Friends of Padre

Driving was good the entire length of the beach front. Water was murky inshore the Northern 54 miles and green the Southern 6 miles. Very little feeding activity was observed and this was restricted to small Terns. No fish activity was observed. Some sargassum entangled in yellow whip coral was observed in the Little Shell while the remainder of the beach was weed free. Some wildlife was observed. Royal, Caspian and Foresters Terns were observed along with a min. of shorebirds and larger species of gulls. 29 Long Billed Curlews were observed. Beach combing was fair with very high numbers of starfish and Angel Wings on the south end of the beach. Water was cold. Water was attempting to clear but will not have necessary time to do so before the arrival of the next cold frontal passage. A merlin enjoying the afternoon. Dead Sea Turtle

In light of the recent illegal trapping and illegal dumping of wildlife on Padre Island, Friends of Padre, Inc. is offering a $2,000 reward for information resulting in an arrest and conviction related to the above mentioned illegal acts. In addition, Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Operation Game Thief Program offers up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of responsible parties.  Trapping on public land is not only illegal, it is dangerous. The threat posed to the public and domestic animals should not be ignored as these traps function in a non-discriminatory manner. In addition, illegal dumping poses a public health risk and potential environmental hazards. If you have information related to these recent events, please contact Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Operation Game Thief at 1-800-792-GAME.

Attention Volunteers!!! 2014 is here and that means the 2014 Billy Sandifer Big Shell Beach Cleanup is around the corner. This cleanup can not happen without the help of our volunteers and your help is needed again. See you there! The Big Shell Beach Cleanup will be held Saturday, 22 February, 2014. Volunteers will meet at Malaquite Pavilion on PINS and the event will commence at 7 a.m. To reach Malaquite Pavilion just stay on South Padre Island Drive (SPID) through Corpus Christi out onto North Padre Island where it becomes Park Road 22. Just keep driving till you come to the entry gate of PINS. Tell the attendant you are there to volunteer for the beach cleanup and you will not be charged admission. The second set of buildings is the Malaquite Pavilion and turn into the huge parking lot. It’s on the left side of Park Road 22. All volunteers will be back at the pavilion by 2 pm. Four wheel drive vehicles, trailers for hauling trash in and out of the work area, and working volunteers are needed. Walking volunteers (those arriving in two wheel drive vehicles) are welcome and will be afforded transportation to and from the work area. Those unable to pick up trash but having four wheel drive vehicles are most welcome to aid in hauling volunteers and trash. The event will not be rescheduled and will take place rain or shine. Snacks, water, and soft drinks will be available in the work area and refreshments will be available at Malaquite following the event. Long pants and sturdy foot wear are recommended. Don't pick up broken glass or flammable items. Report all hazardous items to your section leaders. Volunteers will receive event t-shirts. This is a worthy event and it's only possible because of volunteer participation. Please come and join us. Thanks, Friends of Padre PSA Beach Cleanup 2014 Frank Edwards KRYS KKTX

Air Temp: 73 Water Temp: 71 Wind: 10 SE Waves: 3-4 ft Water Clarity: Dirty out to 3rd bar Weed: Only weed on beach was at the 17, covered about ¾ of a mile. Plenty of bait in the water with finger mullet in the first gut the length of the beach. Atlantic spots were in the 50’s and getting hammered by fish and birds. With no weed in the water, soaking bait was easy and produced all day. Fishing the last week has been some of the best of the year for Reds and Jacks. Thursday it peaked with 35 reds with only 4 in the slot and the rest bulls, along with 23 large jacks. Driving is excellent except during peak high tide. The beach is getting VERY skinny from the 53 to the 58.5. Getting to the jetty is only possible at low tide unless you drive through the water. Very few birds on the beach with the exception of the Brown pelicans getting fat for the winter on all the migrating finger mullet. This recent cold front will change everything on the beach. Water temperatures have dropped from 71 to 62 as of this morning. They will continue to drop with the cold temps forecasted for the remainder of the week. This should end the mullet migration and the winter fishing pattern should fall into place.

This report is a combined effort by Friends of Padre and Sharkathon to inspect the beach for trash and fish remains after a long tournament weekend. Water clarity improved Monday, October 28th after strong winds and high water pounded the seashore on Friday and Saturday. Small pieces of sargassum were making landfall on the southern half of the beach, but no substantial mats were reported. Dead sargassum returned to the wade gut and first bar due to Saturday's high water event. No actively feeding birds were observed until reaching the East cut, where brown pelicans and laughing gulls were feeding over skipjack, Spanish mackerel, and blacktip sharks. The observed prey in the wash at the foot of the jetty was a mixture of finger mullet and anchovies. Larger boils were observed at the end of jetty, but a positive identification was unavailable. The water in the East Cut was green to brown in color. This tannin-stained water can be observed at passes following high rain events when slugs of freshwater exit the estuaries. Our bird count was incomplete as our eyes were focused on trash and fish remains. With that said, two Peregrine falcons were observed and 14 Long -billed Curlews were counted.

Water is clear the entire length of the beach but Sargassum owns it from one end to the other. Large mats still coming in are visible in most areas. A few jack Crevalle, Spanish Mackerel and redfish are available in small areas but it is a hard grind with the weed and most of the beach is unfishable. The beach is hard packed and driving is good although weed covers much of the beach front and traveling on high tide is tough. Only about one mile North of the Port Mansfield jetties is clear of grass. Finger mullet are scattered. I have never seen the grass this bad at this time of year and my impression is it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Birds were hard to observe in the cloudy conditions and with all the Sargassum but my count came up to 1,360 Red Knots (probably this is less than were actually present), 30 Long Billed Curlews, 5 Peregrine Falcons, 1 Merlin and 2 Caracara.

Via the National Park Service Padre Island National Seashore: (Corpus Christi, Texas) - Padre Island National Seashore is open! All beaches, facilities and services, including Bird Island Basin and Malaquite Beach Pavilion, are open and operating under normal hours. We are happy to be back at work serving the American people and welcoming visitors to their national parks. We are proud to be a member of this community and contribute to the local economy. The economic impact of closing this park for 16 days has been extremely tough on our gateway community, local businesses, neighbors, and park partners. We look forward to working with you on ways to lessen that impact. For more information, please contact the Malaquite Visitor Center at (361) 949-8068.

(Corpus Christi, Texas)– Padre Island National Seashore will offer free visitor admission on Saturday, September 28th, 2013 in honor of National Public Lands Day. The Fall Adopt-a-Beach cleanup will also be held at the park from 8:30 a.m. until noon. The day will provide a great opportunity for visitors to connect with the outdoors and to engage in healthy activities while learning more about stewardship of our national parks. The fee waiver does not apply to Bird Island Basin special use fees or to campground fees. For information about the Adopt-a-Beach program, please visit http://www.glo.texas.gov/adopt-a-beach. For additional information contact the Malaquite Visitor Center at (361) 949-8068.