The
SAND SPIT and the BAY
By
Curt Beebe
Introduction
In 2003 on a dare from Mary Lezier, I
set out to ‘re-vegetate the blowouts on the Sand Spit, which were
scars from World War II’. I got technical advice from the best –
Jack Biegle and Phil Gross – and a two acre experimental plot in the
dunes from ecologist Mike Walgren. Mike asked me to also keep up my
measurement of “Sand Encroachment”, and that led directly to the
story I am going to tell.
You see, fellow docents (at
the Museum of Natural History in Morro Bay) Ernie Eddy and George
Mason had driven a stake at the eastern edge of the slip face at
Suicide Hill. They measured an amazing 10 feet of movement in 2 ½
years.
That led me to drive a second
stake, and a third. By November I had stakes all up and down the
Sand Spit. Then I got really lucky; the December 22 earthquake
occurred, a once-in-a-hundred years event.
Bear with me, and I’ll share
with you an incredible adventure!
Acknowledgements
Especial thanks to Cheryl Lesinsky of
NEP for helping me access maps, and to Professor David Chipping of
Cal Poly for sage advice about protecting the habitat.
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