Mile 171 Report
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
February 5, 2009
A tip of the hat to CoastWatchers Lloyd Maxfield and Jean Caroline for their work in publicizing pollution on the beach near the Driftwood Shores complex.
Report Details
A tip of the hat to CoastWatchers Lloyd Maxfield and Jean Caroline for their work in publicizing pollution on the beach near the Driftwood Shores complex. They took a sample of the drainage in for testing, and the result posted a very high fecal coliform bacteria count, well in excess of public beach health standards.There have been two recent articles about the beach contamination in the Florence-based bi-weekly newspaper, the "Siuslaw News", and an in-depth article in the Eugene "Register-Guard" newspaper.The Florence city council this week identified monitoring the possibility of septic contamination of the Heceta Beach area aquifer as a major priority for 2009. The city will be installing several dozen monitoring wells this year. According to a home contractor friend of ours, the local building professionals are aware the area between Heceta Beach and Hwy 101 has probably reached its capacity to absorb septic tank system discharge without contaminating the underlying aquifer.Again, thanks to CoastWatch for bringing this to the public's attention. Well done, guys!
Conditions
Temperature: 54 F. Cloud Cover: Rain. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: S.
Human Activities
Number of people: 4. Walking or running: 2. Photography: 1.
Vehicles
Notable Wildlife
Nothing notable today. Just the usual gaggle of gulls patrolling the surf line.
Driftline Content
Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Wood pieces.
Actions & Comments
Very quiet drippy afternoon on Heceta Beach today. There is the usual amount of river-sourced woody debris on the beach that is common after winter rains, other than that, a very tidy beach. Just a few Sea Nettle and Moon jellies washed up at the high tide mark.
All Mile 171 Reports
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
Nice morning to exercise the dog on Heceta Beach.
oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
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oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
Huge stranding of brownish-red "Pacific Sea Nettle" (Chrysaora fuscescens) and Moon (Aurelia labiata) jellies all along Mile 171 and Mile 172 today.
oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
Nice sunny afternoon for a stroll on Heceta Beach.
oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
Whimbrels and sanderlings were feeding in the surf wash zone.
oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
A nice morning walk today in the sunshine to practice my social distancing skills.
oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
Another nice Saturday afternoon for a stroll on Heceta Beach!
oldMGguy
Mile 171
Heceta Beach South, almost to North Jetty
A nice quiet wind-free afternoon to stroll Heceta Beach after the summer crowds have dispersed.
oldMGguy