Renee Emiko Brock-Richmond of Sequim points out portions of a piece of dock that washed ashore on Port Williams Beach north of Marlyn Nelson County Park. Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News

Renee Emiko Brock-Richmond of Sequim points out portions of a piece of dock that washed ashore on Port Williams Beach north of Marlyn Nelson County Park. Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News

Washed-up dock near Sequim a mystery . . . for now

SEQUIM –– Officials with state and local officials are looking to see what — if anything — needs to be done about a barnacle-encrusted dock that was reported washed up on the beach near Port Williams Beach last weekend.

The wooden dock, which is about 10 feet wide and 20 feet long, was spotted by Jim Roberts of Sequim, who eyed the dock with his binoculars on a beach walk with his granddaughter Sunday.

“I looked down and saw something down there,” Roberts said.

So he looked through his binoculars and saw a weathered dock sitting several feet up the beach from the shoreline.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“I looked for some kind of writing on it, to see if it’s anything like that Japanese tsunami stuff that washed up,” Roberts said, referring to debris that has drifted across the ocean to shores of Washington Oregon Alaska and other states since the March 2011 tsunami.

But he saw no writing, nothing to identify it except a couple of ruts in one end that look as though they might have been rubbed away by cables, Roberts said.

Other hikers who had been to the beach earlier in the week said it was not there, dating back to at least the prior Tuesday, April 9.

Joel Winborn, Clallam County’s parks, fair and facilities manager, said a maintenance worker went out to look at the dock Tuesday afternoon.

He determined it was outside the park’s boundaries.

“It’s not ours,” Winborn said. “I don’t know what you do with it now.”

Dennis Clark, assistant aquatics division manager for the state Department of Natural Resources in Sedro-Woolley, said his office regularly clears flotsam from coastal beaches, but not often inland.

“A lot of it’s foreign, a lot of it’s not. It could be from the Puget Sound,” Clark said.

Clark said DNR workers on the North Olympic Peninsula will check out the dock this week.

If it’s large enough, they will likely clear it to prevent it from washing onto another beach.

The state’s 2012 Jobs Now package provided funding for beach waste removal, he said.

Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said nobody in his department had heard a report of the dock, either.

He said deputies may investigate soon.

Roberts helps canvass the beach for dead bird carcasses for the University of Washington’s Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team.

He said he planned to poll members of the team to see if they had spotted the dock earlier than Sunday.

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Road closed near Port Angeles structure fire

The Port Angeles Fire Department is working to contain… Continue reading

Rikki Rodger, left, holds a foam float, and Mark Stevenson and Sara Ybarra Lopez drop off 9.2 pounds of trash and debris they collected at Kai Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend during the Port Townsend Marine Science Center Earth Day Beach Cleanup event Saturday at Fort Worden State Park. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Beach cleanup

Rikki Rodger, left, holds a foam float, and Mark Stevenson and Sara… Continue reading

Emily Randall.
Randall reflects on first 100 days

Public engagement cited as top priority

Sequim company manufactures slings for its worldwide market

Heavy-duty rigging includes windmills, construction sites

Legislature hearing wide range of bills

Property tax, housing could impact Peninsula

Jefferson County adjusts budget appropriations

Money for parks, coroner and substance abuse treatment in jail

Motorcycle rider airlifted to Seattle hospital

A Sequim man was airlifted to a Seattle hospital after… Continue reading

Charter Review town hall committee to meet Wednesday

The Clallam County Charter Review Commission Town Hall Committee… Continue reading

Port Angeles High School jazz band second at Lionel Hampton festival

The Port Angeles High School jazz band placed second… Continue reading

This excited toddler is focused on his next prize and misses the ones right in front of him during the 95th annual Port Townsend Elks Club Easter Egg Hunt at Chetzemoka Park on Sunday. Volunteers hid more than 1,500 plastic eggs around the park with some redeemable for prizes. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
On the hunt

This excited toddler is focused on his next prize and misses the… Continue reading

Policy to opt out of meters updated

Clallam PUD to install digital instead of analog

Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Scott Burgett and Linda Kahananui are members of Dark Sky International who are working to spread awareness about how to be mindful with artificial lighting at night.
Scott Burgett and Linda Kahananui are members of Dark Sky International who are working to spread awareness about how to be mindful with artificial lighting at night. (Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
International Dark Sky Week to be celebrated

Peninsula residents raise awareness of artificial light pollution