Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
December 29, 2020
The most striking thing about today's walk on mile 202, the north spit of Alsea River, was the contrast between 202 and its northward extension, 203.
Report Details
The most striking thing about today's walk on mile 202, the north spit of Alsea River, was the contrast between 202 and its northward extension, 203. After recent storms and King Tides, the driftline on 202 was marked by large driftwood logs and masses of small branches and twigs, with some shells but little else, hardly any debris. In contrast, yesterday on 203 there was very little driftwood but instead huge tangles of bull kelp, small stones everywhere, shells, moon jellies and pacific sea nettles, a lot of micro-plastic chips and some other debris--plastic bottle caps, lengths of cording and line, etc. I attribute the difference between miles to the Alsea River as it enters the ocean perhaps deflecting or reducing the onshore current so that mile 202 is as much influenced by the river as the sea.
Conditions
Temperature: 48 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Tide Level: 6.5 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 30. Number of dogs: 8. Walking or running: 20. Playing in sand: 8. Sitting: 2.
Notable Wildlife
30-40 Western Snowy Plovers seen today in their usual wintering area along with a few other small shorebirds
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 1. Scoter -- Melanitta sp.
Driftline Content
Shells, Wood pieces.
Natural Changes
Sand accumulation on the southern portion of Oceania Drive (the "Sand District"), which parallels Mile 202.
Driftwood at Alsea Bay
Driftline, Mile 202 looking south
Someone planted a driftwood tree
Beaver chewed driftwood
Beached Scoter -- Melanitta sp.
Western Snowy Plover
Sand District portion of Oceania Drive paralleling Mile 202
Oceania Drive riding mower
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
All Mile 202 Reports
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
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
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
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
After finding forty beached Cassin's Auklets on Jan.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
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
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
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
The beach was fairly cool today after 99 degrees two days ago.
Jon French