Mile 247 Report
South Spit Salmon River, Tillamook/Lincoln county line
June 13, 2020
Mile 247, at the Salmon River Estuary, continues to be a very clean and pristine beach, likely owing to its remote location.
Report Details
Mile 247, at the Salmon River Estuary, continues to be a very clean and pristine beach, likely owing to its remote location. One difference on this inspection was the total lack of dead seabirds, which we had documented previously. There were also very few live birds, perhaps due to bald eagles that live near the mouth of the Salmon River.
Conditions
Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N.
Human Activities
Number of people: 6. Walking or running: 6.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). We found and removed a bag of trash including pieces of nylon rope. We also found a large, probably 55 gallon, drum with a long rope attached that we were not able to remove, but Camp Westwind employee said he would remove it with a maintenance vehicle.
Natural Changes
Landslides/major boulder falls. It is difficult to know how much of the landslide areas on the southern portion of the beach are new. Much of the slide area is long-standing and does advance over time.
Report Images
jayenhollytag
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