Mile 188 - Neptune SP, Strawberry Hill Picnic Area - 02/26/2025

Report Details

It was another beautiful day at Strawberry Hill, though the surf was rather rough. 30-40 of the resident seals were lounging on the rocks just offshore from the parking area, and many gulls and cormorants were flying around. Many healthy seastars were visible 1-2 hours before low tide, looking very healthy. Unfortunately, a larger crab pot had been washed up onto the bluff above the south beach, and visitors had etched graffiti into the sandstone bluffs just north of the path down from the parking area.

Conditions

Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 2.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 8. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 8. Sitting: 1. Tidepooling: 4. Other Activities: Most visitors were looking for agates, after the recent rains.. All visitors were acting respectfully and within the posted guidelines.

Concerns

Climbing bluffs/seastacks

Apparent violations: There is considerable graffiti etched into the sandstone bluff just north of the path leading down from the parking lot. See attached photo..

Notable Wildlife

As always at Strawberry Hill around low tide, there were 30-40 seals lounging on the rocks just offshore from the parking area. There were many gulls and 6-8 cormorants on the north and south beaches. 80-100 orange Ochre Seastars, and a few purple ones, were visible 1-2 hours before low tide, mainly in the northern part of the north beach. They all looked very healthy. Previous visits have shown that many more are visible right at low tide. The tidepools on the lower part of the south beach were quite murky, due to the recent high surf, but many green anemones were visible. There are large quantities of mussels on the rocks in the lower part of the south beach. The many mussel shells on the beach nearby suggest that the local seals and seabirds like to snack on them. There are also large quantities of barnacles, of several varieties, on the north and south beaches.

Driftline Content

The north and south beaches at Strawberry Hill were quite clean, as usual, with only a few small pieces of plastic here and there on the beach. The one exception was a large crab pot that had been pushed up onto the bluff on the south beach by big waves, roughly 50 yards south of the parking area. See attached photo. The pot would be very difficult to remove, given its size and the rough terrain between the beach and the parking area.

Natural Changes

The erosion of the bluffs overlooking the north and south beaches, noted in previous reports, is continuing. There are several large, recent landslides from the bluffs and numerous trees falling from the tops of the bluffs. And a considerable amount of sand has been washed off the north and south beaches, making the rocky areas in the upper part of the north beach almost impassable.