|
|
Press Room
|
Search Our Site
|
Seein' is Baleen in Newport During Whale Watch Week
December 14, 2006
(Newport, Oregon) – It's no fluke that Oregon State Parks schedules its annual Winter Whale Watch for the week after Christmas. This year it’s set for Dec. 26, 2006, to Jan. 1, 2007 – a week when both gray whales and the people who love them are on the move. For these seven days, volunteers will be stationed at overlooks and parks all over the central coast, helping both children and adults learn about gray whales, and spot them in the ocean.
Newport is right in the middle of it all, with two official whale watching sites, a plethora of whale watch vantage points and cruises, and two aquarium centers with loads of whale information.
Visitors can make Newport their base of operations with ready access to two Whale Watching Spoken Here sites: Don Davis State Park, in the historic Nye Beach neighborhood, and Yaquina Bay Outstanding Natural Area. The latter also features a lighthouse, tide pools and an interpretive center. Two other official sites, Boiler Bay State Park and the state's Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay, are a short drive away. Trained volunteers will be ready and waiting at those sites, daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.
The state’s program takes place at the peak of the southbound migration of gray whales. Marine mammologists estimate that 18,000 whales pass by between mid-December and mid-January, as they head south from the Arctic to the Baja lagoons of Mexico. With a little help from a volunteer, you can watch them in transit, some just off shore (www.whalespoken.org).
To learn more, head to another of Newport's gems: Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center, which offers storytelling, interpretive programs and other events during Whale Watch Weeks. While you're there, meet the resident giant pacific octopus, Reuben, learn at the touch pool, shop the marine-centric bookstore or take a walk on the estuary trail (hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor/).
For most people, however, seeing a spout from a distance only whets their appetite. Visitors can see a whale up close by simply buying a spot on the deck of a charter boat. They come in all shapes and sizes in Newport, which is home to the largest charter and fishing fleet on the Oregon coast. Weather permitting, these seasoned captains can get visitors closer to nature than they’ve ever been before – and nothing compares to the shine on a whale's fluke, massive and jaw-dropping, 100 feet away.
Whales are just the beginning of Newport's family-friendly attractions. Get up close to another of the coast’s most protected inhabitants, the Snowy Plover, at a new exhibit at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Since beach walkers are advised to stay far away from these birds and their nests on the beach, this sandy dune enclosure may be the closest you can ever get to this shy bird. Visit the sea otters, the murres and the crustaceans at this favorite Newport destination (www.aquarium.org).
After all that education, find some recreation at Newport's vibrant Bayfront, complete with fishing boats, restaurants, galleries, candy stores, Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Undersea Gardens (www.marinersquare.com).
Also, take a historic turn in Nye Beach, where upscale shops and cafes exude a new attitude. It's here where Don Davis State Park sits, but there are numerous high vantage points bordering the neighborhood's cobbled streets from which to view passing whales as well. Try the end of NW 3rd St., next to Sylvia Beach Hotel and Village Market & Deli, or the bottom of NW 11th, where the castle ruin-like remnants of a condo provide prime vantage points.
For more information on Newport’s attractions and lodging opportunities, head to www.newportchamber.org, or call 800-262-7844.
 |
Newport, Oregon
The coast you remember.
|
|
|
|
