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Oregon Coast Travel Site Goes Wireless Provides Lodging Reports - Oregon Coast Beach Connection now has mobile lodging and dining listings, along with weekly lodging availability reports
Masses of Squids Washing Up on Oregon Coast |
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Covering 180 miles of Oregon coast travel: Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Nehalem, Wheeler, Rockaway, Garibaldi, Tillamook, Oceanside, Pacific City, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport, Waldport, Yachats & Florence.
10/12/08
Secrets of the Season |
Masses of Squids Washing Up on Oregon Coast
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| Humboldt Squid in the Warrenton area, on the north coast. (Photo Seaside Aquarium) |
(Gearhart, Oregon) - It's a small invasion from California: dozens of Humboldt squid have been washing up on the north Oregon coast this past week.
On Thursday, crews from the Seaside Aquarium counted about 15 of them scattered along the stretch from the very edge of Oregon’s coastal border – the south jetty at Fort Stevens State Park - down to Gearhart. More have reportedly shown up since along that 15 miles of beach, and one report said a few were in the Cannon Beach area.
The first call came early Thursday morning, saying they were around the wreck of the Peter Iredale in Warrenton. Manager Keith Chandler and the aquarium’s Tiffany Boothe drove along the beach and found the first 15 scattered between there and Gearhart.
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| Many were found near the wreck of the Iredale (photo Seaside Aquarium). |
Boothe said they were three to four feet in length, and their bodies were well picked out by seagulls by the time they arrived.
“It was the aftermath of them washing onshore, what was left,” Chandler said. “It was the best thing to happen to the seagulls since McDonald’s. They attack the eyes first. That’s apparently the best part.”
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Saturday, several washed up again, also around the Peter Iredale, according to one caller. But Chandler believed there were more in other areas, just as on Thursday. “That probably means there were more elsewhere,” he said. “They’ve come up all over the north coast.”
Not native to this area, Humboldt squid reside in the warmer waters off of the California coast. “Every once in a while, a warm water current that runs off shore will bring these squid up north,” Boothe said. “Eventually the warm water current will dissipate, leaving the squid in water far too cold for them. The squid then get hypothermia and start to wash ashore.
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| Most squid were picked apart by seagulls (photo Seaside Aquarium). |
“Once the squid hit the beach the birds go crazy leaving very little evidence that the squid were even here. Most of the squid that we saw had already been preyed upon, however, we were able to collect two whole specimens, which will go up to Seattle.”
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The tentacles were often detached from the main body, which includes the cylindrical area that’s attached to what often looks like a squid’s head. That part contains the organs, the eyes and the mouth. The tentacles were usually quite a ways away from the squid’s body – or what was left of it. This led to another amusing discovery for the aquarium crew.
“The gulls did what they could to keep their finds away from other gulls,” Chandler said. “But we found tracks in the sand, where they’d dragged the body. There were tracks leading from the tentacles to the rest of the squid. So they made that kind of easy.
In 2004, hundreds of Humboldt squid washed ashore on the Oregon coast, some still alive. It was a record year, Chandler said, and quite unusual.
Chandler expects more to show up in coming days. “There will probably be more,” he said. “But it’s bound to end soon.”
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Tradewinds Motel, Rockaway Beach. All rooms are immaculate and have TV’s, VCR’s and in-room phones w/ data ports. Oceanfronts have queen bed, a double hide-a-bed, kitchen, cozy firelog fireplace and private deck. Both types sleep up to four people. Others are appointed for a two-person romantic getaway, yet still perfect for those on a budget. Elaborate oceanfront Jacuzzi suite has two bedrooms, kitchen, double hide-a-bed, fireplace and private deck, sleeping as many as six. For family reunions or large gatherings such as weddings, some rooms can connect to create two-room and three-room suites. Some rooms pet friendly. 523 N. Pacific St., Rockaway Beach. (503) 355-2112 - 1-800-824-0938. www.tradewinds-motel.com |
 Inn
at Cannon Beach. Beautifully wooded natural setting at quiet south
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Arch
Cape Property Services.
Dozens of homes in that dreamy,
rugged stretch between Cannon Beach and Manzanita known as Arch
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sea. |
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