Mile 232 - Boiler Bay Wayside, Picnic Area, Government Point - May 31, 2014

Report Details

We were six students from Oregon State University who volunteered as part of the newly founded chapter of The Coastal Society to monitor miles 232 and 233. We spent the better part of two hours following Fawn Custer's lead around Boiler Bay. We saw several interesting wildlife specimens including large gumboot chitons. We saw no major debris at Mile 233 except for some large wooden posts that were of Japanese design. There were however several (up to 13) purple sea stars that were exhibiting symptoms of sea star wasting syndrome; an unfortunate find considering it hadn't been quite as prolific on the Oregon coast until recently. We monitored Mile 232 briefly from the parking lot overlooking Boiler Bay. There were several sea lions swimming in the water and little else to report. It was a wonderful experience for everyone, and an eye-opening one for a few. We will certainly be back this summer to see how things progress.

Conditions

Temperature: 54 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: SW. Tide Level: 1.8 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 6. Tidepooling: 8. Fawn Custer spoke with many avid tidepoolers about their findings. Some also engaged in spotting sea star wasting syndrome.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 3.

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

Unusual concentration. One dead lingcod. 13 sea stars exhibiting what appear to be symptoms of wasting.

Driftline Content

Wood pieces.