April 18, 2010

Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 0.0 feet.

Number of people: 2. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 3. Walk Mile 93 (south of Lower Fourmile Creek)Sunday, April 18th, 2010We rowed over to the beach around ten in the morning. The weather was gorgeous, warm and sunny with very little wind. We found two gorse bushes on the dune. I have seen gorse over there only once before and it was just a sprig. There were no other people nor their footprints nor tire tracks. We saw only five pieces of bull kelp and no other kelp of any kind. There was lots of gravel from the size of uncooked barley or rice up to nearly that of a golf ball on the wet sand. There were also some gray rocks bigger than a fist with interesting holes in them. There were lots (perhaps fifty) of fishing floats of the round plastic type in various diameters from the size of a tennis ball up to the size of a basketball. We brought back about half a dozen. We saw only eight birds, two small seagulls flying close to the water over the waves in the manner of the Brown Pelicans and one large seagull standing on the sand near the surf, and five little white birds running on the wet sand (plovers?). There was one stretch of the surfline where there were lots of crab carapaces and crab parts. The sand, even the wet sand, was warm underfoot and the water was cool but not cold. We saw two tires on the dry sand. The beach seemed very long and flat sloping evenly down to the water. The waves were small, less than three feet trough to crest and most only two feet. We saw one fishing boat.

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

3 seagulls, 5 small birds running in surf (plovers?)

One stretch of surfline with lots of crab parts

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Shells, Small rocks, Styrofoam. A lot of floats, not the styrofoam crab floats, but round plastic ones

None but found two medium sized- gorse plants on the dunes

Brought back about a half a dozen floats.