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MILE 254 on 2/27/12   -   SUEGABRIEL LOCATION Tillamook  •  Kiwanda Beach, Neskowin Crest CONDITIONS Monday 11:30 AM HUMANS People: 6  •  Dogs: 2 ACTIVITIES Walking/running: 4  •  Playing in sand: 1  •  Fishing: 1 CONCERNS DISTURBANCES VEHICLES Cars/Trucks parking: 1 ACTIV.COMMENTS NOTABLE WILDLIFE Sandpipers (sanderlings?) actively foraging in the surfline and all the way up to the dune face. Lots of bull kelp on the beach, both singly and in large piles. DEAD BIRDS Total: 5  •  Signs of oil: 0  •  Entanglement: 0  •  Species/names: 5 Rhinoceros auklets. (4 dead Rhinoceros auklets seen on COASST dead bird survey, same mile, on 2-23-12.) Only one of the dead birds seen today had a COASST tag on it. STRANDED Total: 0 FISH & INVERTS DRIFTLINE Shells  •  Animal casings  •  Kelp/Algae  •  Small rocks  •  Wood pieces  •  Plastic pellets  •  Ocean-based debris  •  Styrofoam NEW DEVELOPMENT MODIFICATIONS NATURAL CHANGES Newly exposed roots/trees falling  •  Erosion of vegetated foredune COMMENTS SUMMARY Human Activities: 6 people and 2 dogs enjoying walking/playing and surf fishing during this respite from rain and wind. Shoreline: Wrack lines contained the usual shells, wood pieces and abundant amounts of plastic and styrofoam. I did not see any debris that could have been from the Japan tsunami. Groups of sandpipers (Sanderlings?) were foraging from surfline to dune face. There were 4 dead Rhinoceros auklets, one of which was tagged with a COASST survey ID from 2-23-12. (4 Rhinoceros auklets were identified on the 2-23 COASST survey.) This seems like a larger number than usual. There was also a large amount of bull kelp on the beach in both single pieces and large bunches. Physical Changes: There did seem to be a little more erosion on the north half of the beach with some recent tree and bush dislodgement. OBSERVER SueGabriel EMAIL   •  REPORT PUBLISHED 3/1/12 8:21 PM PHOTOS  PRINT       BACK TO COASTWATCH HOME