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I planned my walk hoping to reach the northern tip of Alsea Spit around 8:45 a.m. for the predicted low tide of -1.05. I thought it would be an easy walk over flat sand but hadn't counted on the stretches of exposed rough seafloor covered by standing water dotted with sand islands. The spit finally disappeared under water ahead and on either side and the tide beginning to come in. It was fun back home to export my smartphone GPS map of where I had walked onto Google Earth's most recent image of the spit and see how much of my walk had been over what was usually water.  See photos and Google Earth/GPS screen grab.

Conditions

Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Tide Level: -1.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 40. Number of dogs: 15. Walking or running: 30. Playing in sand: 10.

Notable Wildlife

Hundreds of Gulls mostly sitting along the edge of Alsea Bay and spit. A dozen Brown Pelicans diving for fish at the tip of the spit. Two Turkey Vultures scavenging on two Gull carcasses, other vultures just sitting on the sand. Snowy Plover tracks but none seen.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 2. Gull sp.

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt). Masses of marine worm casings, see photo. The Oregon Aquarium says: "These casings, produced by the Cellophane Worm (Spichaetopterus costarum), often wash ashore in masses during the spring and summer months along the Oregon Coast. Living just below the low tide line of sandy beaches, Cellophane Worms build and inhabit these seemingly plastic 'tubes', which become encrusted with sand. Currents and upwellings bring these tubes to the surface, eventually distributing them onto shore." Apparently, the worms themselves remain unharmed in the sand and begin building new homes.

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All Mile 202 Reports

Showing 8 of 62 reports

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

July 16, 2024

Today was the first windless day in awhile, shirtsleeve weather with a calm sea and a distinct marine layer offshore.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

May 6, 2024

Bayshore's HOA recently spent $2,500 for permits and bulldozing a path down to the beach behind the Bayshore clubhouse, a designated public access, smoothing out the drop-off resulting from winter erosion and restoring access for beach goers and our State Parks ranger's ATV.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

March 7, 2024

Mile 202 beach accesses and exits are now restricted because of erosion and sheering off of the sand cliffs along its northern portion, so I now need to plan for a receding tide if I want to walk the entire mile safely.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

January 28, 2024

After finding forty beached Cassin's Auklets on Jan.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

October 30, 2023

A beautifully calm, sunny day, maybe the last for awhile, with a fifteen mile view from Seal Rock to Cape Perpetua and hardly anyone on the beach except for two surf fishers and a couple valiantly trying to launch a kite with no wind.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

August 30, 2023

As I began yesterday's mile walk and monthly COASST beached bird survey, a light rain began to fall, the first in months.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

July 23, 2023

As I have done before, I combined today's walk with my monthly COASST survey for dead seabirds.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

May 16, 2023

The beach was fairly cool today after 99 degrees two days ago.

Jon French