Environment - Page 19

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com The mystery of what caused the death of a juvenile killer whale off Oregon’s central coast last month appears to have been solved. The carcass of the approximately 16-foot-long orca was first spotted and photographed by a Salem fisherman June 27 about 25 miles west of Newport dragging fishing or crab gear. It’s the first

Second of three parts. Tuesday, July 12: Life aboard ship By COURTNEY FLATT/Northwest Public Broadcasting NEWPORT — Scientists aboard the Bell M. Shimada keep an eye out for whales hoping to help predict where whales will show up by studying the food they eat. High up on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Newport-based research vessel, the scientists don’t

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com In what scientists and researchers say is a first in Oregon’s coastal waters, a killer whale appears to have died after becoming entangled in fishing or crabbing gear. The orca, believed to be a juvenile, was spotted Sunday by halibut fishermen about 25 miles west of Newport. The grim discovery comes after families of transient killer

First of three parts. Tuesday, July 5: Watching for whales By COURTNEY FLATT/Northwest Public Broadcasting NEWPORT — At least twice a year, a team of scientists on the research vessel Bell M. Shimada survey waters along the Washington and Oregon coast. Near the edge of the coastal shelf, off the shore of Grays Harbor, Wash., a 10-foot-long net the

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Federal energy representatives are likely to get an earful at a meeting Wednesday in Newport intended to gather public comments about plans to build towering wind-energy farms off the Oregon coast. The four-hour meeting will begin at 8 a.m. at the Best Western Agate Beach hotel in Newport. It is sponsored by the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative

By Oregon Capital Chronicle and YachatsNews Due to years of drought and poor ocean conditions, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will restrict fishing for wild Chinook salmon in northern and southern parts of the coast from Aug. 1 through the end of the year. Numbers of wild Chinook in several coastal tributaries are forecast to be

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com First-time visitors to Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site north of Waldport will see what appears to be the perfect spot to enjoy an afternoon picnic — a freshly paved parking lot, new curbs and sidewalks, a viewing platform, all leading to an idyllic stretch of sandy beach. What won’t be apparent, however, is that just below

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com For the second year in a row, an open-air laboratory is being nurtured south of Yachats as part of a decades-long effort to save the Oregon silverspot butterfly from extinction. Building on research conducted last year in fields at Rock Creek and on Brays Point, a mower will roar into action in early June to recreate

If April showers do really bring May flowers, then hopefully we’re in for a treat this month. But no one is sure what the coldest April in years means. Rainfall in the Yachats area broke records or were at near-record levels for April, according to weather watchers who report their measurements to YachatsNews. Donald Tucker, who has been measuring rain,

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com YACHATS – Ten months after getting approval from the city, the owners of the Fireside Motel are clearing a small section of their property to see if they can entice people in recreational vehicles to stay and work during the height of the tourist season. While the idea of camping and working is used across the