Environment - Page 18

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Scientists are investigating the causes of a nearly 40 percent decline in the Pacific gray whales that pass along the Oregon Coast each winter and spring on their way from Baja, Mexico to the Arctic. One primary suspect is food scarcity with Arctic feeding grounds impacted by warming temperatures and the loss of sea

By JORDAN ESSOE/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT – Eckman Lake’s best days may be behind it. The stagnant manmade reservoir off the lower Alsea River gets shallower every year and is plagued by toxic algae. Is it time to take out the dam under Oregon Highway 34 that cuts the lake off from the bay? Next week, the Port of Alsea and

BY MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service NEWPORT – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded Oregon State University and its research partners $4.2 million to investigate how multiple climate change-related stressors are impacting marine ecosystems off the coast of Oregon, Washington and northern California. The researchers will focus on two key species — Dungeness crab, which plays a significant economic and

By NOAA Fisheries News Service Gray whales that migrate along the West Coast of North America continued to decline in number over the last two years, according to a new NOAA Fisheries assessment. The population is now down 38 percent from its peak in 2015 and 2016, as researchers probe the underlying reasons. The population also produced the fewest

By LORI TOBIAS/for The Oregonian NEWPORT — Most everyone knows the story of Oregon’s infamous exploding whale. Now there’s another whale destined for fame — this time with a decidedly brighter outcome. Dead sea animals of all kinds wash ashore on Oregon beaches. The often large, rotting carcasses can be a bit of a nuisance – hence the unfortunate

BY MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service NEWPORT — Oregon State University researchers have developed a new satellite tag that allows them to better track whales’ behavior, including previously unobservable feeding events during dives. The tag is a significant advancement in researchers’ ability to observe key whale behavior events, identify important habitat and better understand whales’ response to human activity such

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Roy Lowe wasn’t sure what to expect as the state-chartered fishing boat he was aboard recently hovered over a rocky reef 160 feet below the surface off Cape Perpetua just south of Yachats. Lowe and nine other volunteers, all receiving specific instructions from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff on the boat, were participants in

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Despite new state regulations allowing a tripling of the number of European green crabs that can be caught, the invasive specie isn’t likely to be eliminated anytime soon from Oregon’s coastal marshes, bays and inlets. Unless, that is, the type of cooler ocean waters more prevalent before about 2015 return. “I’m actually pretty hopeful that will be

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Anglers on the central Oregon coast may be in for “good to very good” fishing Monday when coastal bays and streams open for salmon fishing. While river systems on the north and south coasts undergo some closures or restrictions, the three streams that make up the bulk of salmon fishing in Lincoln County are expected to

The discovery of a dead orca found tangled in recreational crabbing gear 25 miles off Newport in June is prompting a reminder from state officials that crabbers need to properly mark their equipment under a 2-year-old Oregon law. The carcass of the approximately 16-foot-long orca was first spotted and photographed June 27 by a fisherman about 25 miles west of Newport