Mile 247 Report
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
January 19, 2024
This CoastWatch survey was conducted by Sitka Team member Nancy and 4 members of the Sitka Center 2024 resident cohort: Thomas, Erin, Christian and Fran.
Report Details
This CoastWatch survey was conducted by Sitka Team member Nancy and 4 members of the Sitka Center 2024 resident cohort: Thomas, Erin, Christian and Fran. Mile 247 was accessed via kayak. The group spent 2.5 hours walking the length of the mile, conducting a CoastWatch survey, removing debris from the beach and seeing how much of the rocky habitat at the south end of the mile was accessible. As mentioned elsewhere in this report, 10 dead Cassin's auklets were observed, also a dead wild rabbit. The debris present on the beach at the time of this survey was mostly ocean-based debris from ships or fishing boats. We observed tire tracks and evidence of one beach bonfire.
Conditions
Temperature: 42 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Tide Level: 1.14 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 9. Walking or running: 9. Sitting: 9. Tidepooling: 5. Kayaking: 5. We observed tire tracks in the sand at the south end of Mile 247, on the ocean side of the sand spit. We also observed a large piece of harvested treated lumber in the high tide line. It was about the size and length of a railroad tie with pieces of metal flashing nailed to it.
Concerns
Litter
Notable Wildlife
We observed an eagle, several great blue herons, sea gulls, a cormorant, giant green anemones, a chiten, two Ochre Sea Stars, acorn barnacles and mussels.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 18. We observed 10 dead Cassin's Auklets in the high tide line all along the mile with a higher concentration of them at the south end of Mile 247, on the ocean side. No leg bands were present on any of the birds.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). The wrack line was where the majority of the dead Cassin's auklets were observed. During this survey there was a high concentration of ocean-based debris from ships (nets, buoys, crab line, etc).
Natural Changes
Erosion of vegetated foredune. We observed a lot of sand displacement of the foredune. During this survey, the gradual slope of the foredune to to beach was more of a 90* angle and many dune grass roots were exposed.
Report Images
Nancy Newman
CoastWatcher
All Mile 247 Reports
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
A survey team of Sitka Center staff and residency program participants (Jake, Nancy, Sharita and GraySea) accessed Mile 247 - Salmon River Spit by crossing the Salmon River Estuary via kayak and paddleboard.
Sitka Center
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
A survey team of Sitka Center staff and local volunteers (GraySea, Jake, Nancy, Laurie and Bill) accessed the sand spit via kayak and canoe. The survey team accessed the south side of the 'keyhole' area in the rocky intertidal habitat (southernmost portion of Mile 247) and conducted a 15 minute timed count of ochre sea stars to submit to the MARINe program.
Sitka Team and Community Members
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
A survey team of Sitka Center staff and local volunteers (Chris, Nancy, Lilly and Melissa) accessed the sand spit via kayak and canoe.
Sitka Center Team and Community Members
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
Trash and dead seal
Joan Mahler
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
A survey team of two Sitka Center team members, Jake and Nancy, accessed Mile 247 - Salmon River Spit by crossing the Salmon River Estuary via kayak and paddleboard. During this survey, the survey team was able to access the inner area of the rocky habitat and do a 15 minute timed sea star count in the two sea star monitoring sites. As the survey team walked back north noteable debris included a large tangle of ships rope, noteable wrack line content included a high concentration of giant mole crab casings/moults and small pieces of hard plastics.
Nancy Newman
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
Survey participants accessed Mile 247 - Salmon River spit via kayaking/paddle boarding across the Salmon River Estuary.
Mile 247 - Salmon River Spit
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
Sitka Center team member Nancy and Sitka Center artists in residence Evan, Rose, Katrina, Tim, Maria and M accessed the site via kayak.
Nancy Newman
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
Sitka Team members and Sitka Center artists in residence accessed Mile 247 via kayak, walked south taking observations of the beach mile and met Camp Westwind Team members near Mile 247's rocky habitat.
Nancy Newman