We started our day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, where we visited the resident Pacific giant octopus and explored the interactive displays. (This is not to be confused with the nearby Oregon Coast Aquarium, whose octopus is not as easy to see.) Then we headed to Newport’s historic bayfront, where California sea lions are known to congregate. There was just one on the sea lion dock.

But we spotted a few on a buoy near the NOAA dock.

And ten more on a jetty.

Later in the day, we headed to a nearby area known for its tide pools (it is a very delicate location which I don’t want to publicize; locals may recognize it from the photos). Here we encountered sea anemones and countless hermit crabs (the highlight for Z).

Sea star wasting syndrome is devastating populations in Washington and California, but is only just starting to show up in Oregon. Ours appear to be healthy.

The highlight of the day for me started with a sighting of a blue heron.

We soon realized it was fishing near a pod of harbor seals.

We spotted three on the rocks and several more in the surf.

This area is my current favorite on the Oregon coast, a beautiful example of mountains meeting the sea.

As our light faded into the evening we carefully picked our way across the rocks and headed home, stopping for a bird’s eye look back.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2014 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Nature, Photos, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.