Mile 247 Report
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
April 21, 2025
New/newish landslides, trash/debris and dead pelican
Report Details
New/newish landslides, trash/debris and dead pelican
Conditions
Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate.
Activities
Number of people: 2.
Other Activities: It’s a very secluded beach. There were no other humans on the beach or other evidence of them..
Concerns
Litter
Apparent violations: The beach was actually relatively clean, but we each managed to find several bottles, aluminum cans, old rope, a dryer sheet and lots of small to tiny bits of plastic..Notable Wildlife
We don’t recall seeing any live wildlife on the beach itself. Offshore and along the Salmon River, we saw pelicans, sea gulls, eagles, herons, cormorants, geese, etc.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 1. Brown pelican: It was well-picked over, appearing to have been dead for a while. Did not see a leg band. Don’t know if it died naturally or was killed. We’ve seen peregrine falcons and eagles in the area in the last day.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
It was low tide. We saw a lot of remnants (i.e. shells) of crabs, mussels, and other small crustaceans.
Wrackline Content
Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings or molts, Wood pieces, Marine debris, Plastic debri (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). All of the above were present — though not in large quantities. We walked the 2 miles of the Westwind Beach — including Mile 247 — and filled the equivalent of a 12 x 12 inch bag.
Natural Changes
Landslides/major boulder falls, Major cracks appearing in bluffs, Newly exposed roots/trees falling. It’s been a while since we submitted a report, but there appeared to be some new landslides with large boulders nearby.
Joan Mahler
CoastWatcher
All Mile 247 Reports
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
New/newish landslides, trash/debris and dead pelican
Joan Mahler
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
Six survey participants (Sitka Center team, Residency Program participants and community members) accessed Mile 247 via kayaking across the Salmon River Estuary, walked the length of the beach mile observing and noting as they walked. Notes on Community Science Projects: -Ochre sea stars were observed from a distance in the outer area of the rocky habitat. -An MDMAP survey was not conducted during this excursion due to a lack of debris in Mile 247's marine debris monitoring area.
Sitka Center
Mile 247
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
Overall, the beach was gorgeous and appeared to be swept clean by recent high tides.
Joan Mahler
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