Mile 203 Report
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
September 30, 2023
The storms and rain caused some beach washout from the ocean and from the land.
Report Details
The storms and rain caused some beach washout from the ocean and from the land. A dead sea lion was found on the mile at coordinates 44.451261 -124.081996. Pictures are attached. This has been reported to Jim Rice at the Marine Stranding Network.
Conditions
Temperature: 59 F. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 2.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 30. Number of dogs: 9. Walking or running: 23. Playing in surf: 1. Playing in sand: 4. Sitting: 2. I did not see any vehicles on the beach
Concerns
Apparent violations: No concerns noted.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 3. The carcasses were seriously decayed.
Stranded Marine Mammals
Total stranded mammals: 1. A dead Sea Lion was found 145.43 meters north of the ocean end of Beach Access 66B at coordinates 44.451261 -124.081996. The carcass looks to have been dead for some time. This finding has been reported the the Marine Stranding Network - Jim Rice.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
None
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Styrofoam, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). We filled to 2.5 gallon buckets with debris. It was mostly ocean-based debris such as ropes, pieces of plastic equipment, strainers and fishing line. We found two aluminum cans that had not been in the water.
New Development
None found
Man-made Modifications
None found
Natural Changes
Erosion of vegetated foredune, Visible retreat of solid bluff. The storms of the past few days created wave action that moved large logs and washed out some smaller dunes on the beach. The beach changes are more then usual for September on this mile. There also seems to have been some washout on the beach from the extremely heavy rains we experienced last week.
Actions & Comments
We did find an abandonded bicycle on a dune and called the Beach Ranger for our area who will pick it up tomorrow.
Dead Sea Lion of Mile 203
Report Images
JLcoasties
CoastWatcher
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Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
Today I walked beach accesses 67A (Mile 203, Sandpiper Beach), 67C (Mile 203 Bayshore/Sandpiper), and 67 (Mile 202, Bayshore Beach).
Jon French
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
We found 7 lbs 12 oz of marine and ocean debris on the beaches in the wrackline area. The north and south ends of mile 203 show evidence of substantial wave erosion of the dunes.
Jeff Hildreth
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
The beach has had substantial washing away of old dunes and washing up of beach grass into the dunes. There were 45 bird carcasses of we believe are Cassin's auklets.
Jeff Hildreth
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
Today I and my two CoastWatch partners conducted a NOAA Marine Debris survey on our 100 meter survey site at Sandpiper Beach, Mile 203. On reaching our marine debris survey site, we saw a lot of Cassin's Auklet carcasses, which COASST calls CAAU, all high up on the beach among the beach vegetation and washed-in sea grass, many carcasses partially covered by sand or vegetation. After we completed our debris survey, I returned to our survey site and began collecting CAAU carcasses in groups of 9, as COASST recommends, ultimately collecting 40 carcasses in 4 full and 1 partial grouping. Below is a link to our Sandpiper Beach NOAA debris survey site where most CAAUs were found, reached by a boardwalk that enters the beach midway in the debris survey site. COASST defines a "wreck" as more than 20 beached individuals of one species per kilometer, and a "MME" (Massive Mortality Event) as a spike of up to hundreds of carcasses per kilometer. We also found a beached Northern Fulmar and what is I believe was either a female Gadwall or White-winged Scoter, which I took note of but didn't measure or report on to COASST. I submitted documentation with photos of the CAAU beaching event to COASST, and COASST responded that they had received reports of CAAU beachings from Southern Oregon sites like Coquille Point and Cape Blanco but also as far north as Manzanita. All this sounds very dry, but it was really sad to see and handle all these beautiful little dead birds and wonder if this is completely natural or if climate change, and perhaps a decline of prey species making these birds more vulnerable, factors into these mortality events. https://mdmap.
Jon French
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
The storms and rain caused some beach washout from the ocean and from the land.
JLcoasties
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
The dunes have reappeared due to the spring winds.
JLcoasties
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
Last year at this time, Jesse Jones helped us set up a 100 meter NOAA marine debris survey site on Mile 204, which we later moved to Sandpiper Beach on Mile 203.
Jon French
Mile 203
Driftwood Beach south, Hidden Lake
It was a beautiful day for a walk.
Nancy Thomas