mile 289
September 15 ended the nesting bird restrictions on mile 289.
ollikainen
Mile 289
I saw so many different types of birds along the jetty, I'm no bird expert but I thought I saw pelicans, herons, cormorants, and sea gulls.
EJD
Mile 289
This survey was all about the jelly fish that covered the most recent wrack areas.
ollikainen