Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
March 26, 2016
A quiet, cloudy day on the Bayshore.
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A quiet, cloudy day on the Bayshore. We saw two families, grouped in 6 and 4, respectively, out walking on the beach. We found significantly more marine debris than usual, especially fishing-related items. Odd findings included a crate, a garbage can lid, and a dummy foot for shoe making. All were covered in barnacles. We also found a Pacific loon very recently deceased entangled in a fishing net. We noted a high presence of Velella velellas in the wrack line, along with a lot of other driftwood and items washed up in the tide.
Conditions
Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Tide Level: 7.2 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 10. Walking or running: 10. Quiet afternoon on the Bayshore. Saw two families, of 6 and 4, respectively, walking on the beach.
Concerns
Litter
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 2. Enganglement: 1. We discovered two dead shorebirds as part of our COASST survey. We found a Pacific loon entangled in netting. We tagged it as bird #339 and removed the netting. We also tagged a Black scoter as #340.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
Unusual concentration. Velella Velella
Driftline Content
Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Styrofoam, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). Crate, garbage can lid, foot dummy for shoe making - all covered in barnacles
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