Mile 23 - Pistol River SP north, south of Myers Creek - April 21, 2015

Report Details

I inspected my Mile 23 at low tide on Tuesday the 21st. I have never been there when the tide was so low , about negative 1.3. The first thing I learned is that the marine gardens there are far more extensive than I ever knew before. Most are rock faces and are surrounded by deep water so are not accessible for close inspection without boots. I did not have boots. There are more than a hundred sea stars evident, and the handful that I could get close to all seem healthy. The diseased ones I could see last year are gone. In the same nearby and approachable area are only healthy sea stars both ochre and red. I was excited at what I saw. This was not a scientifically conducted inspection.

Conditions

Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: -1.3 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 1. Number of dogs: 1. Other Activities: Mussel gathering. One older gent gathered a few mussels for home use. He had attempted to find razor clams on mile 24 but saw no "shows".

Concerns

Apparent violations: none.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 3.

Notable Wildlife

Red and Ochre seastars are abundant and the few approachable ones are healthy-looking.

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

Unusual concentration. About a dozen clumps of mussels scattered on beach in vicinity of north end monoliths. I have seen this kind of thing before, but it is not very common

Driftline Content

virtually no wrack line