Marine Ecosystems

Oregon Coast Aquarium
Newport, Oregon

Leaving Washington, we cross the mouth of the Columbia River at Astoria, Oregon, and sometimes pause for lunch at nearby Fort Clatsop National Memorial, a reconstruction of the camp used by Lewis & Clark and their men during the winter of 1805-1806; our trip has been considerably shorter and easier. The first night that we actually spend near the Pacific Ocean is midway down the Oregon Coast at Beverly Beach State Park, north of Newport. Our campsite is sheltered within the lush coastal rain forest (photograph below), but an evening stroll on the beach is a short 10-minute walk from our campsite. Did you notice that the stumps at our campsite are serving as "nurse logs" for young trees, as discussed in the webpage for Olympic National Park?

Image of Camp
Campsite at Beverly Beach SP, Oregon
(with Mary Schmidt & Niki Lambrecht)
Photograph by William Cook, July 2000

From our camp at Beverly Beach we have a short drive into Newport for our visit to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We begin our tour of the 2.5-acre facility with a walk through the indoor exhibits of tanks filled with an excellent variety of marine algae, fishes, and invertebrates, including the popular jellyfishes ("jellies"). Some of the invertebrates are in a "touch pool", where you can touch the "spiny skin" (Echinodermata) of a sea star or experience the nematocysts (stinging cells) of a sea anemone.

Image of Touch Pool
Invertebrates in the Touch Pool
Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon
Photograph by Eric Hoch, July 2002

Then we enter the deep-sea exhibit ("Passages of the Deep"; photograph below), in which we walk through an acrylic tube through a sequence of 3 large pools, which allows fishes to swim over, under, and beside us. Each pool in the exhibit represents one of the principal offshore habitats along the Oregon Coast: "Orford Reef" (rocky reef; 200,000 gallons), "Halibut Flats" (sandy bottom; 275,000 gallons), and "Open Sea" (850,000 gallons).

Image of Exhibit
Passages of the Deep Exhibit, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon
(with Dave Wildeman, Niki Lambrecht, & Mark Eberle in the foreground)
Photograph by Eric Hoch, July 2002

Among the outdoor exhibits is a seabird aviary of shallow pools and rocky cliff-faces (with areas for burrows) that houses tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), common murres (Uria aalge), pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba), and black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani). We commonly see all but the tufted puffins in the wild during our stay at Sunset Bay, our next campground just south along the Oregon Coast.

Image of PuffinImage of Murre
Image of Guillemots
Tufted Puffin, Common Murre, and Pigeon Guillemots
Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon
Photographs by Dave Wildeman (top) and Eric Hoch (bottom), July 2002

Other outdoor pools provide above-water and underwater views of sea otters (Enhydra lutris; now extirpated along the Oregon Coast), harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and California sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus); we will see 3 or 4 species of seals and sea lions in the wild near Sunset Bay. All of the mammals at the Oregon Coast Aquarium were rescued or born in captivity and are unlikely to survive if released. The irregularly shaped, rocky pool that houses the sea otter contains 65,000 gallons of water, and the pool housing the seals and sea lions holds 90,000 gallons of water.

Image of Sea OtterImage of Sea Lion
Sea Otter and California Sea Lion
Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon
Photographs by Dave Wildeman and Eric Hoch, July 2002

En route to our next campground at Sunset Bay (near Coos Bay, Oregon), we will make a few stops in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and at Darlingtonia State Wayside.

Separation line
Next Stop: Oregon Coastal Dunes | Species Checklists | Return to Trip Summary Homepage