Salem-News.com Ocean articles

Volunteers Wanted for Third Winter Beach Clean Up on February 12

Pick up trash at your favorite Lincoln County beach on Saturday the 12th, and enter to win great prizes!

(NEWPORT, Ore.) - Help clean up our local beaches this winter with the Newport Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

To participate, volunteers can use their own supplies or pick up bags and gloves at partner surf shops.

Two Men Die When Boat Capsizes in Pacific Ocean Near Depoe Bay

The cause of the capsized boat is still under investigation.

(DEPOE BAY, Ore.) - The US Coast Guard responded with a motor lifeboat and recovered the body, a deceased male identified as 69-year old Robert Lawrence Zimmel, from Forest Grove.

The Coast Guard notified Oregon State Police and local partner agencies and a search of the area continued. The crew of a US Coast Guard helicopter spotted a second deceased male subject floating nearby.

Vandalism at Cape Kiwanda Destroys Duckbill Formation

Vandals crossed a fence put there for safety, and then destroyed the landmark.

(PACIFIC CITY, Ore.) - A natural rock formation at Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area was found in pieces last week. The park is on the Oregon coast in southern Tillamook County.

The sandstone pedestal, known locally as the duckbill and roughly 7-10' across, was located in an area of the park fenced off for safety.

Body of Katy Roe Recovered from Ocean

Sad news for a community that has been holding out hope.

(DEPOE BAY, Ore.) - The US Coast Guard, Station Depoe Bay they had located and recovered a clothed female body from the ocean just outside the jaws of the Depoe Bay Harbor just before 6 a.m. today.

Lincoln County Major Crime Team members immediately responded, and detectives were able to make a positive presumptive identification of the recovered body to be missing person, Katharine “Katy” Roe of Depoe Bay.

SOSU Student Dies Swimming in Pacific Ocean

Whaleshead Beach State Park is in Curry County‏

(MEDFORD, Ore.) - An Ashland man died while swimming in the Pacific Ocean at Whaleshead Beach State Park located on Oregon's south coast.

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at approximately 2:00 p.m. 23-year old Alexander Howell, from Ashland, was swimming in the Pacific Ocean about 75 yards from shore with a friend, 22-year old Alex Smith from Medford.

Researchers Measure Giant Internal Waves that Help Regulate Climate

The waves have important global implications.

(CORVALLIS, Ore.) - Once a day, a wave as tall as the Empire State Building and as much as a hundred miles wide forms in the waters between Taiwan and the Philippines and rolls across the South China Sea – but on the surface, it is hardly noticed.

A new study documents what happens to internal waves at the end of their journey and outlines their critical role in global climate.

New Ocean Partnership to Improve Awareness of Oregon`s Marine Reserves and Protected Areas

The Oregon Marine Reserves Partnership engages the public and invites their participation.

(NEWPORT, Ore.) - A new partnership focused on sharing information, promoting science and cooperative research, and engaging citizens in Oregon’s marine reserves and protected areas has launched.

The Oregon Marine Reserves Partnership (OMRP) was founded by six member organizations: Audubon Society of Portland, Coast Range Association, Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.

Over 2 Trillion Becquerels of Radioactive Waste in Pacific in Only 10 Months

This enormous amount of Radioactive Waste flowed from Fukushima Plant into the Pacific Ocean

(MONTREAL) - At least 2 trillion becquerels’ worth of radioactive material flowed from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean between August 2013 and May 2014, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has admitted.

The rate of release was 10 times higher than TEPCO’s pre-meltdown threshold for radioactive material.

Exploding Whale is One of Oregon`s Most Memorable Moments

It’s no wonder this event was, for many years, considered to be an urban legend.

(SALEM, Ore.) - November 12, 1970 is a day that has lived in infamy for Oregonians and bizarre-story enthusiasts the world over.

That fall day, 43 years ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation delivered half a ton of explosives to the underside of a getting-smellier-everyday decomposing whale and blew it to smithereens. Millions of bits of stinky whale goo and pieces of blubber, splattered up to half a mile away.