Report Details

A warm calm summer's day.  More people than usual on the beach (40+) and the parking lot at the end of Salishan Drive was full.  We counted 8 license plates from Oregon, 4 from Washington, 1 from California and 1 from Utah.  Although it was mostly sunny out, the hot weather in the Willamette Valley sucked in the marine layer along the immediate coastline so the fog came and went.  Only a few harbor seals in their usual place at the end of the spit.  The number of cars in the parking lot might indicate there had been more foot traffic in the area, so possibly some of the seals scampered off into the water when they saw humans approaching ... but I have no evidence of that.  The few people who were there when we were there were very respectful and kept their distance.  Very little trash to pick up.

Conditions

Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 1.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 41. Walking or running: 8. Sitting: 32. Photography: 1. Estimated 127 people and 9 dogs on the Taft side of the Siletz River, but we did not walk that side.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 14.

Notable Wildlife

Approx. 15 harbor seals on shore at the north end of the Salishan Spit; a few more in the water

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt).

Report Images

View of Siletz Bay at low tide
Small group of harbor seals at the end of the Salishan Spit
These two gulls looked like Heermann's Gulls
Dead juvenile raccoon at water's edge

Report Images

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All Mile 239 Reports

Showing 8 of 90 reports

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

July 7, 2024

Pleasant breezy day.

Linda Reid

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

May 26, 2024

A pleasant calm day on the holiday weekend.

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Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

March 16, 2024

A beautiful 70-degree day in mid-March .

Linda Reid

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

November 12, 2023

Not a bad fall day for a walk with our out-of-town visitors, but walking the beach was impossible due to the high tide and big waves, which were reaching the beach grass area and bouncing large pieces of driftwood around.

ORbeach

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

July 12, 2023

As nice a summer day as we get here on the coast.

ORbeach

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

April 30, 2023

After a winter and spring of horrible weather, we finally got out to survey our mile on a mild day.

ORbeach

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

November 20, 2022

Sunny, calm day.

ORbeach

Mile 239

Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay

August 6, 2022

Found a dead sea lion on the beach at beach access #50.

ORbeach