NEWPORT – Spring Break is Whale Watch Week on the Oregon Coast, and our Visitor Center at the Hatfield Marine Science Center is a great place to learn about the gray whale migration (and get in out of the cold).

We’ll be open from 10 am to 4 pm daily with marine mammal presentations at 1:30 pm, updated statistics about whale sightings off the Oregon coast, marine mammal-themed films, children’s activities and more!

Learn more:

• Download our free publications, Gray Whales (also available in Spanish) and Watching Whales)
• Read how Leigh Torres, Sea Grant Extension marine mammal specialist and whale researcher with the OSU Marine Mammal Institute, is studying gray whale foraging behavior of Oregon’s “resident” whales: 2015 article from OSU News & Research Communications
• Download a .pdf flyer about the Visitor Center’s Whale Watch Week activities

This week marks the start of Sea Grant’s 50th anniversary year, highlighting how the program has been “putting science to work for America’s coastal communities” since the 1960s.

The goal is to raise awareness of Sea Grant programs across the nation and our efforts to apply research and community engagement tactics to bring about positive results for coastal communities in the areas of healthy coastal ecosystems, resilient communities and economies, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and environmental literacy and workforce development.

As one of the first three Sea Grant programs established in the years just after Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Sea Grant College and Program Act as a way of directing federal resources to pressing problems in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes communities, Oregon Sea Grant has helped lead the way.

We’re taking this anniversary as an opportunity to showcase some of the people, programs and partnerships that are bringing about positive change on Oregon’s coast. We’ll be sharing stories about how Sea Grant works with a variety of stakeholders on pressing topics ranging from earthquake and tsunami preparedness to helping coastal communities and businesses prepare for and adapt to a changing climate.

To learn more:

• Read the National Sea Grant program’s 50th anniversary announcement
• Subscribe to our news feed to learn about Oregon Sea Grant activities and initiatives
• Follow us on Twitter for fun facts, historical tidbits and 50th anniversary news from other Sea Grant states

NEWPORT – Do you like agates? Have a fossil from the beach you can’t identify? Curious about the woolly mammoth bones unearthed recently at an OSU construction site? Head to Newport this Saturday for Fossil Fest at the Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Visitor Center, from 10 am to 4 pm.

The annual event features special displays, lectures and activities, and a chance to swap stories with other fossil fans.

Special guest lecturer Dr. William Orr, an emeritus anthropologist from the University of Oregon, will speak at 1:30 pm on “Lagerstatten: World Class Fossil Sites,” in the Hennings auditorium. The lecture will focus on what makes certain fossil sites so valuable, both in the United States and abroad. He also will sign copies of his books, Oregon Fossils and Geology of Oregon.

A lecture by Guy “The Oregon Fossil Guy” DiTorrice will focus on “Douglas Emlong – Fossil Pioneer, Fossil Dreamer,” starting at 11:30 am in the auditorium.

And special guests Loren Davis and Dave Ellison of OSU will speak at 3 pm  about the recent discovery of fossilized mammoth bones at OSU’s Reser Stadium, complete with photos of the massive bones.

Also included: Fossil displays and hands-on activities by the North American Research Group, fossil displays from Lincoln County presented by Kent Gibson, and information for participants on great coastal spots for finding fossils.

“We’d also encourage any visitors to bring in their own fossil specimens for identification help,” said Bill Hanshumaker, an OSU marine educator and outreach specialist with the Hatfield center.

Learn more:

• Download the event flyer (pdf)

NEWPORT – The OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center and the Union of Concerned Scientists will host a reception and panel discussion on the environmental and economic impacts of ocean acidification on our coastal communities. The event is from 5-7 pm this Thursday, January 28  in the HMSC Visitor Center’s Hennings Auditorium.

Expert panelists will discuss the science of ocean acidification, local impacts and potential solutions with community members and elected officials.

Panelists are:

• Dr. George Waldbusser, Assistant Professor, OSU College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
• Alan Barton, Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery
• Dr. Francis Chan, Associate Professor and Senior Researcher, OSU College of Science
• Emily Heffling, Western States Outreach Coordinator, Union of Concerned Scientists

Join us for a light reception and meet our panelists before the presentation.

The event, hosted by HMSC Director Bob Cowen and State Representative David Gomberg, is family-friendly, free and open to the public. RSVP requested – eheffling@ucsusa.org or 510-809-1584.

Learn more:

• Ocean acidification: Oyster growers say impacts are real

Current and recent Oregon Sea Grant-funded research on ocean acidification

• Indexing the Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity of Marine Shellfish to Combined Stressors of Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (2016-18) – Francis Chan
• Resistance of Pacific Oyster Larvae and Juveniles to the Effects of Ocean Acidification (2014-17) – Chris Langdon, OSU
• Sea Grass as Possible Ocean Acidification Refugia for Shellfish in a High CO2 World (2014-16) – George Waldbusser, OSU
• Improving juvenile oyster survival through adaptation and screening of ocean acidification impacts (2014-2016) – George Waldbusser
• Developing Realistic Metrics of Acidification Stress for Commercially Important Bivalves in Variable Habitats (2012-2014) – George Waldbusser
• Understanding, Forecasting and Communicating the Linkages Between Hypoxia and Ocean Acidification in Oregon’s Coastal Ocean (2012-2014) – Dr. Francis Chan

Commercial Dungeness crab fishing on the West Coast is one of the highest risk occupations in the United States, based on fatality rates. But non-fatal injuries in the fishery appear to go largely unreported, a new study from Oregon State University shows.

While the fatality rates in the Dungeness crab fleet have been reported in the past, the incidence of non-fatal injuries have not been previously studied, said Laurel Kincl, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health and safety in the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences.

“The commercial Dungeness fishing fleet, which operates along the coast of Oregon, Washington and Northern California, is a vital economic commodity,” she said. “Injuries can be life-threatening and life-altering, leading to disability, decreased quality of life and lost wages.”

Understanding the type and nature of fatalities and injuries, including describing and categorizing the types of injuries, is the first step in identifying safety issues and pinpointing areas for prevention, she said.

The fatality rate among Dungeness crab fishermen is several times higher than the national rate for commercial fishing. But the injury rate among Dungeness fishermen is much lower than injury rates in other commercial fishing fleets that have been studied. Kincl believes underreporting may be to blame.

Her team’s findings, published in the latest issue of the journal International Maritime Health , are the first step to better understanding fishing injuries among Dungeness crab fishermen. The research is part of an OSU-led research project to identify and reduce the risks of injuries in the industry, Kincl said.

The research is part of a new Fishermen Led Injury Prevention Program (FLIPP), designed to take a fresh approach to fishing industry injury prevention by working with commercial Dungeness crab fishermen to identify and reduce injury risks. The project is supported by a three-year, $825,000 grant from the National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health. Kincl is the principal investigator.

In the project’s next phase, Kelsey Miller, Oregon Sea Grant’s new Newport-based Fisheries Extension faculty research assistant, is helping Kincl and her colleagues set up focus groups of fishermen along the Oregon coast and conduct fishing crew surveys to find out more about how they get hurt on the job and what they are doing  to prevent injuries.

By the end of the project, researchers hope to come up with and test interventions that could help reduce injuries among crab fishermen.

“We want to identify some things that might work, but we don’t want to tell them what to do,” Kincl said. “We want to let them decide what would be most helpful.”

Learn more:

• Read the complete news release from OSU News & Research Communications
• Follow Oregon Sea Grant’s Fisheries Extension team on Facebook

Interested in applying for the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship? Attend Oregon Sea Grant’s Knauss Fellowship Informational Webinar this Friday, Jan. 8 at 10:00 AM. For more details, please register for the webinar by emailing Mary Pleasant by Wednesday, January 6^th.

Applications due: Feb. 12, 2016.

The Knauss Fellowship Program provides a unique educational experience to graduate students in fields related to marine or Great Lakes studies. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative branch, the executive branch, or appropriate associations and institutions located in the Washington, D.C. area. Recipients spend one year working on substantive national policy issues related to marine issues; a stipend is provided.

The Fellowship is open to any student who, as of the application deadline, is in a graduate or professional program in a marine or aquatic-related field at an institution of higher education in the United States. Applications are submitted through state Sea Grant programs (students need not reside in Oregon to submit their applications through Oregon Sea Grant.

Oregon Sea Grant public educator Bill Hanshumaker answers young visitors’ questions before starting to necropsy a salmon shark during HMSC Visitor Center’s 2011 Shark Day

NEWPORT – The Visitor Center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center celebrates its annual Shark Day on Saturday, Jan. 9, with family activities, films and exhibits about sharks and their fascinating lives.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and features comparative necropsy of two species of shark commonly found off the Oregon coast – a blue shark (Prionace glauca) and a Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus). Oregon Sea Grant’s Dr. Bill Hanshumaker, chief scientist for the visitor center, will dissect the sharks and talk about their biological and behavioral similarities and differences. The necropsy starts at 1:30 pm.

There is no charge to enter the Visitor Center, but donations toward the public marine education programs Oregon Sea Grant offers there  there are encouraged.

Learn more:

• Download our Shark Day 2016 flyer and share it with your friends
• Check out our photos from the 2011 Shark Day necropsy (warning, some are a little bloody)

A grey whale breaches in a Mexican lagoon (photo courtesy of NOAA)

NEWPORT – The Visitor Center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center will be a busy place the week after Christmas, with special exhibits and daily programming celebrating the annual southward migration of grey whales off Oregon’s coast.

The California grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is one of the world’s largest mammals, spending its life off the western coast of the US, Canada and Mexico. In the summer, they feed in Alaska’s Bering Sea; in the winter, they move to breeding grounds off Baja California to bear their young. Oregon State Parks celebrates their migratory seasons with winter and spring Whale Watch Weeks, placing trained volunteers at coastal parks and viewpoints to help visitors spot these huge animals as they move near shore.

The Visitor Center, operated by Oregon Sea Grant, will be open daily Dec. 26-31, from 10 am to 4 p.m. with a daily presentation on marine mammals at 1:30 p.m., as well as family activities, films and exhibits about marine mammal research. State Parks plans to post daily statistics about the number of whales spotted off the Oregon coast.

Learn more:

• Download a Whale Watch Week flyer from the HMSC Visitor Center.
• Visit the Oregon State Parks Whale Spoken Here website for a complete list of volunteer-staffed whale-watching sites on the Oregon coast.
• Check out our free, downloadable fact sheets: Gray Whales (available in English and Spanish) and Watching Whales.
• Visit the OSU Marine Mammal Institute website to learn about OSU’s latest whale research.