Mile 205 - Driftwood Beach north, Collins Creek, Squaw Creek - June 24, 2008

Report Details

We have visited the mile four times in order to become familiar with it and begin to recognize changes. The beach has been quite stable with little change along the cliff. There is the normal onshore transport of sand associated with the coming of summer.There were a fair number of seastars and other invertebrates living on the rocky portions of the beach despite the limited availability of solid substrate.This mile apparently does not seem attract large numbers of users, at least as compared to some areas along the coast. All of the dogs observed were either leased or under voice control. None showed any kind of aggressive behavior.The amount of plastic debris seems to have diminished over the past three months. While I would like to think that the enlightenment upon us, I suspect that much of what we saw earlier is now buried in the sand and will be re-exposed with the coming of winter waves.

Conditions

Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: 3.5 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 11. Number of dogs: 6. Walking or running: 10. Playing in sand: 1. Sitting: 1. Photography: 1. We only observed the parking area at the north end of the mile. There were probably cars just south of mile 205 in the state park lot.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 4.

Notable Wildlife

Two eagles feeding on fish carcass. One immature, one mature.

Driftline Content

Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), 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, Styrofoam, Wood pieces.