All about the West Seattle neighborhood around Beach Drive
Right now there are hundreds (well, a lot) of small seagulls off the shores of Emma Schmitz Viewpoint Memorial Park. One of our friends tells us they are Bonaparte’s gulls. They kind of look like a cross between a tern and a gull. Apparently they like herring eggs too!
Hat tip to Michele!
Did you get an early wake up call from the barking seals and sea lions this morning? There is a massive herring spawn taking place right now causing the light, milky patches in the sound and attracting a lot of wildlife, including seals, sea lions and eagles.
We captured this photo at Emma Schmitz Memorial Viewpoint where onlookers watched the packs of seals and sea lions take breaks from their feast. The lighter colored water is not typical. The PT Leader has a great description of what’s taking place:
“The CWI’s Anne Shaffer explained that “white water” is the colloquial term for the milt sprayed by males to fertilize the newly laid eggs.
“Scores of marine mammals and thousands of birds congregate to feed on the thick carpets of eggs laid on eelgrass and Sargassum seaweed along the shore,” Shaffer said. “The eggs are still developing but will soon hatch, marking the beginning the 2020 spring plankton season that, in turn, supports the rest of our Salish Sea food chain.”
It’s an amazing sight and I WISH my better camera was working right now.
We’ve noticed a few paddle boarders trying to get a close look at the sea lions and seals.
The Seattle Fire Department will be cruising neighborhoods from 7:00 – 8:00 pm tonight and next Friday. In a tweet, the Seattle Fire Department says they are doing this to let us know they are here to serve and that they’ll be touring the north end of districts this week and next week, the south end will be toured.
We are invited to come out to the sidewalk and “make some noise”. I know our dog, Hitch, will certainly chime in if he hears any sirens!
Here is the full the map showing the divided districts.
UPDATE: Casey is back home with his human. 🙂
Casey is a 6 year old male Bengal cat that has been missing since Saturday from his Beach Drive home. He is neutered and micro-chipped. Please call 206-937-8009 if you’ve seen Casey. His humans miss him terribly.
Mayor Durkin has announced Seattle’s 15 largest parks will be closed this weekend in an effort to assist with social distancing, including Lincoln Park, Alki Beach and West Seattle Stadium. The closure begins on Friday, April 10, 2020 at 11:00 pm and the parks will reopen on Monday, April 12, 2020 at 4:30 am.
From the Mayor’s statement:
“These are the beautiful weather days we crave all winter, but we are living in unprecedented times and the Governor’s order isn’t stay out – it’s stay home. Seattle’s frontline medical workers, vulnerable residents, and displaced workers need you to stay home. While Seattle is expecting near perfect weather, friends and families should not have family or friend outings, picnics or gatherings in parks. Stay home unless you need to go to an essential job or business. If you need to take a walk in your neighborhood, be smart and don’t help create a crowded place. Too many friends, residents and families are continuing to gathering for picnics, BBQs, basketball games, and group walks. Because we still are in danger of a spike in infections, hospitalizations and deaths we have to keep doing out part. Easing up on social distancing too early will put more people at risk, could overwhelm our health care system, and could delay the reopening of businesses. Stay home, and if you must leave your home, be smart, follow social distancing guidelines by stay at lease six feet from everyone and wear a mask” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “Our collective effort has made an impact flattening the curve, but we must continue or face even greater and longer term consequences.”
I’m concerned that the closure of these popular parks are only going to push more people to Beach Drive, which already seems more crowded with runners, walkers, bicyclist and walkers… and according to this study, 6 feet may not be enough distance from people who are walking, running or biking.
And while I’m at it… can folks please stop spitting and emptying their noses (aka snot rockets) in public areas? We walk Beach Drive and local parks and have seen all sorts of people doing this. I personally think even if we were not in the middle of a pandemic that this is a disgusting practice – but we definitely should be doing this right now. Rant over! 🙂
We hope you have a happy and healthy weekend!
After we all successfully flatten the curve on the covid virus, KEEPING the curve on the West Seattle Bridge will be the next hurdle to deal with.
Photo credit to Westside Seattle
SDOT has been busy with mapping out major detour routes funneling drivers to the 1st Avenue South bridge and beyond as the lower bridge is reserved for emergency, port and busing (not sure how strong the argument is gong to be for car owners to opt for cramming into buses on the heals of a pandemic i.e. more cars). Among other routes they’re missing will be the inevitable morning migrations south along Beach Drive and Alki Avenue. I can see traffic cops pulling double shifts at Endolyne Joe’s as Beach Drivers and ferry traffic tangle to get south via Barton & Marine View Drive.
Beach Drive Blog has taken the liberty to amend SDOT’s detour map to highlight what we envision.
With no timeline being offered on bridge repairs, I’d be begging my employer for the night shift!
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
Beach Drive’s neighborhood restaurant, LaRustica, is complying with the recent statewide order for restaurants and bars to close until the end of this month. They are now offering take out on Tuesdays through Sundays from 4:00 – 8:00 pm.
In addition, the Pellegrini family is offering 15% during this time. Call 206-932-3020 to place your order.
I’m not sure how accurate this menu is, or what will be available, but it could be helpful?
I probably shouldn’t be making light of this… my husband, aka our intrepid reporter Scupper, was almost struck by a giant mature maple just moments ago. He was walking our dog on the Mee Kwa Mooks trail when he heard the tree starting to crack. He and our dog literally started to run for their lives. No sooner did the cracking start, the tree came down just missing them.
As one of our neighbors say, hubby used up one of his nine lives by and our dog narrowly escaping this.
Mee Kwa Mooks is filled with mature trees, including end-of-life, maples. It’s not unusual to walk the trails and have to step over recently downed trees. This is the first time (hopefully the last) where we’ve experienced this close of an encounter.
We will be reporting this to the parks department to see if they can target dangerous trees.
Stay safe, friends!
UPDATE 2/14/2020: Scroll below for more photos by our Intrepid Reporter, Scupper. We have also added a link to the My Coast app under Swell Links.
Anyone else noticing the increased amount of wood debris along the shores of Beach Drive lately? I could hardly believe my eyes when I gazed out at the low tide this afternoon…
BDB confirmed with both King County & Washington State Dept of Natural Resources that the main contributor is likely from the recently flooded rivers in the region.
According to a spokesperson for DNR’s Aquatic Restoration, all the clean, non creosote soaked wood will be allowed to settle on our local beaches to help contribute to the natural habitat. The person that I spoke with mentioned that they were just out at West Seattle beaches removing toxic coated wood & debris off the beaches. She encouraged us to help promote their new app named “My Coast” that allows anyone to send a picture of toxic debris floating in the sound for cleanup.
The really big stuff floating out neat the shipping lanes is the responsibility of the Army Corp of Engineers. We spotted them picking logs onto a large barge yesterday morning.
Photos from February 14, 2020
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
We have currently have a Wind Advisory in effect starting at 10:00 am this morning through 7:00 am tomorrow morning. Along with a Special Weather Statement warning of higher risks of landslides due to heavy rainfall.
Wind Alert is predicting a very windy day and shows the same snow forecast as well.
Here are the upcoming high tides:
Puget Sound Marine Forecast (from 2:41 am)
Puget Sound and Hood Canal- 241 AM PST Fri Jan 31 2020 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON
TODAY: S wind 15 to 25 kt rising to 20 to 30 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. Rain.
TONIGHT: S wind 30 to 40 kt. Wind waves 5 to 7 ft. Rain.
SAT: SW wind 20 to 30 kt. Wind becoming NW 25 to 35 kt N part in the afternoon. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft. Rain.
SAT NIGHT SW wind 10 to 20 kt except NW 20 to 30 kt N part in the evening. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft except 3 to 5 ft N part in the evening.
We are on the fence on as to whether or not this should be one of our “Barking Dog” reports… this weather is certainly enough to make us whine and whimper. Should the winds really pick up and be from the southwest, then we are likely to see some of water come over our bulkhead. It’s 8:14 AM as I am writing this with just shy of an hour to go before our high tide of 11.6 feet. It’s grey and wet out and I’m hoping that by the time the winds pick up that the tides will be low enough to just give us spectacular spray. We have a lower high tide tonight with potentially stronger winds.
Bottom line, I think hubby will be making sure our pumps and generators are operational today!
Wish our Seahawks were playing this weekend and we hope you stay warm and dry.
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