Mile 188 - Neptune SP, Strawberry Hill Picnic Area - 03/15/2024

Report Details

It was a beautiful day at Strawberry Hill, with many visitors -- and the resident harbor seals -- enjoying the balmy weather. The paths from the parking area to the north and south beaches continue to erode, creating increasingly dangerous conditions. Erosion below the south side of the parking area continues to occur as well and will eventually undermine the parking lot. There has also been considerable erosion elsewhere of the bluffs overlooking the north and south beaches and of the north beach itself, where a great deal of sand has washed away over the past 1-2 years.

Conditions

Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light.

Human Activities

Number of people: 16. Number of dogs: 3. Walking or running: 8. Tidepooling: 2. Other Activities: 8-10 visitors were searching for agates, mainly on the south beach. Rockhounding is a common activity here, especially after heavy rains. Two of the dogs were off-leash..

Concerns

Litter

Apparent violations: Strawberry Hill generally is a very clean site. But there were a few pieces of plastic on the beach..

Notable Wildlife

As usual at Strawberry Hill, there were 25-30 harbor seals lounging on the rocks just west of the parking area. There were only a few birds there: several gulls, a cormorant, and a few unidentifiable songbirds who may have been migrants. There are many purple and orange sea stars visible at low tide on the rocky areas of the north beach. They look very healthy, though I was not able to get close enough to really judge. There are also many green anemones in these areas and in the tidepools on the south beach.

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). There are many, many mussel shells on the north and south beaches, with many live mussels visible in the rocky shoreline areas.

New Development

Steps down bluff. The paths down from the parking lot to the north and south beaches are badly eroded. The steps leading immediately down from the parking lot are now very worn and becoming dangerous. The two paths from below the parking lot to the south beach continue to erode and now are quite dangerous. It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured here -- if it has not happened already. Access to the north beach is also rather dangerous and potentially exposes visitors to rough surf and sneaker waves. There has been substantial erosion of sand all along the north beach, leaving much more exposed rock that visitors must navigate. This has become dangerous in places. The bluffs overlooking the north and south beaches continue to erode as well. Finally, the bluff on the south side of the parking area, overlooking the south beach, continues to erode. At some point this will begin to undermine the parking area itself.

Man-made Modifications

In the tidepool area on the south beach, someone bolted 10-12 screws into a rock -- apparently as part of some kind of data-collection effort -- but has not removed them. See attached photo.

Natural Changes

Newly exposed roots/trees falling, Visible retreat of solid bluff. There are numerous waterfalls and springs in the bluffs overlooking the north and south beaches that bring water onto the beaches, contributing to the erosion of beach sand. This is especially problematic on the north beach.