Marine Mammals Articles

Offshore wind turbines.\Photo courtesy of Stanford University.

Decision Awaited on Offshore Wind Energy Sites

Offshore wind turbines.\Photo courtesy of NOAA. Latest development: The deadline for public comment on the Wind Energy Areas within which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is past. Now we await the agency's response to feedback. On Aug. 15, BOEM announced the dimensions of two draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the coast of Oregon and opened a 60-day...Read more
Sea otter and kelp.

Share Your Views on Restoring Sea Otters

Sea otter and kelp.\Photo courtesy of Elakha Alliance. Oregon Shores has long supported the efforts of the Elakha Alliance to build a case for restoring a population of sea otters to the Oregon coast. Driven extinct in this state early in the last century, sea otters have been a key missing piece in nearshore ocean and estuarine ecology. These efforts have...Read more
Sea otters in the Gulf of Alaska, where populations have been restored. /photo by Kedar Gadge, Unspl

Sea Otter Study Points to Reintroduction Feasibility

Sea otters in the Gulf of Alaska, where populations have been restored. /photo by Kedar Gadge, Unsplash.com On July 27, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a report to Congress supporting the feasibility of reintroducing sea otters to their historic range on the Pacific...Read more
Photo of Drone over the Oregon coast courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium

State Parks Now Drawing Maps for Drone Zones

Drone over the Oregon coast.\Photo courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium. Drones have research and commercial uses, but recreational drone use, often by unskilled or reckless operators, is on the increase. This can have serious impacts to wildlife, as well as other human activities, privacy, and solitude. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is...Read more

Comment on Whale Entanglement

Gray whale at Depoe Bay.\Photo by Rena Olson. Whale entanglement in fishing gear is a global problem. It is a problem off the U.S. West Coast, including Oregon. Fishery gear entanglement is a direct human cause of harm and mortality to cetaceans. Oregon Dungeness crab fishing gear has been found to be a major source of entanglements. Most such entanglements go...Read more

'Sharing the Coast' Time Soon to Arrive

Horsfall Beach near Coos Bay; European beachgrass (foreground) will be a topic at the conference.\Photo by Dina Pavlis. The 11 th annual Sharing the Coast Conference is coming up March 13-15. This time around the conference, a collaboration between CoastWatch and the Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME), will be held in Coos Bay, at Southwestern...Read more

Orca Awareness Month Declared in Oregon

For 13 years, June has been proclaimed Orca Awareness Month by the Governor of Washington — and for the first time in 2016, Orca Awareness Month was celebrated in Oregon and in British Columbia as well! The American Cetacean Society’s Oregon Chapter kicked things off early with an Orca Awareness Day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Any community group, science center, non-profit...Read more
View from the Port Orford dock.\Photo courtesy of ODFW.

Big Weekend in Port Orford Coming Up

View from the Port Orford dock.\Photo courtesy of ODFW. One of CoastWatch’s goals for 2018 is to bolster our citizen science projects on the south coast. Assisted by a grant from the Oregon Parks Foundation Fund that helps to cover travel and other costs, we are trying to give the southern coastal counties some special attention. The full weekend of activities...Read more
Tidepool instruction at Haystack Rock.\Photo by Melissa Keyser/HRAP.

Share the Coast for Fun and Stewardship

Tidepool instruction at Haystack Rock.\Photo by Melissa Keyser/HRAP. The annual Sharing the Coast Conference, coming up March 2-4 in Cannon Beach this year, presents an extraordinary harvest of coastal natural history and shoreline science. Mingle with fellow coast-lovers, revel in talks, panel discussions, and field trips, and, of course, strive for supremacy...Read more
Waldport High School, scene of the Sharing the Coast Conference. Photo by Sara Schreiber.

'Sharing the Coast' Takes Place this Weekend

Waldport High School, scene of the Sharing the Coast Conference. Photo by Sara Schreiber. CoastWatch’s Sharing the Coast Conference, our 9 th annual feast of information about shoreline natural history and science, takes place this year in Waldport, and is coming up this weekend, March 3-5. The public is invited, so please spread the word to anyone you know who...Read more