Mile 287 - Bayocean Peninsula north of Bayocean site 2 - February 17, 2020

Report Details

A quiet afternoon on mile 287; only a few folks out enjoying walks on the sand. The resident pair of bald eagles were at play, soaring above the shoreline with an additional juvenile bald eagle; the resident herd of elk were grazing peacefully behind the foredune. The only unusual sighting was the substantial number of velella velella stranded in the driftline. Otherwise all was well on a lovely day.Some kind person or group had done an extensive beach clean-up over the President's Day weekend, and there were numerous stacks of trash piled above the high tide line at intervals along the mile as well as along the entire BayOcean spit. We picked up another two bags of additional items, mostly plastic water bottles, and added them to the stacks. To make sure that they were aware of it, I notified the Parks Dept about the trash; they responded that they knew about the clean-up and had already scheduled a pick-up.

Conditions

Temperature: 49 F. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 3.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 7. Number of dogs: 2. Walking or running: 7. Not as many folks as I'd expected visiting the beach on this first sunny day after a long stretch of rainy winter weather.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 12.

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

Unusual concentration. A large number of velella vellella were distributed throughout the driftline.

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.). Noted a couple large moon jellyfish in the driftline.

Natural Changes

Erosion of vegetated foredune, Evidence of wave overtopping.

C Nelson

CoastWatcher

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Mile 287

Bayocean Peninsula north of Bayocean site 2

March 17, 2024

The cloudy marine layer that was present when we first arrived eventually burned off, providing us with a pleasant but breezy sunny afternoon for our visit. 1) We encountered an intact hull of a fiberglass boat on the mid-section of the mile; photos and location information was provided to the State Park Ranger so it could be retrieved from the beach. 2) There had been a massive influx of velella velella (by-the-wind sailors) washed ashore several days before our visit. 3) Given the number of folks in the parking area when we arrived, we had expected to see more folks on mile 287 but encountered just a typical number of visitors. 4) There was more detritus on the beach than we've seen in recent previous visits.

C NELSON