Report Details

Patterson creek had a heavy flow of water coming down to the ocean this afternoon. After last week's heavy rains, it was not surprising to see that the water had created a 2 foot ridge along certain parts of the creek. Saw a beautiful heron near the creek close to the ocean. I decided to walk the mile after the King Tide that occurred today at 11:45am to see how far the tide came up. The high tide line was not as high as I expected probably because the ocean was very calm. The beach area between the high tide line and the sand dunes was filled with logs, sticks, kelp pieces, crab pieces and trash. I saw 6 dead birds among the debris. I also so a skate egg case near the ocean. As I got closer to the Big Stump, I saw a large orange item near the ocean. I was very puzzled as to what it could be and once I got closer, discovered it was a 3 foot diameter carved jack-o-lantern! After reaching Big Stump and turning around to walk north near the bank underneath the houses, I smelled something foul. It turned out to be a very old carcass of a sea lion or something similar. As I walked north, I could see evidence of the tides bringing large logs near the bottom of the bank and sand dunes. One section of sandstone cliffs had a lot of water dribbling down the cliff washing away the graffiti and unfortunately the sandstone too. Last time, I saw two plastic stools that someone had added to the dune to access the beach but these were gone today. I inspected the area where there was a brush fire in July. Grass is growing nicely and there were no signs of waves topping over the area. It took me awhile to find the protruding log that I have been capturing every walk. It is still there but covered with sand. The trash I saw today consisted of various plastics, rope pieces, tennis shoe, red blanket, large carved pumpkin, plastic bottle, and of course Styrofoam.

Conditions

Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 6.2 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 6. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 6. Other Activities: collecting sticks.

Notable Wildlife

Heron (1), Gulls (20), Crows (10)

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 6.

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, 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.).

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All Mile 200 Reports

Showing 8 of 50 reports

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

November 7, 2024

What a beautiful sunny November morning to do the mile walk.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

August 22, 2024

It was a minus tide this cloudy morning and I could see a large group of pelicans off in the distance at Alsea Bay.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

May 30, 2024

I was anxious to visit Mile 200 this week to see if there were tar deposits or any struggling birds due to the reported tar substance washing up on Oregon beaches.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

March 5, 2024

Theme for today - Trash, Trash and more Trash.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

December 13, 2023

Patterson creek had a heavy flow of water coming down to the ocean this afternoon.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

September 19, 2023

Patterson creek was gently flowing and easy to cross near the ocean.

KFunk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

July 8, 2023

A beach brush fire occurred on July 2 around 3 p.

KFunk

Mile 200

Big Stump Beach, south Patterson SP

June 22, 2023

Beautiful sunny Thursday morning - perfect for walking Mile 200.

KFunk