Mile 157 - Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake - January 11, 2009

Report Details

We went on the day with the highest tide of the year (10.4). Got to the beach early, fortunately; high tide was at 11:45, and we were already running out of beach by 9:45. Weather was very mild, so expect much less impact from this high tide than if it had hit coincident with a big storm. Accompanied by Melissa Hart. Saw no other people. Thank you, Melissa, for IDing the northern harrier.Very large volume of driftwood on beach, from twigs to whole trees and stumps in the surf line. Fair amount of ocean drift, including a startling number of intact lightbulbs, some small but most very large. Among them: one long, thin fluorescent tube; a large (5" D) halogen bulb; four large (5" D) dark red lightbulbs in scattered locations; and one large (6" D) clear bulb, nearly round (it really looked like a fishing float at first). It's not unusual to find one lightbulb, but this must have been a shipment lost at sea. Some were colonized by pink coraline algae, so had been floating for a while.

Conditions

Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 6.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 2. Walking or running: 2. Only other person we saw was ranger collecting fees at trailhead, though we did see human and dog footprints; someone beat us to the beach that morning.

Notable Wildlife

One surf scoter in surf and a few sanderlings. A northern harrier in the dunes.

Beached Birds

(Saw feathers in the driftline, but any dead bird(s) were probably buried under sand; lots of drift was buried.)

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Shells, Wood pieces. LOTS of wood, plastic bottles (many apparently Japanese), parts of jellyfish, and LIGHTBULBS (see narrative in this report).

Natural Changes

Erosion of vegetated foredune. Some recent erosion, but sand volume still very high; no fishing boat visible.

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