By MONICA SAMAYOA/Oregon Public Broadcasting The Southern Oregon coast is closer to hosting floating offshore wind energy, after the Biden administration announced it’s preparing to accept proposals for the area. This is the first step in a multiyear process before any wind developer could begin construction. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau […]
Environment
Marine mammal groups remind beachgoers to leave baby seals alone
Harbor seal pupping season has started on the Oregon coast and various animal groups are reminding beachgoers that while the seals are adorable or may appear to be abandoned — do not touch them. The baby seals use time on land to regulate body temperature and rest. However, if a young pup is onshore alone […]
If you build it will ospreys come? After erecting platform Monday, Yachats bird group will find out
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – With the foundation laid it’s now a game of wait-and-see whether efforts will work to entice ospreys to make a home in the heart of Yachats. A flock of volunteers gathered on the northern fringe of the wetlands west of city hall Monday to attach an upturned pallet atop […]
It’s seal pupping season along the Oregon coast — and more killer whales sightings by growing number of watchers
By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews Up and down the Oregon coast, harbor seal pupping season is just getting underway. And while the sight of the small, helpless seals is arresting all by itself, it portends another annual marvel – the increasingly visible return of killer whales to the state’s bays, inlets and near-shore coastal waters. The […]
Federal advisory group recommends curtailed Oregon ocean salmon fishing again; closing California season
By YachatsNews Recommendations for the ocean salmon seasons off the coasts of Oregon, California and Washington were made last week with some OK news for some fishermen and devastating news for those in California. Once again. The Pacific Fishery Management Council — which oversees fishing along the West Coast — voted unanimously Wednesday to […]
Coalition of Oregon fishing groups, seafood industry asks Kotek to slow offshore wind energy development
By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle A coalition of independent fishing boat operators, seafood companies and industry groups is calling on Gov. Tina Kotek to ask the federal government to stop a planned auction for floating wind energy projects off the Oregon Coast. In a letter to Kotek last week, the more than 100 signatories […]
NOAA researchers announce 33 percent increase in gray whale numbers, end investigation into die-off
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews There’s good news for whale lovers on the Oregon coast. The number of gray whales that migrated south along the Pacific Coast this winter have rebounded sharply to numbers not seen in four years, according to NOAA Fisheries. The increase is large enough and signs of healthy North Pacific gray whales […]
Anti-spray group will keep protesting Starker’s drone herbicide application near Yachats despite assurances it is OK
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – A planned aerial spray of herbicides using drones on private forestland east of Yachats has sparked concern and condemnation from central coast residents who oppose any use of herbicides in forests near watersheds. Opponents of the spray lined U.S. Highway 101 in Yachats last Sunday holding signs with slogans […]
ODFW officials confirm central Oregon coast has a very unusual spring break visitor — a wandering wolverine
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews The rarest of spring break visitor – a first so far as wildlife officials know – is making its way south along the central Oregon coast. There have been multiple confirmed sightings of what is believed to be a single wolverine – first spotted in Nehalem on March 18, then Netarts […]
New OSU research shows that low oxygen levels off the Pacific Northwest coast are widespread and increasing
By MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service Low oxygen conditions that pose a significant threat to marine life are widespread and increasing in coastal Pacific Northwest ocean waters as the climate warms, a new study shows. Researchers found that in 2021, more than half the continental shelf off the Pacific Northwest coast experienced the low-oxygen condition […]