Mile 49 - Graveyard Point, Port, Harbor, Battle Rock - September 18, 2008

Report Details

A typical day at the beach and on the dock. Weather very pleasant (no wind!). The only thing unusual was the large number of jellies on the beach, flat, roughly circular, mostly brown. I counted 57, so upwards of 60, I would guess. I saw a similar situation some months ago, but could not find anything in my Coast Watch file about it.

Conditions

Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: -0.3 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 10. Number of dogs: 12. Walking or running: 10. My (less than) mile has three separate areas. The first is the end of a section of beach. Battle Rock is about at the beginning of my area and there is a small cove between in and Fort Point at Port Orford. There I noticed about twelve jellies on the very small beach. They appeared to have been there some time, as most had turned brown.The second part of my "beat" is the beach between the other (west) side of Fort Point and the dock. The beach is know as "Dock Beach," "Port Beach," or "Dog Beach." It lived up to its latter name as a met a walking group of five women with ten dogs on leashes. On this beach, also, were dead jellies--about 45 of different sizes.The weather gradually cleared to blue and sunny and about 70degrees, I estimated.

Concerns

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 5.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 3. I think two murres and one gull.

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

Jellies as mentioned in comments; over 50 all together.

Driftline Content

Shells, Small rocks, Wood pieces. lots of feathers of various sizes and colors

Actions & Comments

The third portion of my "mile" is the Port Orford dock which is at the edge of open ocean; there is no bar at Port Orford.About 45 cars and pickups were parked on the dock, though most of the fishing boats seemed to be on the dock, also. A few people around, and one dog.