Mile 330 Report
Sunset Beach, Sunset Lake
April 27, 2024
An early morning walk on mile 330 with overcast skies, rain, and moderate wind revealed few humans (mainly people clamming at the low tide) yet significant marine debris along the wrack line.
Report Details
An early morning walk on mile 330 with overcast skies, rain, and moderate wind revealed few humans (mainly people clamming at the low tide) yet significant marine debris along the wrack line. High tides and stormy weather resulted in an impressive wrack line with both organic flotsam (by-the-wind- sailors, sea cauliflower, giant kelp, bull kelp, and rockweed but also abundant marine debris (derelict fishing gear/ropes, plastic bottles, shot gun shell and wads, light bulbs, styrofoam, beverage bottles, and a large black rubber float 12 inches in diameter). While walking this mile, I wondered, why is there this so much marine debris on this mile? Mile 330 is located a mere 17 kilometers from the Columbia River, a conduit for land-based debris. I have observed that mile 330 has a large wrack zone. Marine debris depositional patterns are complex, determined both by human visitation (littering and beach clean-up efforts) as well as by a beach’s features (e.g. slope, vegetation, type of substrate; Willis et. al, 2022). It has been well-documented that wider beaches with a larger abundance of organic flotsam (seaweed, branches and sticks) may attract more marine debris. This mile does not have a significant wood zone. Seasonal changes in weather can create wind-driven and wave-driven movement of plastic debris (highly- mobile items) across zones of a beach, with the highest deposition rates for Pacific Northwest beaches documented in the spring (Willis et. al, 2022). I wonder if this area is a ‘sticky zone’ trapping marine debris? Interestingly, this mile is documented on NOAA MDMAP map with 3 marine debris surveys conducted in 2022. I am curious about the idea of calculating the ratio of highly-mobile marine debris items (plastic, wood, and paper) compared to less-mobile items (glass, metal, cement, and rubber) as a metric for local deposition (Willis et. al, 2022).
Conditions
Temperature: 51 F. Cloud Cover: Rain. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Tide Level: 2.1 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 16. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 6. Other Activities: Clamming during the low tide this morning: 10 people. The major human activity was clamming during the morning low tide.
Vehicles
Cars/trucks on beach, allowed: 6.
Notable Wildlife
Notable live wildlife included multiple bald eagles feeding on carcasses of dead pinnipeds, including an adult and third-year bird. Kelp species in the wrackline included sea cauliflower, bull kelp, rockweed, and giant kelp.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 1.
Driftline Content
Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). The wrack line today had significant marine debris, crab shells, and by-the-wind sailors. I removed 30lbs of marine debris from this mile, including a shock gun shell, 2 shock gun wads, a 3ft long fluorescent light tube, 2 light bulbs, styrofoam chunks, teal and orange fishing rope, beverage and water bottles, and a large 12-inch diameter rubber black float. Of note was a water bottle wrapper in Chinese from brand Nongfu Spring, which translates to "farmer's mountain spring" in English. Nongfu spring is a popular Chinese bottled water and beverage company. It is based in Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and after its bottled water bottle production starting in 1997, it is China's largest producer of water in plastic bottles and a popular brand. In addition, barnacles were attached to a bottle of Tully's Coffee Barista's Black with a majority of the brand information written in Japanese. Interestingly, Tully's Coffee was a speciality shop located in Seattle, Washington, but the coffee beans are roasted in Japan. This coffee brand is now sold by Keurig. Through Tully's Coffee international, this product is sold in many locations in Japan. Lastly, a Cholimex foods plastic bottle of Tu’o’ng Ot Sriracha chili sauce was found among the marine debris. Although this product can be purchased online, the headquarters of Cholimex Foods JSC is based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Yet, this particular bottle has branding identical to the 520g volume version that is sold from FMCF VIET, a food exporter located in Vietnam.
Report Images
sultanym
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