November 27, 2009

Report Details

Set out around midday and low tide. Mostly cloudy with a stiff and steady NW wind; 1-2 m waves on beach. Wide strand line with wood debris ranging from twigs to logs and root wads (some with stones and sediment still held by roots). A fair amount of the logs on the beach were festooned with pelagic goose barnacles (Lepas), some with 3-cm capitula and 10-cm stalks (big - see pic). These logs were probably at sea for an extended time. Bull kelp (Nereocystis) also littered the strand as both single specimins and large tangled clumps. There was a lot of confetti-sized plastic particles concentrated in the most recent tide line, as well as plastic bottles and assorted refuse distributed throughout the strand. Based on debris and sand patterns, it looked as if the waves have been working at the foredune. I encountered 11 well-dead gulls and one mostly-intact sea lion. 2 live crows cavorted in the slip stream of the dune face, one live gull stood for a while in the swash zone. 15 vehicles drove by, 5 persons beside me were working off turkey and stuffing.