Mile 299 - South end Manzanita Beach - September 14, 2009 | Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition

Report Details

Now that it is mid-September there aren't many people around. This was a warm but foggy sunset walk. A hole in the clouds/fog overhead opened up and it was very pleasant and beautiful. A woman jogged by with her dog. Several couples were exercise walking. Others were strolling and photographing the sunset. Above the driftline there were tracks from horses and dogs that had been on the beach earlier. Also tracks of the low tricycles that one can rent on Laneda Avenue. And lots of footprints from earlier beachgoers. There was lots of green surf grass or eelgrass in the driftline but not much else of any size. The surf has been unusually rough the last few days, hence the seaweed being washed up. There were the usual bits of shells of limpets, mussels, oysters, Dungeness crabs and sand dollars. Also the usual array of small rocks and pretty stones. The big pieces of driftwood up higher on the beach have been mostly buried by the strong winds of summer. There were a couple of interesting freshly washed up pieces of wood. One a big square beam about 10 feet long. The most intriguing is a huge piece of a log (approx 15 feet long and 2.5 feet in diameter which looks as if it was half of a donkey sled used for logging. It is well worn and has iron pieces embedded in it. We only found a few pieces of trash. A Kleenex, a paper cup, an "Egg Beaters" box, a broken sand shovel. A good thing to report is that we didn't see very much horse manure. We didn't have a horse rental business at the park this summer, just the horses from the horse campground.

Conditions

Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Foggy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 7.5 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 17. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 17. Playing in sand: 2. Sitting: 9. Photography: 3. It was nearing sunset so the few people out were there to enjoy an end of day stroll. It had been a bit foggy all day but in this hour before sunset a hole in the clouds appeared right over Manzanita Beach. A woman was walking her dog. It took off ahead of her to chase a small flock *35* of shorebirs (Westerns). Everyone was walking.

Concerns

Apparent violations: none.

Notable Wildlife

Western Gulls 8 on beach, Brown Pelican 4 diving in ocean, Crows 2 on beach . Dbl Crested Cormorant flew over heading to bay. (too foggy to see out beyond the waves) flock of 35 Western Sandpipers feeding near incoming waves.

Beached Birds

none, there were a few feathers from dead birds mixed in with seaweed. About a month ago we counted 37 dead birds (mostly Common Murres) on mile 299 on one walk.........so one would expect some feathers.

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Small rocks. a few broken razor clam shells along with other bits of shells. There was a light deposit of green, slimy algae all over.

Man-made Modifications

Dune modification/removal.

Natural Changes

appears to be more sand on the beach than earlier in summer

Actions & Comments

Just an observation that the planting of beach grass and scraping the dunes level a few years ago seems to be working pretty well to keep the dunes from becoming extremely high in front of the houses lining the beach.

Report Images

hallee

CoastWatcher

All Mile 299 Reports

Date

Showing 8 of 49 reports

Mile 299

South end Manzanita Beach

November 22, 2023

A mild and pleasant day on Manzanita’s expansive beach. Photo 1: Runners are backlit by hazy sunshine that accents the shimmering highlights of the wet sand and low waves. Photo 2: This lion’s mane jelly measured 7” across and washed up on the beach without its tentacles but otherwise intact. Photo 3: A tiny uncarved pumpkin at water’s edge brings recent Halloween decorations to mind.

Christine Pendergrass