Mile 265 Report
South Spit, Sand Lake
March 27, 2021
Not a lot of people out for a saturday during spring break.
Report Details
Not a lot of people out for a saturday during spring break. People seemed to be keeping to themselves and dogs were on leash or stayed with their group. I was surprised that I didn't see more microplastic like we see in Pacific City but it seems that the currents only bring larger items to this stretch like giant trees that had washed up.
Conditions
Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Tide Level: 6.9 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 20. Number of dogs: 7. Walking or running: 18. Sitting: 2. Most people were in small groups and most dogs were surprisingly leashed. I didn't notice any human activity like left behind trash, fires or foot prints in the Snowy Plover site.
Notable Wildlife
I actually didn't see any wildlife accept for two crows.
Beached Birds
N/A
Stranded Marine Mammals
N/A
Driftline Content
Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Styrofoam, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). On the northern part of this stretch I often find and did find on this walk larger items that wash up like crab pots, helmets, pieces of a boat and don't often see microplastics.
Natural Changes
Erosion of vegetated foredune. There were 'sand cliffs' that developed after the large winter storms and king tides that were probably like 8 feet tall on average. They certainly pushed back the dune grass that was on them. We are starting to see those soften up and return to a more beach like formation.
Spring Fashion: Hard hat washed up with a new vegetated top
Dunes looking less like a cliff and more like a beach after the winter storms.
Signage up for North End of Tierra del Mar beach
Foam piece of a chair/boat washed up and looks like someone put it up in the dunes so it wouldn't wash back out.
Report Images
aricatierradelmar
CoastWatcher
All Mile 265 Reports
Mile 265
South Spit, Sand Lake
Very clean beach, no trash and almost no wrack.
Kathy Krall
Mile 265
South Spit, Sand Lake
Not a lot of people out for a saturday during spring break.
aricatierradelmar
Mile 265
South Spit, Sand Lake
Damage to the dunes and vegitation at the north end of Sitka Sedge Natural Area was observed due to joy riding with large off-road capable vehicles.
rbourke
Mile 265
South Spit, Sand Lake
There has been an increase in people using this beach due to the lack of parking on the beach in Pacific City, a more general awareness of Tierra del Mar, and more access trails from Sitka Sedge.
aricatierradelmar