Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
July 11, 2015
A cloudy, overcast day on the Bayshore.
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A cloudy, overcast day on the Bayshore. The debris we found on the beach consisted mainly of the usual microplastics, Styrofoam, and fishing material along with picnic trash left from visitors. Although we did find a lot of remnants from fireworks, it was not as bad as we feared coming off Independence Day the weekend before. Our biggest piece of debris was a long, approximately 5',4" diameter PVC pipe that had washed up onshore. We were unable to determine its origins, but pulled it off of the beach and disposed of it.We encountered a greater-than-usual number of visitors on our mile this day, probably due to the combination of summer travel and the warm weather in the valley bringing people to the coast.
Conditions
Temperature: 63 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: S. Tide Level: 6.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 44. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 30. Playing in surf: 6. Sitting: 8. Very busy day on the Bayshore, much more populated than usual possibly due to summer visitors combined with relatively good weather.
Concerns
Litter
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 4.
Notable Wildlife
Gulls, sandpipers
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 4. We identified/marked the following dead sea birds:2 Common Murres, 1 Brandt's Cormorant, and what we believe to be 1 Sooty Shearwater.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Shells, Small rocks, Styrofoam, Wood pieces. Fireworks remnants
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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
