Mile 43 Report
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
September 4, 2015
Stepping on to be beach I was greeted by a healthy supply of summer sand, low swells and blue water with changing shades of color and contrast as the puffy clouds blew over from the northwest.
Report Details
Stepping on to be beach I was greeted by a healthy supply of summer sand, low swells and blue water with changing shades of color and contrast as the puffy clouds blew over from the northwest. The storms from last week had started to cut into the beach that had built all summer reminding me of more seasonal changes to come. Mole crabs were by far the big event of this trip, as I can not recall a bigger adolescent class. Other sand beaches in Curry County are also having the year of the mole crab. The beach was strewn with seaweeds and surf grass, which is not uncommon for this time of the year. Beach hoppers had emerged from the higher sand, again not unusual. There were an unusually high number of keyhole limpet shells here and on other beaches this year. This is somewhat troubling to me, in that this is a long lived species and many of the shells are quite large. The dead harbor porpoise pictured was from a previous visit this summer. Accessing this mile is still very manageable but climate change and succession has benefitted the poison oak community so beware.
Human Activities
Number of people: 1. Walking or running: 1.
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 1.
Notable Wildlife
Very notable large populations of adolescent mole crabs. Many molted shells in the drift line. Lots of seaweed and surfgrass but this is to be expected for this time of the year. Gulls and shorebirds present.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 4.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells.
Report Images
Dale Lee
CoastWatcher
All Mile 43 Reports
Mile 43
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
Stepping on to be beach I was greeted by a healthy supply of summer sand, low swells and blue water with changing shades of color and contrast as the puffy clouds blew over from the northwest.
Dale Lee
Mile 43
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
Over ten feet of sand has migrated from the north end of mile 43, as remnant bits of last summer's beach can still be seen high near the vegetation line.
Dale Lee
Mile 43
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
Visiting my mile is traditionally a low tide, moderate to low swell event.
Dale Lee
Mile 43
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
Although it is about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the beach, ODOT did a major repair to the place I park and access my mile.
Dale Lee
Mile 43
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
Nice afternoon with exceptionally clean and clear air.
Dale Lee
Mile 43
Beach south of Humbug Mountain
The ocean was quite foamy from a high swell at night but had subsided to around 5 feet when I was there.
Dale Lee