Mile 287 - Bayocean Peninsula north of Bayocean site 2 - February 17, 2022

Report Details

A quiet day at the beach - just a handful of folks strolling along the shoreline, only one of whom had a dog with them. Visited at the apex of high tide and watched the tide recede; observed an extremely large number of beached moon jellies of all sizes ranging from very small to very large deposited along the high tide line. There had to have been thousands of them - it's the largest concentration of moon jellies I've ever seen (see attached photo of just a couple feet of the driftline). Additionally, there was a significant amount of trash accumulated along the shoreline. There was way too much to carry out to the parking area, so we worked for several hours, filling every large Solve trash bag we had with us and creating a large mound of trash above the tide line on the northern end of the mile. We notified the rangers at Cape Lookout State Park about the location of the trash pile and they said they'd try to pick it up on their next trip along the spit. I'm ready for the pandemic to be over so that the annual spring and fall beach clean-ups can resume!

Conditions

Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: SW. Tide Level: 7.5 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 6. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 6.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 10.

Notable Wildlife

Saw 3 bald eagles perched in trees above beach; 2 mature adults and 1 juvenile.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 1. none visible

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

Unusual concentration. Very large number of beached moon jellies of all sizes, ranging in diameter from as small as

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Styrofoam, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). Lots of flotsam and jetsam! Significant amount of styrofoam pieces of all sizes as well as large quantities of fishing-related debris (nets, lines, crab traps, bait containers, etc.).

Report Images

Large quantities of beached moon jellies in driftline

Report Images

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