Mile 161 - Oregon Dunes NRA just north of Siltcoos River - 01/23/2024

Report Details

We are a group of 6th grade students in the Siuslaw Middle School Stream Team class. We have just adopted mile 161 and are creating our first report. Today we have a group of 4 students and 2 adults, including the CoastWatch Programs Manager. The tide was an 8’ high tide at 10:00am. It was a calm wind & partly cloudy 53*F. We walked South to the Siltcoos outlet mouth. There we saw 16 harbor seals & a large flock of sanderlings. As we walked the wrack line to the North we began to find Cassin’s Auklets washed up. We found a total of 31, all near the South end of mile 161 in the upper wrackline. As we continued North we found many living & non-living things including small plastics. Toward the North side of mile 161 we found many velella velella. We cleaned up 12 bottles & 10 ropes as well as other garbage. There is a large amount of marine debris along the bank of the river, mixed in with the driftwood.

Conditions

Temperature: 53 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 8.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 5. Number of dogs: 2. Sitting: 6.

Concerns

Litter

Notable Wildlife

At the mouth of Siltcoos Outlet River, there were 16 beached harbor seals and at least 3 more harbor seals in the water. There were also approximately 150 sanderlings in a large flock along the water and a small group flying.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 31. 31 Cassin's Auklets, none banded, all within 1/4 mile of the Siltcoos Outlet, in the upper wrackline.

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). The following things were found in the wrack line, that are biological organisms (living or once living): Cassin Auklet (dead) shells driftwood sanderlings crow bones little fish yellow jackets English ivy spruce cone gull feathers hazel nuts jellyfish bull kelp seaweed velella The following things were found that are non-living, never living and these are almost all human created: clear plastic seafoam blue plastic white plastic red plastic black plastic pink plastic bottles shotgun shells

Natural Changes

Erosion of vegetated foredune, Visible retreat of solid bluff. A natural change that we observed was a large cut bank due to high waves. At the beach entrance, the cut bank ranged from 10-15 feet. Closer to the outlet the cut bank decreased until it was non-existent.

Actions & Comments

COASST will be notified about the Cassin's auklets, as they have been found in large numbers since December 21, 2023 on Oregon and Washington beaches.