Mile 173 Report
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
February 26, 2008
It was a perfect, sunny morning.
Report Details
It was a perfect, sunny morning. The tide was low providing a wide beach. The waves were quiet and low. There was a slight breeze of approximately 1-2 miles per hour coming from the east. The beaches were clean. Some areas had quite a bit of scattered shell pieces. The mouth of Sutton Creek had shifted approximately 900 feet to the south since my last report, 3 months ago. I sighted my first whale spouting off of Baker Beach for this new year. Any driftwood was up near the dunes. The beach slope to the sea was virtually non-existant...it was pretty flat.
Conditions
Temperature: 49 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: E. Tide Level: 2.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 7. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 3. Sitting: 2. Photography: 2.
Notable Wildlife
Whale spouting, Gulls, Canada Geese flying over surf, Sanderlings
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
One dead fish had washed up on shore. I don't know the species, but it was approximately 15" long
Driftline Content
Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Small rocks.
Man-made Modifications
Dune modification/removal, Stream modification.
Actions & Comments
The US Forest Service had bulldozed approximately 14 acres of dunes on Baker Beach in order to improve Snowy Plover nesting habitat. They were working on it during the month of December, 2007.The mouth of Sutton Creek had shifted approximately 900 feet south onto Heceta Beach. During high tide, the whole area around the mouth of the creek becomes more like a bay, and it is not possible to safely cross over to Baker Beach. However, during low tide, you can cross over the river closer to the sea. There the river is no deeper than 14 inches.
LCosko
CoastWatcher
All Mile 173 Reports
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
Hundreds of resting gulls, 8 humans 12 dogs-No humans encountered beyond the north of the creek mouth.
Ariana172
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
It has been a couple of months since I have had time to visit my mile.
cheshire
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
This is the first chance that I have had to walk this mile in several weeks.
cheshire
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
Walked miles 172-174 from south to north, then cut across the dunes inland and followed Sutton Creek back out to the ocean.
cheshire
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
The beach itself is cleaner than it has been, but there is quite a bit of debris that has blown into the dunes and into the area between the dunes and the brush on the north and west sides of Sutton Creek.
cheshire
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
Went back to Baker Beach, walking miles 172-176.
cheshire
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
I was able to cross the creek and check out the part of miles 173-174 North of Sutton Creek for the first time this year.
cheshire
Mile 173
South end of Baker Beach, Sutton Creek, Heceta Beach
Sutton Creek continues to migrate north, and the mouth of the creek has widened considerably.
cheshire
