Mile 223 - Beverly Beach, Spencer Creek, Beverly Beach SP - May 18, 2019

Report Details

The weather was not conducive to a lot of beach activity on this day. Rain off and on and a little wind. I was disturbed by the amount of plastic debris I found. I cleaned up as much as I could and plan to return to gather as much micro plastic as I can. There was some evidence of inappropriate behavior by visitors but I did not observe the behavior. It's a beautiful stretch of beach which I look forward to helping preserve.

Conditions

Temperature: 58 F. Cloud Cover: Rain. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 4.7 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 15. Number of dogs: 6. Walking or running: 12. Playing in sand: 2. Other Activities: Rock hunter was actually looking for fossils. Most people were just walking or walking/playing with their dogs.

Concerns

Litter

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 5. RVs/Buses parking: 1.

Notable Wildlife

Black Oystercatchers (6), Whimbrel (15).

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), 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.). There was a large amount of micro plastic debris, I also found broken fishing gear tangled in kelp, and larger plastic debris. The only signs of litter from recent visitors were cigarette butts, two beach toys, and a couple of plastic bags (Ziploc style).Also Jellyfish remains.

Man-made Modifications

Sand removal. I observed damage to a sandy wall by people carving graffiti and a hole in the wall.

Natural Changes

Landslides/major boulder falls, Erosion of vegetated foredune. This is my first trip to mile 223. It appeared that there had been recent landslides due to erosion. One area where vegetation and sandy soil had fallen. One area where boulders containing fossils had fallen. I was suspicion of human involvement in the fossil area but could not find definitive proof.