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Whale Watching Spoken Here

Every winter, gray whales make the trek from Alaska to Baja California to give birth. They pass by the Oregon Coast in late December Whale Watching in a rush to warmer waters. Once their babies are born, they travel back to Alaska at a more leisurely pace. Volunteers at various points along the Oregon Coast help visitors to view gray whales during their peak travel times. During the weeks of December 26-January 1 and March 24-31, volunteers will be at Ecola State Park and at Neahkahnie Mountain to answer your questions and keep track of whale sightings. For more information or to volunteer, visit the website at www.whalewatchspokenhere.org

Important Winter Beach Safety

Winter is a great time for beachcombing and enjoying winter storms, but the ocean becomes even more powerful with strong winds and weather. Please follow these safety tips to make your visit a pleasant one:

1. Never turn your back on the ocean. Sneaker wavers are very powerful, sometimes strong enough to knock over an adult.

2. Avoid logs in the surf. They may look stable, but the ocean can roll logs over you.

3. This is not a safe area for swimming in the ocean. Be aware there is a strong undercurrent.

4. Completely extinguish your campfires. Embers can burn for days if left or covered.

5. Leave marine mammals alone. Marine mammals can carry diseases transmutable to humans and pets.



Baby Octopuses a Rare Sight Octopus Eggs

It sometimes pays to examine closely tanks that at first glance look empty. This winter an octopus on the east wall laid eggs which hatched hundreds, if not thousands, of baby octopuses. Octopus rubescens, commonly known as red octopus, are much smaller than the more Hatched Octopus Eggs widely recognized Giant Pacific octopus. The one in the east tank is sometimes difficult to see; she is the size of an adult’s hand and can hide in very tight spaces. When she laid a cluster of eggs between a rock and the tank glass, she guarded them closely, aerating them around the clock. Visitors and staff were able to see the mom and egg cluster so well, they could even discern eyes in the eggs. An octopus lays 500 to 3,000 eggs only once in its lifetime, sheltering the eggs and refusing to eat. Soon after the babies have hatched, the mother dies. Babies started hatching in early December and continued hatching for a couple of weeks. Slightly larger than a head of a pin and barely visible to the naked eye, the translucent babies swam in the gravel and throughout the tank. The babies have been released into intertidal areas where their chances of survival were greater than in our tanks that constantly circulate fresh water and might flush such small creatures through the system. The opportunity to see this unique display will end when all of the babies have hatched and the mother dies; but keep looking in the tanks. There are always exciting things for the careful viewer to find.


Photos by: Tiffany Boothe


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Seaside Aquarium, 200 North Prom, Seaside, Oregon 97138 Tel: (503) 738-6211.