Mile 312 - Cannon Beach, Tolovana Park south - August 6, 2007

Report Details

On this day, there were a lot of people north of Kenai Street. The day was warm, but not bright sunny. The beach was very clean with a lot of driftwood high on the beach. The trash situation seems better this year, but dog poop remains a very large problem. Throughout the summer, there were a lot of beach fires at night due to the large quantity of driftwood available. People drive onto the beach to cut up and haul away large logs. I had never noticed this before, so I checked & found out people can get permits. There seem to be more people surf fishing and razor clamming this year. The Fourth of July was very quiet on our beach this year because fireworks are no longer permitted. Even though many are not happy about the change in routine, it's better for the beach.

Conditions

Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light.

Human Activities

Number of people: 100. Number of dogs: 16. Walking or running: 40. Playing in surf: 20. Playing in sand: 20. Sitting: 40. Tidepooling: 20. The Tolovana Wayside parking lot was approximately 3/4 full with other vehicles parked at access point/street ends. Hotels near my beach are nearly if not completely full most of the time. Most of the people are concentrated close to the Wayside.

Concerns

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 100. RVs/Buses parking: 3.

Notable Wildlife

California brown pelicans are more plentiful each year. They are flying closer to the tideline than I remember. Several people are razor clamming when the tide permits. People say they are a lot of them. Most people have permits, however, some people take many more than they should & don't bother to get a license.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 2. Western grebes

Natural Changes

Erosion of vegetated foredune.

Actions & Comments

No. However, we have been working with the City of Cannon Beach to handle the huge volume of dog poop deposited on the beach. We're participating in a volunteer bag distribution program using city-donated kiosks for bags that volunteers provide. The only problem is there is no receptacle provided for the full bags. We find lots of plastic bags that contain dog feces on the beach. We attended a meeting with City of CB officials and asked them to provide some kind of container & pick-up service. We know that the City of Manzanita & probably others, do this. We'll see what happens. I know that Cannon Beach, near the center of town asked people to stay out of the water due to a very high bacteria count a few weeks ago (end of September).