Oregon Coast Talks on Lighthouses, Pelican Problem

Published 05/04/2010

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport

(Newport, Oregon) – If you've heard about the problem of loads of pelicans lingering on the coast in recent winters, or if you’re curious about lighthouses, two talks in May will fill your hankering for knowledge.

Have you noticed more pelicans in Oregon during the past couple of winters? Wildlife biologist Deborah Jacques comes to OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center on Saturday, May 8, to address just that, allowing the public to learn more about what’s been happening with this intriguing species.

Jacques, who specializes in studies of brown pelicans and other coastal waterbirds, will review the general non-breeding ecology of the California brown pelican, summarize seasonal distribution and abundance patterns in the Pacific Northwest, and then discuss the unusual events of the last two winters, which saw large numbers of pelicans staying north late into the season and experiencing unusual mortality all along the west coast.

Pelicans have been lingering extraordinarily long the last two winters, and it is problematic for them.

The public lecture starts at 1:30 p.m. Admission to the HMSC Visitor Center is by suggested donation. 2030 Marine Science Dr. Newport, Oregon. 541-867-0167.

Historian and author George M. Collins will give a talk on “To Guide, Guard, and Rescue: Building the Yaquina Lighthouses, Jetties, and Life-Saving Station” in Newport on May 15, at the Carriage House of the Lincoln County Historical Society. The talk starts at 2 p.m.

Newport's lighthouse went under some rennovations a few years back.

The discussion will be based on his book of the same title, and Collins will be signing and selling copies of the book. The book is also available for sale in the shops of the Burrows House and Log Cabin museums.

The book describes in detail why and how, in the 1870s and 1880s, Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the stone jetties, and the early U.S. Life-Saving Station were built near the then-small town of Newport on the formidable Oregon coast. The Life-Saving Station is gone, but the lighthouses and jetties survive.

Included also is information about many features of the lighthouses and the people who served them. The book contains more than ninety photos and other images.

Newport's Yaquina Bay lightouse in the old days.

Collins was born near Hollywood, California and raised in Detroit. He spent his professional life in radio and TV broadcasting in the Midwest and East, retiring from Voice of America in Washington, D. C. After he retired, Collins bought an RV and steered it West. In 1996 he parked his RV at Yaquina Head and volunteered to help patrol the park and give tours of the lighthouse. From 2001 to 2004 he was a park ranger at the lighthouse.

Collins has spent the last 14 years studying the lighthouses, jetties, and Life-Saving Service, a forerunner of today’s Coast Guard.

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