A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2019
Jellyfi sh wash up at Fort Stevens
IN BRIEF
Health advisory for Short Sand Beach
A health advisory has been issued for Short Sand
Beach in Oswald West State Park.
State testing detected higher-than-normal levels
of fecal bacteria in the water at the popular beach that
can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, skin rashes, upper
respiratory infections and other illnesses.
People should avoid direct contact with the ocean
and creek water and pools of water until the advisory is
lifted. Children and the elderly may be especially vul-
nerable to illness from waterborne bacteria.
It is the fi rst advisory this season for Short Sand, and
the fi rst advisory for the site in several years. The cause
of the increased levels of fecal bacteria is not clear, but
rangers with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment say high water temperatures at this time of year
can be a contributing factor.
The beach is still open to other activities.
Road access to Indian Beach will
close for bridge construction
Bridge repair work will limit access to Indian Beach
at the end of September.
A 1.5-mile segment of Ecola State Park Road in the
popular Ecola State Park will close as early as Sept. 23
for a bridge construction project over Canyon Creek,
shutting down road access to the Indian Beach day-use
area. There is no other road access to the parking lot and
the beach.
The state anticipates the closure will last for about
10 weeks.
The only hiking access to the beach will be from the
north on the Tillamook Head Trail, which begins in Sea-
side. A hiking trail from Ecola Point to the south remains
closed due to a landslide. Road access to Ecola Point
is expected to remain open during the bridge work, but
there could be temporary road closures as the project
begins and equipment is moved into place.
Canyon Creek’s drainage was severely damaged
during 2015 fl oods. The road failed and prevented access
to Indian Beach. A temporary culvert was installed, but
will now be removed and replaced with a new bridge.
Final construction costs are undetermined — project
bidding remains open until Tuesday — but the state esti-
mates the work will cost around $500,0000. The project
is eligible for a 75% Federal Emergency Management
Agency reimbursement since the fl ooding was declared
a disaster.
— The Astorian
BIRTHS
Aug. 20, 2019
DUNCAN, Brooke
and John, of Warrenton,
a boy, Luca Kai Duncan,
born at Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital in Astoria.
Grandparents are John
and Michell Duncan, of
Texas, Kathy Patterson,
of Seaside, and Skip and
Tina Roberts, of Portland.
Aug. 8, 2019
BALLARD, Alyssa
and MORGAN, Patrick,
of Astoria, a boy, Grant
James Morgan, born at
Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital. Grandparents are
James and Konni Ballard,
Sharon Olson, Kathy
Morgan and Michael
Olson.
MEMORIALS
Saturday, Sept. 7
UTTI, Harry Alan — Memorial and celebration of
life at noon, 92146-92148 Wireless Road.
ON THE RECORD
DUII
• Robin Lawton, 56,
of Seaside, was arrested
Saturday on U.S. High-
way 101 near 17th Ave-
nue in Seaside for driv-
ing under the infl uence of
intoxicants.
Disorderly conduct
• Christine Sage, 55, of
Warrenton, was arrested
Saturday in Warrenton
for disorderly conduct.
Eluding police
• Nicholas Tyson Lem-
mon, 29, of Warrenton,
was cited Monday on S.
Main Avenue and S.W.
First Street for driving
with a suspended license
and arrested for attempting
to elude a police offi cer.
Reckless driving
• Patricia Tewalt, 45,
of Seaside, was arrested
Monday for hit and run,
reckless driving, driving
with a suspended license
and driving while unin-
sured. Police said she
struck a pedestrian on
First Avenue and Edge-
wood Street . The pedes-
trian sustained minor
injuries.
• Steven Gonzales,
22, of Vancouver, Wash-
ington, was arrested Fri-
day for reckless driving.
Police said an offi cer was
on the Astoria B ridge
patrolling when Gonza-
les was seen speeding
and doing a wheelie on
his motorcycle. Police
eventually stopped him
on the New Youngs Bay
Bridge.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Astoria Design Review
Committee, 5:30 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
Published Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday by EO Media Group,
949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
97103 Telephone 503-325-3211,
800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
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DailyAstorian.com
Seaside Parks Adviso-
ry Committee, 6 p.m.,
workshop, City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Beached jellyfi sh showed up en masse at Fort Stevens State Park over the Labor Day weekend.
Razor clams thriving on the peninsula
Surveys suggest
robust harvest
By LUKE WHITTAKER
Chinook Observer
LONG BEACH, Wash.
— R azor clam surveys con-
ducted by the Washing-
ton Department of Fish and
Wildlife reveal clams are
thriving on the p eninsula.
Early-season
digging
dates will be announced
soon, based on a robust har-
vest quota of 5.2 million
clams.
“Long Beach is look-
ing really strong and there
will be some super digging
in the months ahead,” said
Dan Ayres, the state coastal
shellfi sh manager, upon
completing the fi nal clam
population survey of the
summer with his four-man
crew Friday in Ocean Park.
“We had a lot of little
guys last year and not a lot
of big clams. We gave them
a break to let them grow
and that’s exactly what
happened. We have a great
population of harvestable
clams. We’re going to get
back this year what we lost
last year.”
There were only four
digging days on the p enin-
sula last season. There may
be 25 times as many days
of digging in the upcoming
season.
This season’s total p en-
insula clam population esti-
mate is about 13 million.
“This year we’re going
to target our harvest at 40
percent of the population
estimate, ” Ayres said.
The team of state tech-
nicians collected and mea-
sured razor clams on a
remote stretch of beach
north of the Ocean Park
approach Friday . It was the
fi nal survey of more than 50
conducted over the summer
along the southwest coast.
The
random
sur-
veys revealed a bounty of
big, healthy clams, with
improved overall distribu-
tion from Benson Beach in
Cape Disappointment State
Park to north of Oysterville.
“The good news about
Long Beach is our data is
showing clams all along the
Circulation phone number:
503-325-3211
Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR
now they’re back,” Ayres
said.
“In 2016, we lost a lot of
clams because of freshwater
coming out of the Columbia
River. The adult clams held
up down below (the sand),
but the little tiny guys on the
beach that year, the stock
for 2017, got wiped out by
the freshwater. Conditions
were way better this year.
Right now the ocean con-
‘LONG BEACH IS LOOKING
REALLY STRONG AND THERE
WILL BE SOME SUPER DIGGING
IN THE MONTHS AHEAD’
Dan Ayres | state coastal shellfi sh manager
Pacifi c razor clams,
ranging from California to
Alaska, can produce up to
18 million spawn and live
upward of fi ve years, reach-
ing about 6 inches at full
maturity. Specimens further
north often grow slower and
live longer.
“Biologically,
razor
clams are really power-
ful. They grow quickly and
are prolifi c reproducers if
we give them a chance and
ocean conditions are right.
We had a down year and
ditions have been fi ne and
the razor clams are doing
great.”
A
pump-sampling
method learned from man-
agement offi cials in Alaska
is now the preferred method
in Washington and Oregon.
The method is more sen-
sitive to catching juvenile
clams that may have been
missed in the past, provid-
ing a more accurate picture
of the clam population . The
same method was used to
assess razor clam popula-
tions to estimate how many
clams were on each of the
fi ve management beaches
on Washington’s outer
coast, Ayres said.
Lead technician Clayton
Parson, who’s logged nearly
30 years with the state’s
shellfi sh department, said
the recent razor clam survey
for the p eninsula has been
among the most promising
he’s observed in years.
“I would say this is
among the highest I’ve
seen. They’re not super big,
but there’s a ton of them.
This is probably one of the
tops. Things are on the up
and up for Long Beach,”
Parson said.
“We’re super excited
about the volume of clams
we’ve been seeing, espe-
cially after losing all those
clams a few years ago.”
Threats to the clam sea-
son still linger, including the
potential for elevated levels
of domoic acid, a natural
toxin produced by certain
types of algae, which has
sometimes curtailed clam
digging in recent years.
“We’re looking forward
to the harvest, hopefully we
don’t have any toxin prob-
lems,” Parson said. “That’s
all we’re worried about at
this point. The people who
monitor the plankton in the
surf say everything looks
good right now.”
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CUSHIONING FOAM
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CONSTRUCTION
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beach,” Ayres said. “People
can spread out and use the
whole beach.”
Spring digs are typi-
cally the most popular,
when tides and conditions
are more favorable, draw-
ing thousands in pursuit of
their 15-clam daily limit.
Throughout the October to
April season, clam diggers
are a crucial part of the local
economy .
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Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
A pump-sampling method learned from management offi cials in Alaska is now the preferred
survey method for razor clams in Oregon and Washington state.
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