On March 12, Longview resident Jerry Dean, was walking on Long Beach Peninsula near Beard’s Hollow when he found a rare old clear glass float and net, a baseball-sized yellow plastic float and three large, dark plastic floats.

Intrigued by his find, Dean decided to return with a friend, Russ Bryant, 55, later that week.

“I was kind of overwhelmed with finding that kind of stuff,” Dean said.

The following Friday, he and Bryant had even better luck. They collected four large light bulbs — some marked with Japanese writing — as well as assorted bottles and jars. Four small oblong blue plastic floats struck Dean as a particularly unusual find.

Finding such a large cache of relatively rare items got him wondering if tsunami refuse was arriving early, especially after he read on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website that lightweight items that sit high in the water — such as light bulbs and buoys — will arrive ahead of heavier items.

“I love the beach, and I go a lot. … (but) In all my forays to the beach, I found a light bulb once in high school,” said Dean, 57. “You just don’t see this kind of debris coming up. … I was texting everybody, taking pictures.”

“Expectations are building for the summer ocean salmon fisheries.

Three ocean fishing catch-quota options will be announced Wednesday
at the Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Sacramento, Calif.

For the third year in a row, the popular early-summer fishery for coastal hatchery chinook is on the table.”

Keep reading.

Starting Point: Marsh’s Free Museum, 409 S Pacific Ave, Long Beach, WA 98631

“Some of our favorite sights and activities in Long Beach, Washington, home to an unusually large frying pan and Jake the Alligator Man.”

– Hannah Rae & Doug Woycechowsky of Portland, Oregon on theydrawandtravel.com

Many locals and visitors participate in the triannual Beach Cleanup effort, held in January, April and on July 5th.  The recent January cleanup was a resounding success and even offered sunny skies for the day as about 200 volunteers removed flotsam and jetsam from our 28 miles of Peninsula beach. 

As Jackie Ferrier, Deputy Project Leader of the Willapa National Wildlife Complex noted, “We didn’t find anything too out of the ordinary. Lots of pallets, light bulbs, rope and floats. But we did see and document the dead Sperm Whale and dozens of dead Rhinoceros Auklets, puffins and grebes. We also saw plenty of live Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons and thousands of shorebirds (Dunlin and sandpipers). What a great way to spend the day both bird watching and giving back to the beach that we all love.”

This spring’s effort coincides with both Earth Day and Washington Coast Cleanup Day, on April 21st, making the cleanup extend the full length of Washington’s beaches, from Hobuck Beach just south of Neah Bay,to our own Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco.  Last year, 1,158 volunteers helped during the state-wide effort, removing more than 23 tons of debris that included crab pot floats, plastic water bottles, tires, ropes, Styrofoam, carpeting, remnants of fireworks and discarded clothing.

Mark your calendar and join in on the fun.  In addition to the cleanup itself, there will be a lecture the evening before, and a soup feed immediately following the work on the beach.  Several local merchants offer coupons to participants as well, from free coffee to discounted lunch and other services.

To sign up to participate, visit http://www.coastsavers.org.
For more information on the local effort, head over to http://ourbeach.org.

During winter storms — or cold-season sun breaks — Cape Disappointment State Park offers some of the best viewpoints on the Washington coast.

If you’re a glutton for winter storms, and peering down from cliff tops into chasms of lashing saltwater makes you really feel alive; or if you simply love gazing out on a seascape of dimpled waves and watery blue sky swept clean by a howling nor’wester — Cape Disappointment is plainly misnamed.

“Cape D,” as locals call it, is no disappointment to the winter thrill-seeker.  Keep reading.