March 16, 2011

At Harris Beach the tsunami of 3/11/11 consisted of ebb and flow from the normal highest tide to much lower than the normal lowest tide on a cycle of 7 - 8 minutes for at least 6 hours.

Report Details

At Harris Beach the tsunami of 3/11/11 consisted of ebb and flow from the normal highest tide to much lower than the normal lowest tide on a cycle of 7 - 8 minutes for at least 6 hours. The appearance of smooth red rocks which I have never seen before indicates that at least 3 feet of sand was removed.Large driftwood logs and large strands of kelp were reduced in number with the remainder shoved up at the high tide line. The beach itself was abnormally free of debris except for lots of little pieces of plastic. The rare partially sunny day on 3/16/11 attracted a larger than usual crowd for this time of year.

Conditions

Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: SE. Tide Level: -0.2 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 27. Number of dogs: 6. Walking or running: 13. Playing in surf: 1. Playing in sand: 2. Sitting: 10. Surfing: 1.

Concerns

Apparent violations: 4 dogs off leash.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 13. RVs/Buses parking: 1.

Notable Wildlife

Many gull, a few crows, 2 oystercatchers

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Wood pieces.

Natural Changes

Significant sand removal by tsunami.

Report Images

George

CoastWatcher

All Mile 8 Reports

Date

Showing 8 of 18 reports

Mile 8

Harris Beach SP picnic area, Goat Island

December 5, 2019

Calm, low tide.

lovlielovie

Mile 8

Harris Beach SP picnic area, Goat Island

August 16, 2019

Found today 10-12’ decomposing body of a sea lion washed up on the rocks at the cove at the most northern point of mile 8 appears to have been dead for some time and is very fragrant Turkey vulture activity has been high here for the last several days and I guess I discovered why!

lovlielovie