Category Archives: Wildlife

Interpretive Blogs about Wildlife and Plants

Whale Watching in Depoe Bay, Oregon

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In early August 2018, I was lucky to have a friend take me whale watching with a chartered whale watching company in Depoe Bay, the whale-watching hub on the Oregon coast. We left from the docks on a zodiac with the owner of the business as our captain. The zodiac is a good boat to whale watch from because it’s fairly quiet and it’s easier to get closer to the whales without disturbing them.

We saw a spout pretty early on, so we waited to watch the whale. Our guide was able to tell us that this particular whale is part of the Pacific Coast Feeding Group, a pod of gray whales that does not migrate because of the abundance of food on the Oregon coast. He was also able to name a couple of the other whales we say because of his ability to identify them based on their tail markings. The guide had a small vial of krill to show us what the whales were feeding on, and he provided us with some information about the species and other marine animals.

Our guide did an excellent job of driving out to the right spot to see as many whales as possible. At one point, the zodiac was surrounded by six or seven different whales. Overall, the guide was an excellent captain and provided us with answers to our questions, careful not to bombard us with information as we carefully watched for spouts.

Local Event – Wildlife Photo Contest!

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$3000 Prizes Open to Pros & Amateurs

CALL to PHOTOGRAPHERS – http://wildriverslandtrust.org

Dear Photographer Friends,

I wanted to invite you to participate in our first ever Wild Rivers Land Trust Photography Contest!


We are thrilled to be working with some local property owners and  some of our local photo friends like you, to create an all new program of photographing wildlife along the southern Oregon coast. There are so many possibilities for this and we are hoping you can be our charter group to pave the way!

The basics:
– go to our website – http://www.wildriverslandtrust.org/news–events.html
– read the rules and register
– we will match you with a landowner/partner so you make arrangements to set up your shooting dates sometime between Sept 26 and Oct 4th
– if you have any questions, please give me a call at 541-253-1260

Hope to hear back from you soon! Feel free to pass this along to some of your other serious photo friends. I should also mention that we have only five properties available so there will be a limit to the number of photographers for this first year.

From WRLT

Pamela, Wild Rivers Land Trust

The Northern Elephant Seal

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Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)

Dozens of different species of marine mammals can be found off Oregon’s Coast. Perhaps one of the most distinctive to make its way on shore is the Northern Elephant Seal, the largest pinniped carnivore that occurs along the North Pacific Coast.

This animal gets its name from its size as well as the trunk-like “nose” – known as a proboscis – that is found on males and can be inflated to enhance vocalizations during mating season. Adult female elephant seals can weigh up to 1,700 pounds, and adult males can weigh up to 5,000 pounds!

Unlike other mammals, including humans, that shed hair year-round, elephant seals experience this a one time a year ‘molting.’ They come ashore to shed their first layer of skin and fur. The skin and fur come off in sheets as new skin and fur replace the old.

For a period of time, elephant seals were thought to be extinct after they were killed in large numbers for their blubber. A small group survived off the coast of Mexico.

Thanks to protections in Mexico and the United States, scientists believe there are around 170,000 northern elephant seals today.

Elephant seals do not generally breed in Oregon, but visitors to the South Coast may be fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of one at Cape Arago State Park (near Coos Bay), the only location where elephant seals haul out year round in Oregon.