Report Details

I have walked this beach maybe a dozen times since my September report.  At the moment it is well-drained and devoid of standing water.  Large boulder-sized rocks have fallen from the cliff onto the beach in several places as the cliffs continue to erode.  Over past weeks I have seen an additional bald eagle and a pair of  blue herons in the surf, and a well-scavenged sea lion carcass with exposed rib bones.  As of 11/29, most of the smaller seaweed and most of the crab shells have disappeared.  11/29 was the first time I have found no dead birds at all on the beach.  It continues to be a relatively deserted (at least south of Thiel Creek) and beautiful stretch of beach.

Conditions

Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: S. Tide Level: 6.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 11. Number of dogs: 2. Walking or running: 7. Sitting: 4. About 100 feet south of the Lost Creek parking lot, which is the southern edge of mile 211, there was a stranded sea lion, still alive but in obvious distress, in the rocky upper edge of the beach. I reported this to the OSU Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

Concerns

Litter

Apparent violations: Saw food wrappers and water bottles apparently left on the beach recently..

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 5.

Notable Wildlife

No mammals apart from the distressed sea lion described above. Saw two bald eagles at top of cliff, one blue heron, some birds that I believe were sandpipers, and otherwise only sea gulls. Quite a lot of bull kelp. No crab carapaces that I could see, but some broken mussel and clam shells.

Beached Birds

In mid-November, before the date of this report, I found one dead puffin on the beach, with no leg band I could see.

Stranded Marine Mammals

See above.

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Styrofoam, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). Found 16 plastic bottles, including one with a label in Korean, and miscellaneous bits of hard plastic. Found 4 heavy foam fish floats, connected to long lines of plastic rope tangled in seaweed or driftwood.

Man-made Modifications

None that I could recognize beyond those described in my last report.

Natural Changes

Landslides/major boulder falls, Newly exposed roots/trees falling. The beach formerly had a flat/level portion near the cliff base where standing water accumulated and the sand was muddy. This is largely gone, and the beach now slopes gradually from the cliffs to the water, presumably resulting from the high October/November tides. The beach drains now and is only minimally muddy.

Actions & Comments

I brought as many of the plastic bottles (15 of the 16 I found) and hard plastic bits as would fit into the garbage bag I brought with me.  As noted, I reported the distressed sea lion just south of mile 211.

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All Mile 211 Reports

Showing 8 of 29 reports

Mile 211

June 1, 2022

Erosion in the face of the embankment continues, including new large boulder falls.

Chad101

Mile 211

September 21, 2021

Relatively large number of people (for mile 211) were enjoying the beach on a sunny, inviting day.

Chad101

Mile 211

June 21, 2021

Fairly big crowd for mile 211 on a foggy June 21, most of the people as usual near the beach access at Lost Creek Wayside.

Chad101

Mile 211

March 13, 2021

My last previous report was at the end of 2019, but the changes over the last year are typical of Mile 211, including rockslides or boulder falls, rockfields covering parts of the beach, and a new drainage pipe.

Chad101

Mile 211

June 11, 2020

More than 10 previously unobserved drainage pipes in places with already existing pipes.

Chad101

decorative elemnt for a coastwatch report.

Mile 211

January 9, 2020

I tried to pick up and carry back to trash collection area all plastic pieces I found larger than 1 square inch, but for every piece I picked up there were at least 100 smaller pieces, a great increase over the amount of plastic just a few years ago.

Chad101

Mile 211

September 19, 2019

The contour of the beach has changed again so that there are numerous patches of standing water at the base of the embankment.

Chad101

Mile 211

June 12, 2019

Most of the people were within 100 yards of the Lost Creek beach access.

Chad101