Mile 301 - Neahkahnie Beach north, Oswald West SP - 12/12/2023

Report Details

December 12 was a surprisingly warm day! The beach here is short, and we walked on the rocks only about a quarter mile, nowhere near the end where it winds up under the Neahkahnie Overlook on the 101. We picked up 3 large trash bags of garbage and marine plastics. Many water bottles are from Korea and Japan plus there was lots of broken up styrofoam, plastic bags, cups, lids, buoy bits and typical trash. Time constraints and the number of trash bags we brought made us turn around earlier than we could have. There are also many, many old crab traps and some very large pieces of garbage that we are unable to carry out safely. When possible, we moved them further up the rocks so they would not wash back out to sea.

Conditions

Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 9.5 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 12. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 1. Sitting: 11. Other Activities: People were walking and enjoying the sunny day.. Mile 301 has a small section of Neahkahnie Beach and changes to all large rocks and boulders as it hugs the bottom of Neahkahnie Mountain. The rocks collect trash that washes up as well as the occasional dead mammal, crab traps, large marine debris, etc. There are many large driftwood logs and human built structures.

Notable Wildlife

There was a decomposing marine mammal on the rocks and seagulls flying overhead.

Stranded Marine Mammals

Total stranded mammals: 1.

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), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). Mile 301 has a small sandy section and is mostly rocks. Where the beach ends and turns to rocks, the wrack line was inches deep with small bits of wood. There had been heavy rains and the streams that feed out to the ocean were much larger and rougher than typical because of this.

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Michelle Schwegmann

CoastWatcher

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Mile 301

Neahkahnie Beach north, Oswald West SP

February 6, 2024

The tide was quite low so I walked up on the rocks at the northern most end of Neahkahnie Beach. This area is always full of large marine debris from fishing boats and whatever washes in.

Michelle Schwegmann