EDITOR’S NOTE: I first met Craig Andes in 2014 when he contacted me about doing a story. His home was covered in maps and artifacts and I’ve been following his search ever since. His knowledge about the area, the history and determination to share his discovery was infectious. Fast forward to 2022 … described in other stories as a “local…
Category: Nature & Outdoors
Coast Emergency Responders Safety Tips for Spring Break – VIDEO
EDITOR’S NOTE: With Spring Break and a steady stream of visitors, the Pioneer has been advocating for beach and trail safety programs for a decade. Here are some great tips and the best advice from the people that are rescuing those that don’t heed the signs, follow the advice or don’t think it applies to them. Enjoy the wonderful, amazing…
SPRING WHALE WATCH WEEK RETURNS IN PERSON FOR SPRING BREAK 2023
OREGON COAST, Oregon—Oregon State Parks will host Spring Whale Watch Week in person along the Oregon Coast Tuesday, March 28 through Sunday, April 2. Every year thousands of gray whales pass through Oregon’s waters in the spring on their journey home from the calving lagoons in Mexico, and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department invites visitors to the coast to see them. Trained volunteers will be stationed…
Wolverine sighted along Columbia River near Portland on Monday, March 20th
(March 22, 2023; SALEM, Ore.) – A wolverine was sighted by two people who were fishing on the Columbia River near Portland on the morning of Monday, March 20. Wolverine, rare and listed as threatened in Oregon, are the largest member of the weasel family and resemble a small bear. This is the first confirmed report of a wolverine outside…
Rare for this Area, Loggerhead Turtle Found on Manzanita Beach March 18th
A 75-pound sea turtle was found yesterday morning, March 18, 2023, on the south end of Manzanita beach. After receiving photographs of the turtle, it was clear that the turtle had been dead for quite some time before washing ashore. The turtle was recovered by the Seaside Aquarium and was later identified as a loggerhead sea turtle. This ocean-going turtle…
Marine Reserves hook-and-line surveys head to Garibaldi, Port Orford in 2023
(March 17, 2023-Newport, Ore.) – Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program plans to return to the ports of Garibaldi and Port Orford this spring and fall in the latest installment of this unique way for coastal commercial and recreational fishers to help fuel scientific research in the state’s near-shore waters. The Marine Preserves Program, administered by the Oregon Department of Fish and…
RESPECT NESTING AREAS TO PROTECT THREATENED SNOWY PLOVER MARCH 15 – SEPT. 15
Corvallis, OR – The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and federal U.S. Forest Service remind visitors to the Oregon coast that it is plover nesting season — visitors can help recovery efforts for the threatened western snowy plover by sharing the beaches March 15 to Sept. 15. Sensitive plover nesting areas will be roped off or identified by signs with rules and limits, such as staying on the wet sand,…
Oregon Coast Aquarium Staff Develop Sea Star Wasting Treatment
Newport, Oregon – Oregon Coast Aquarium (OCAq) staff have developed a treatment plan for Sea Star Wasting Syndrome (SSWS), a deadly set of symptoms that have decimated sea star populations. Sea Star Wasting Syndrome caused a mass die off of sea stars along the Pacific Coast in 2013 and 2014. Near-unidentifiable gelatinous bulks, the remnants of stars having fallen to wasting, littered the seafloor. One of Oregon’s keystone species,…
World of Haystack Rock Library Lecture Series: Transient Killer Whales of the Outer Coast of Oregon & California, March 8th
Who: Friends of Haystack Rock & the Cannon Beach Library What: World of Haystack Rock Library Lecture Series 2022-2023 When: Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. (These are recurring lectures with different speakers and topics. They are held on the second Wednesday of every month from November to April). Where: Cannon Beach Library, 131 N. Hemlock St, Cannon Beach, Oregon or join us virtually via…
CANNON BEACH FIRE DISTRICT – Water Rescue Indian Beach, Cannon Beach 3/5/2023
On March 5, 2023, at approximately 1:44 pm, Cannon Beach Fire District was dispatched to Indian Beach at Ecola State Park for a report of two surfers in the water separated from their boards. Upon arrival, Incident Command established that the two victims were located in the surfer deposit, sitting safely on top of a rock, unable to get back…
