July 21, 2019

Temperature: 80 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: S.

Number of people: 40. Number of dogs: 8. Walking or running: 35. Playing in surf: 4. Sitting: 5. Other Activities: At the access point to the beach from Nehalem state park parking lot, there were several large human-made drift wood shelters. Walking north, I saw about 40 people, eight dogs, three horses, lots of washed up upside-down dead crabs, and several small beached jellyfish. There was one pair of car tire tracks. Many kite boarders were in the water just north of mile 298, around Manzanita beach..

People/dogs/vehicles in closure areas

Apparent violations: People with their dogs were ignoring two signs prohibiting access to beach where snowy plovers were nesting. The signs warning of seasonal restriction were just a little south of the entrance from Nehalem state park day parking area. Access to the area was restricted to walking on wet sand only and no dogs allowed. We walked a very short way along the wet sand and encountered two women and a dog playing on the beach. I told them about the sign (which they say they didn’t see) and asked them to leash their dog and walk along the wet sand. We walked a little further along the wet sand water line in restricted area, turned around, and four unleashed dogs came running toward us, followed further behind by their four owners walking in the dry sand. I told them about the sign restricting access and the nesting snowy plovers. They also said they didn’t see the sign, but they did leash their dogs and turned around. In the 30 minutes we were in the restricted area I encountered six people and five unleashed dogs who said they didn’t see the sign noting restricted access..

Cars/trucks parking: 25.

Unusual concentration. Lots of dead crabs (Dungeness?) We saw about 35 dead crabs on north half mile section.