Mile 220 - Yaquina Head north, Schooner Creek south - June 21, 2020

Report Details

Hard to see the second needle and syringe (in the past 2 weeks!!) on our beach, lots of dogs and kids who easily could have stepped on it. The sea grass amount was notable. Eagles and turkey viltures abound...esp near the carcass of the Juv sea lion. Still quite a bit of small plastics in the wrackline for this time of year. The paved road has brought a lot more traffic to this beach.

Conditions

Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Tide Level: 6.8 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 13. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 2. Playing in surf: 2. Playing in sand: 6. Sitting: 3. Way more people and cars now that the road has been paved, lots of out-of owners (AZ plates, etc)

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 6.

Notable Wildlife

Eagles (mature and Juv)

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 2.

Stranded Marine Mammals

Total stranded mammals: 1. small sea lion, decomposed and scavenged

Driftline Content

Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). A LOT of sea grass has washed up on the southern 1/3rd of the beach, more than I have ever seen previously.

Natural Changes

Landslides/major boulder falls, Major cracks appearing in bluffs, Newly exposed roots/trees falling, Erosion of vegetated foredune, Visible retreat of solid bluff.