Mile 287 - Bayocean Peninsula north of Bayocean site 2 - July 21, 2012

Report Details

Perfect summer day at coast - sunny, warm, pleasant breeze - lots of folks out taking advantage! Most folks were strolling next to the surf. Two of the parties we saw walking northward were carrying large, fully loaded backpacks and looked as if they were planning to camp for the night. Two families were picnicing, building sand castles, and swimming in surf. The development on and immediately behind the foredune at the mid-point of the mile now looks to be abandoned. Goats, goat shed, and animal enclosure posts and fencing have all been removed. The picnic table, iron cookstove, and firepit are still in place, but there is no evidence of recent use. The wooden structure at the top of the foredune is also still in place, but stairs along the back side of the foredune are now completely covered with sand.Enough new sand has been deposited along the foredune that the previously eroded areas are now completely filled in, and the stump we are using as a marker of sand depth remains almost completely covered.As part of our contribution to the tsunami debris clean up effort, we collected and removed 4 bags of trash during our survey. Nothing we saw was obviously of Japanese origin, and neither the amount or content of the trash looked any different than what we've encountered previously - with one exception. There was considerably more styrofoam than we've found before, of types and colors we've not seen in the past. Several of the pieces were covered with goose neck barnacles and were removed from the beach.

Conditions

Temperature: 66 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 3.5 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 35. Number of dogs: 8. Walking or running: 18. Playing in surf: 4. Playing in sand: 3. Sitting: 8. Other Activities: birdwatching - 2. Gorgeous summer day - saw more folks out enjoying the sunny, mild weather than at any previous visit. The parking lot was completely full and in addition to the vehicles reported, there were 2 pickups with empty horse trailers in parking lot. Saw tracks of horses in sand, but did not actually see horses/riders on beach.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 30.

Notable Wildlife

Bald eagle perched on snag above shoreline; family of northern harriers (2 adults, 1 immature) flying together over dunes.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 1. Likely a gull of some type; carcass not intact (old, dried and well-scavenged).

Stranded Marine Mammals

Total stranded mammals: 1. Dead carcass, likely small/baby seal. Carcass had just washed ashore with most recent incoming tide. Skull bone was all that remained of head, rest of body intact. Looked like carcass had been floating off shore for a while, as gooseneck barnacles and small seaweeds were attached to fur.

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Shells, Small rocks, Styrofoam, Wood pieces. Noted more styrofoam than ususal; tsunami debris?

Natural Changes

Sand deposition has completely repaired previously eroded areas of foredune

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