Mile 146 - North Jetty, South Jetty Umpqua River, Lighthouse - December 31, 2008

Report Details

Very quiet today, cloudy and starting to rain. Only two other people and a dog on the beach. A lot of wood debris mixed with seaweed in the driftline, and huge logs strewn all along the beach. One was over 100' long. I assume the logs and wood were washed down the river with the heavy rainfall and snowmelt. The ocean was brown with silt at least a mile out. We saw a 12-15" moon jellyfish (dead but whole). Joe found a small glass float. Lots of very long bull kelp. Undulating sand from the wave action. Two dead birds (common murres?). We picked up half a bag of trash, left behind an inflatable bed and huge piece of styrofoam (too heavy.)

Conditions

Temperature: 42 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 5.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 3. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 3. The beach was quite clean. We picked up mostly plastic bottles. Joe found a small glass float in the wood debris and kelp in the driftline. We found a full-sized blow-up bed and a huge piece of wet styrofoam, both which were too heavy to carry. The following sunny Saturday, there were at least ten people and 3 dogs.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 2.

Notable Wildlife

One huge 12-15" moon jellyfish. Quite a bit of very long bull kelp.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 2. Perhaps common murres; one was dead, one was dying

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Styrofoam, Wood pieces. Huge logs

Actions & Comments

Lots of wood debris mixed with seaweed along driftline. Beach is covered with wood debris.Ocean is brown with silt at least a mile out.