Mile 239

We thought it would be foggy on the beach, given the weather the past few days, but it turned out clear and sunny.  Persistent chilly north wind, though.  The harbor seal colony was a little closer to the mouth of the Siletz River than normal, but all grouped together.  Social...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

A cool but calm day in a streak of very dry weather.  The harbor seals have returned to their favorite hang-out at the tip of the Salishan Spit and evidently have produced a few pups this season.  Very little trash - we only collected a few small items.read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

It was a fairly unpopulated time on the spit.  Rockhouds and walkers.  Started to drizzle after completion of our mile.read more

It was a lovely day with sun and hardly any wind.  We did note a dead and partially eaten seal on the bay side.   read more

It was a quiet day on the spit, but very busy on the Mo's part of mile (probably due to it being Father's Day.  Last week we did see horses on the beach for the first time.  Weather was comfortable with blue sky streaking along the clouds.read more

Very nice day.  Most of people noted were on the Mo's side.  On the Spit itself, only 5 people were seen.  More people coming to the beach area as we were leaving.  Little owl was sitting on log, believed to be nesting.  read more

• 

Calm, mostly sunny day.  A few people out on the beach, walking or looking for agates near low tide.  Almost no trash.  There were no harbor seals in their usual resting place at the tip of the Salishan Spit; two were spotted in the rivermouth.  This has happened before -...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 

Calm, partly cloudy day.  More visitors than usual on the beach.  Very little trash.  A number of Dungeness crab shells noted in the wrack line, but they appeared to be molts, not due to any trauma.read more

• 
• 
• 
• 

Had time to walk the Taft side of our mile this afternoon.  About 60 people out enjoying the beach.  At least 10 fishing from the shore.  Four boats in the water at the mouth of the Siletz River - also for fishing.  There were NO SEALS at the tip of the...read more

• 
• 
• 

Sunny, breezy July day.  More people than usual on the beach, but of course it's the middle of summer.  Harbor seal population at the end of the spit seemed larger than usual, with several juveniles.  There were many more seagulls than usual on this stretch of beach.  The wrack line...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

A calm, warm, dry December day.  Low tide.  Almost no trash on the beach - we only picked up a few small items.  The harbor seal colony was in their usual location at the tip of the Salishan Spit, estimated count 150.  Noted a few pyrosomes in the seaweed at...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

A beautiful day to be out.  Very little trash collected ... one piece of line and a few plastic pieces.  Found 3 (presumably) dead purple ochre stars in a pile of wood & algae debris above the waves; threw them back in the water but they probably won't survive.read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Pleasant day after nearly a month of rain.  More people than usual out walking on the beach.  Picked up 1/2 bag of trash ... mostly small plastic pieces and styrofoam.read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Sunny, windy day. Only one family on the Spit. We picked up many plastic pieces ... filled a large trash bag. Most looked like edges or sides of containers. No writing or markings. I had my zoom camera so got some close-ups of the seal colony. We walked up the...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Only me on the beach this beautiful Thursday afternoon. 50+ people across the Siletz River mouth on the Taft beach. The harbor seals have returned to their usual resting place ... estimated 150+. The sand has returned to the area they like. I could not walk the entire length of...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Walked the Taft side of Mile 239 this afternoon. 8 people fishing, 12 walking, 4 playing in sand, 2 picnicking. Very little debris which is good for a beach that is used quite a bit. Spotted 3 pelicans in Siletz Bay.read more

• 

I didn't intend to do a Coastwatch walk today but just started walking on the beach and it was such a pleasant day, I just kept going. Almost no trash on the beach. Counted 4 dead murres. Found 6 agates. First time I've ever seen fishermen at the mouth of...read more

• 
• 
• 

Walked the north side of the Siletz River outlet, which is part of our mile but which we seldom reach. Sunny, breezy day. 79 people counted between Mo's and the surfline, including 5 rock hunting, 2 flying kites, 1 fishing. 10 dogs, most on leash. No significant debris issues.read more

• 
• 

Beautiful but breezy day. The beach was covered with millions of Velella velella ("by-the-wind sailors") jellyfish decomposing in the sun. Very little debris but a couple possible tsunami items.read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Very nice day; a few more people than usual; many boats in Siletz Bay, fishing or crabbing; the colony of harbor seals had abandoned their usual resting spot at the end of the Salishan Spit probably due to all the activity; occasionally one would pop up in the waterread more

• 

A beautiful Tuesday afternoon and not a soul on the beach! Almost all the Japanese tsunami debris reported on May 11 is now gone, except for a few stretches where there is a proliferation of tiny plastic pieces along the wrack line. Don't know if there has been a cleanup...read more

• 
• 

Beautiful day, but the fog bank came in during our walk. The wind was quite brisk. Observed a lone Brown pelican fishing in the surf, and saw several Western gulls, including a juvenile (probably a yearling) foraging in the surf line. Noted a very tall pole erected in the sand,...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 

Beautiful, sunny day with a brisk wind (Small Craft Warning). The drift line was quite clear of debris. On the ocean-side of spit we observed three separate flocks of Brown pelicans flying north (total of 26 birds); observed a flock of six Pelagic cormorants flying north; and saw a Caspian...read more

• 
• 
• 

Beautiful day! Surprisingly few folks on the beach. The drift line debris was pretty much all natural; picked up two large bags of trash from above the high, high tide line (we thought it would be worse given how long it's been since we were last here). Saw a small...read more

• 

Rather cloudy today, which could explain why we saw so few folks. On the seaward side of the spit, the only wildlife observed were a couple of Western gulls following us as we collected trash. On the bayside, however, we saw Common merganser, Bufflehead, Northern Pintails, Mallards, White-winged Scoters, Surf...read more

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Beautiful, sunny day! Not very many folks out on the spit today. As our walk was during high tide, we cut it short when we reached a stretch of beach with little or no dry sand (lesson learned from the drenching we got on the 9th). Saw a young Harbor...read more

• 
• 

Beautiful day! Not too many people, and no dogs...which is a surprise. Picked up a huge piece of styrofoam and several small boulder-sized pieces. Also, picked up over 30 plastic bottles. No wildlife sighted...except for the ubiquitous gulls.read more

Began our walk as usual at the end of the Salishan Nature Trail. Picked up a couple of bags of trash. Noted a fish skeleton (species unknown), two dead Western grebes; and, behold, a dead Holstein cow in the surf line! Reported the dead cow to the Oregon State Police...read more

• 
• 
• 

Began at N44'53.632 and finished at N44'55.157. Saw sanderlings foraging in driftline; dead grebe being picked at by gull; usual litter at high tide line; lots of sea foam today.read more

We began walk at N44'53.632 and finished at N44'55.157 when we became too laden with trash and left it in receptacle at boat launch. On way back, birds noted on the bay side of spit: coots, Surf scoter, White-winged scoter, grebe, merganser, cormorant, mallard, egret, and Great Blue heron.Please note...read more

•