Mile 48 Report

January 14, 2021
by JaneSkipLegacy

Location:
Curry
Beach southeast of Battle Rock, north of Hubbard Creek
Conditions:
Thursday 7:30 AM
Sunny
44° F
Wind:
Calm/Light
Tide Level:
4.1 ft
Humans / Pets:
People:
4
Dogs:
2
Activities:
Walking / Running:
4
Rockhunting:
2
Concerns:
Disturbances:
Vehicles:
Activity Comments:
Notable Wildlife:
Dead Birds:
Total:
0
Stranded:
Total:
0
Fish & Invertebrates:
Lots of pyrosomes. Had never seen them before.
Driftline:
Small rocks·Kelp or Algae·Wood pieces·Land-based debris (picnics, etc.)·Plastic pellets·Styrofoam·Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.)
Lots of trash today--and I forgot to bring a trash bag...again! I filled my whole backpack and only picked up the biggest, worst pieces. Plastic water bottles, fishing floats, rope, and small pieces of plastic everywhere.
New Development:
Modifications:
Natural Changes:
Landslides/major boulder falls·Newly exposed roots/trees falling
Big slide that went way back from the shoreline. pics to be included
Comments:
Summary:

This visit was just a day after a series of king tides and heavy rain. More logs on the beach than usual and one massive new landslide. I asked a two of the few people I met on the beach about the "sea pickles" in the drift line and nobody knew what they were. As I was getting ready to write this report I saw an episode of Oregon Field Guide that mentioned them: Pyrosomes. I guess they are a new thing on the Oregon Coast

  • Sunrise over Port Orford Beach
    Sunrise over Port Orford Beach and one of the many new logs on the beach after the king tides
    January 14, 2021
  • Pyrosome
    One of the many Pyrosomes in the drift line.
    January 14, 2021
  • New Landslide
    New Landslide. This was big and went way back into the woods. Maybe 30 or 40' wide and it looked like a 15' high sheer wall about 30' back toward the highway.
    By the big haystack shaped rock about the middle of this mile.
    January 14, 2021
  • New Landslide
    New Landslide
    January 14, 2021
  • New Landslide
    New Landslide
    January 14, 2021
  • New Landslide
    New Landslide
    January 14, 2021
Other Mile 48 Reports (15)

2022

May 5, 2022 - JaneSkipLegacy
The beach looked clean, people and dogs were well behaved. The landslide from January 2021 is stabilizing.
read more
  • Plant life is returning to the area that slid last winter.
  • Long view of the slide area
  • Comparison pic
March 29, 2022 - jessejones
A group of nine people today were part of a training for a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) marine debris survey training. CoastWatch coordinated and led the training, which was...
read more

2021

December 31, 2021 - JaneSkipLegacy
The beach looked good today. Not much litter or storm debris. The previous high tide packed down the sand all the way to the boulders so it was easy walking. A few unique objects: an office chair at...
read more
  • micro pieces of plastic in the wrack line
  • Why bag the dog poop if you're not going to pick up the bag?
  • WTF??
  • The wrack line was at the edge of the beach
  • Down tree that fell last summer or fall
  • Still no vegetation growing on last winter's landslide
  • Some little kid must be sad to lose this guy
  • Pallet in Hubbard Creek
November 6, 2021 - Skip-Jane-Legacy
Couldn't get to the south end of the mile due to the King Tide waves running up too high. Risked getting cut off from being able to get back to the parking lot. Took pix down the beach from the...
read more
  • Muddy water from fresh fallen tree
  • Winter sand build-up washed away from rocks
  • View south from the center of the mile
  • Waves stacking up between the rocks at mid-mile
  • Don't remember seeing these two downed trees before
  • Dead bird - species unknown to me
  • View north from Hubbard Creek
July 31, 2021 - JaneSkipLegacy
Hubbard Creek has "drifted" pretty far north/northwest, but it appears to be natural.There were several groups of people on the beach and coming down while we did the report. I only counted the cars...
read more
  • Landslide near Battle Rock Beach
  • Landslide at mid-point Battle Rock Beach
  • Landslide at mid-point Battle Rock Beach
  • Depth of Landslide at mid-point Battle Rock Beach
  • Carcass of some kind of marine mammal
  • Carcass of large dead marine mammal
  • Carcass of large dead marine mammal
  • more of the landslide
  • more of the landslide
  • Hubbard Creek
  • Fire ring at driftwood structure
  • Foundation of driftwood structure
  • remains of surfer's camp structure
  • signs of campfire that wasn't in a ring, or put out
  • Dead tree still hanging in there
April 18, 2021 - Skip-Jane-Legacy
Saw a cement culvert in the water near one of the sea stacks. Found a piece of coral that still had pink on it - not sure if that means it's fresh or not. Did not see any others. Sand was still high...
read more
  • Ochre Sea Stars on Battle Rock
  • Foggy day among the sea stacks on Battle Rock Beach
  • Foggy day at low tide - Battle Rock Beach
  • Anemones look fat and happy.
  • Landslide - for comparison to photo from last (winter) report
  • Fish head found on beach
  • Elaborate driftwood structure near Hubbard Creek.

2020

October 16, 2020 - JaneSkipLegacy
The beach was quiet on this beautiful autumn day. We saw two people riding horses on the beach, which we had not seen here before and someone flying a kite. The ride was dropping toward a minus tide...
read more
August 22, 2020 - alaingamerica
Very pleasant day. Many people enjoying the beach. Dead birds distributed throughout mile, at least 3 different species. Removed a grocery bag full of litter including firework leftovers and dog poop...
read more
  • Spineless sea urchin
  • Sea stars
  • Litter conundrum
  • tiny sea star
  • Camping?

2019

October 23, 2019 - alaingamerica
Took a short walk on the beach and found 10 "intact" beached birds, most likely Common Murres. (no gloves!)
read more

2015

July 4, 2015 - alaingamerica
Just taking a walk on the beach, and noticed a large amount of immature sand crabs in the wrack line.
read more
  • A remarkable wash up of little sand crabs, I believe they are immature.
  • A closer look at what I believe is called Emerita

2014

November 5, 2014 - [email protected]
First time ever walking this beach after many many times observing it from the public rest area on the bluff above. Surprised at the amount of people using the beach at this time of yearVery surprise...
read more

2012

April 4, 2012 - Muriah
Finder of the huge float said that it looked like the one in the photo in the newspaper that was said to be possibly from the Japanese Tsunami. I sent this photo to meteorologist who sent it to NOAA...
read more
  • Eanshin name embossed into huge float

2008

May 7, 2008 - cprince
eveything was relatively peaceful and clean! this will be my last report for this mile, as i am moving to portland.thanks everyone for caring for our beautiful coastline!
read more
February 16, 2008 - cprince
another beautiful day, more than average human/dog/vehicle traffic on the beach. the small black and white birds i saw last week were gone, found a few dead seagulls and one black and white gull,...
read more
  • this is one of many dead gulls i saw down near hubbard creek. that is their main hang out, right along the creek. i assume they perished in the bad weather. no oil or any obvious cause of death.
  • rock piles on beach 1/2 way down mile 48. very un-typical of this beach, at least in the 5 yrs. i have walked it.
February 11, 2008 - cprince
the most notable difference from the last time i visited, about a month ago, was that there were large piles of rocks 1/2 way down the mile. it was difficult walking over them, and they lay from the...
read more