Sea Grant Develops New DVD, 'A New View of Oregon: Offshore Underwater'

The disk also includes a 30-minute special presentation of OPB’s Oregon Field Guide program, concerning the offshore Astoria Canyon.

Pacific Ocean near Newport, Oregon Photo By: Matt King

(CORVALLIS) - A new DVD from Oregon State University reveals Oregon in a way few Oregonians have ever seen. The DVD, "A New View of Oregon: Offshore Underwater," presents a dramatic and revealing perspective on the underwater terrain adjoining the state.

Produced by Oregon Sea Grant, the DVD highlights colorful, computer animations of the offshore region created by scientists at OSU and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In another DVD chapter, Chris Goldfinger, an associate professor in the OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, discusses the development and use of offshore maps and animated "flyovers," in which the viewer seems to soar above the oceanic landforms while the ocean itself is drained away.

The disk contains such flyovers of the nearshore Oregon continental margin and Astoria Canyon, produced in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences' Active Tectonics Lab. Another flyover, farther offshore, was produced by Susan Merle of the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resource Studies, a collaboration of OSU and NOAA.

The disk was conceived and designed by Joseph Cone, assistant director of Sea Grant and author of the 1991 book, "Fire Under the Sea," which recounts the scientific discovery and exploration of seafloor hot springs, including the research contributions of OSU and NOAA scientists.

The 50-minute DVD is available for $19.95 (plus $2 shipping) from Oregon Sea Grant, 322 Kerr Administration Building, OSU, Corvallis, OR, 97331.