Mile 271 Report
Cape Lookout
June 24, 2018
The cape looked good, no pollution, or cliff erosion noted.
Report Details
The cape looked good, no pollution, or cliff erosion noted. The wildlife seemed less common than in the past, most notably sea lions, but also no pelicans spotted and fewer cormorants than in the past. We saw one hiker, though I am sure there were many, and no other boats. I had a new sighting for me, a pair of red-throated loons and also had a close encounter with a harbor porpoise.
Conditions
Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW.
Human Activities
Number of people: 2. Kayaking: 2. Other Activities: One hiker spotted above cliffs on the south side, though few opportunities to see hikers from the water.. No access other than by boat. We were the only boat, a double kayak with two.
Notable Wildlife
One California sea lion in the water, one harbor porpoise circled us as close as 10 feet from the kayak, two seals, usual gulls, but fewer cormorants and common murres than usual. I saw no pelicans or stellar sea lions on the usual spot at the tip of the cape, mostly north side of the large cave, which I remember many as the normal spot to see them. My first time there, nearly 20 years ago, there were waves of cormorants in the sky, just a handful on this day. Pigeon guillemots seem at normal numbers. I saw two red-throated loons, which is a new sighting for me. We saw a hand full of lion's mane jellyfish but many small clear jellyfish. Sea stars are back, though we didn't paddle close to the rocks because of conditions and to avoid disturbing birds.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
Unusual concentration. None
Driftline Content
Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Styrofoam, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). We landed on the cape's only beach, which is on the north side and sits on the mouth of a wide cave that is perhaps 50 ft. deep. We hauled out numerous water bottles, floats, styrofoam chunks, dust mask, mylar balloon (very common to find).
New Development
Nothing new spotted.
Actions & Comments
As mentioned above, we picked up quite a lot of trash from the one beach.
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Many gulls, and a few miscillaneous birds, most notably a pair of peregrine falcons (one dive-bombing a smaller one until the small one dropped the bird it had).
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