Mile 206 - Seal Rock Wayside south, Elephant Rock, Hill Creek - August 14, 2007

Report Details

Sand build up still high on the beach smothering many filamentous algae that usually occur in the high and mid intertidal. Abundant new graffiti on the sandstone cliffs and signs of sliding down the cliffs. Numerous gulls flocking & teaching their young to fly. Beautiful day -- sunny until 8:30 am when the fog came in.

Conditions

Temperature: 57 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: S. Tide Level: -0.4 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 48. Number of dogs: 6. Walking or running: 29. Photography: 1. Tidepooling: 15. Other Activities: 4 harvesting mussels.

Concerns

Climbing bluffs/seastacks

Apparent violations: abundant new graffiti on sandstone cliffs.

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 19. RVs/Buses parking: 2.

Notable Wildlife

Numerous flocking gulls with young learning to fly on Seal Rock and neighboring rocks. Also cormorants.Feather boa kelp healthy & 25 feet long.Ulva taeniata (long helical curly sea lettuce) abundant in pools. Postelsia healthy on exposed rocks. 8 seals hauled out on the rocks sun bathing

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass. old fragmented algal fragments

Natural Changes

Landslides/major boulder falls. minor slides from foot traffic, tree roots more exposed

Actions & Comments

Sand still very high on the beach covering up lots of upper intertidal beach debris & smothering the high filamentous green algae and many of the mid intertidal rocks. Many young gulls learning to fly around the main Seal Rock.