A researcher in a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter first spotted the entangled humpback anchored to the bottom about 20 miles off the Oregon Coast. The whale’s white pectoral flipper extends underwater to the lower left, while white baleen outlines its open lower jaw at bottom right. The entanglement left the whale’s mouth stretched permanently open, making it unable to feed. Photo collected in partnership with Oregon Coast Aquarium, Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute and Cascadia Research Collective.

Fishing Vessel Joins Trained Team to Free Injured Humpback Whale 20 Miles off Oregon Coast

8/16/2026 - By fisheries.noaa.gov, fisheries.noaa.gov. An Oregon team joined by experts from Washington and a local fisherman freed a severely entangled humpback whale about 20 miles off the Oregon Coast on July 26. While the team removed all of the gear from the whale, the entanglement left the young whale’s jaw permanently… SEE MORE
A headland at Cape Foulweather on the Central Oregon coast

Conservation of Cape Foulweather Headland, an Icon of the Central Oregon Coast

3/20/2025 - By coast.noaa.gov. Twenty-seven acres are back under the ownership of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians thanks to a $2.01 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Purchasing the Cape Foulweather Headland on the Oregon Coast brings an end to a multiyear collaboration to protect the land’s ecological, cultural, and scenic value.… SEE MORE
John Fowler from Placitas, NM, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Thor’s Well: The Mysterious Hole in the Pacific

7/13/2022 - By Christine Childress. Once considered one of Oregon’s great mysteries, Thor’s Well is a bowl-shaped hole carved into the basalt shoreline of Cape Perpetua. Also known as the Drainpipe of the Pacific, the seemingly bottomless well perpetually fills and drains throughout the day. During high tide, water shoots out the… SEE MORE