April 3, 2011

Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N.

Number of people: 2. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 3. Photography: 1. When we got to where I think mile 95 begins, the number of places where the ocean had overtopped the dunes become more common and the dunes less frequent and shorter. As we approached the mouth of the New River the amount of large driftwood on the dry sand increased although I don’t think there was a much as during the Fall of 2010. There was one stretch of perhaps fifty yards of gravel about the size of grains of rice. The slope of the sand was consistent and between ten and twenty degrees. The wet sand was clean, no jellies, few shell fragments . But I found pieces of gorse, some with the distinctive yellow flowers. There were occasional rocks around the size of golf balls in the wet sand. When we reached the mouth of the New River, we found some sort of pinnipeds swimming in the river. At first I thought the little heads were river otters, but as we watched I decided that perhaps we were seeing young and adult seals or sea lions. They appeared to be studying us quizzically. At one point five heads were out of the water at the same time. Twice they made a splash in the water, otherwise they were quiet. We retrieved four crab floats (one from the bark Fishon and the other from _____) and a string of little white floats, something we have not seen before. I also retrieved one Ziplock baggie. There was one automobile tire on the dry sand. At one point there were small pieces of wood, about the size of match sticks or toothpicks, on the wet sand, but otherwise, the wet sand was remarkably clear. At the mouth of the New River there was a cool breeze, between five and ten miles an hour. The sky became somewhat more overcast. The sand was fairly warm underfoot, the ocean water was cold but not frigid and the river water was cool. When we reached our starting point at the beginning of what I think is mile 94, it was nearly noon.

At least five pinnipeds, perhaps a dozen, swimming in the New River near the mouth.

None

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Marine debris (plastic, styrofoam, etc. washing in from the sea), Shells, Small rocks, Styrofoam, Wood pieces.

None

Evidence of wave overtopping. New River continues to eat into the dune on the north side of its mouth.

We brought back four regular crab floats and a string of small ones.