Friends of Padre Beach Report 8/03/2018

Seas early 1 to 2 feet with larger swells south of the 30 mile mark.

Driving was good until the 20's with lots of four wheel required during high tide. Rough spots continued all the way to the 41 mile mark where we turned around.

Water clarity was excellent with water temperatures in the low to mid 80's with no upwellings of cold water observed. Sargassum was light on the north end of Padre Island National Seashore and very scattered to south of the 20 mile mark.

We did notice lots of tar balls in scattered fashion the entire length of the beach and floating in the clear water. We will be contacting the Texas GLO to see if they are aware of the tar and will report back when we find out.

Here you can see the tar floating in the crystal clear water near the 30 mile mark.

Fishing was best early in the morning and later in the afternoon with stingray, ladyfish spanish mackerel, whiting, speckled trout and redfish reported.

Birds observed:

Great Blue Heron

Black Skimmer

Long-Billed Curlew

Sanderling

Ruddy Turnstone

Brown Pelican

Laughing Gull

Sandwich Tern

Black Tern

Caspian Tern

Royal Tern

Forster's Tern

Willet

White Ibis offshore low over the water