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Marine Reserves News: What We've Learned at Cape Falcon After 6 Years

ODFW sent this bulletin at 09/29/2022 07:30 AM PDT

What Have We Learned at Cape Falcon?
Snapshots from the Synthesis Report

Photo: The Cape Falcon Marine Reserve is located on the north coast, just off of Oswald West State Park, near the town of Manzanita. This is Oregon’s northernmost marine reserve, and also includes two marine protected areas.

We are excited to release the ‘Cape Falcon One-Pager’ this month! We invite you to read this snapshot overview of our findings from the 2022 Synthesis Report as we report key findings at the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. Learn about the fish and invertebrate communities found at this site as well as how collaborative efforts boost our oceanographic understanding of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

The Cape Falcon One-Pager is the fifth and final in our series highlighting findings from our ecological monitoring efforts for each individual marine reserve based on our recent Marine Reserves Program Synthesis Report. The synthesis report was released back in February and is currently available for the public to download. Our One-Pager snapshot summaries focus on the most salient findings from our research activities at each marine reserve.

Back to the Future: Exploring a sunken barge from 1983 near Cape Falcon

Video: We invite you to step into our time-traveling DeLorean to take a first hand look at how a sunken barge from 1983 now provides habitat for nearshore species in the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

The Friends of Cape Falcon community team hosted a boat tour to in late August to bring to life the research and collaborations happening at the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. ODFW staff participated in the day by lowering a drop camera to capture footage of the species and habitat in the marine reserve. An exciting part of the day was observing a school of Black Rockfish swimming over the old and decaying wreck of a barge that sank in 1983. The rusting deck and hull of the barge now provide excellent habitat for species like rockfish and lingcod as well as a beautiful covering of white plumose anemone.

To step back in time and learn more about how this barge sank off of Cape Falcon, read the original article from 1983 for additional information.

We're Hiring: Join Our Team!

Photo: ODFW Marine Reserves staff at an outreach event in Portland.

Are you looking to join a team of passionate people dedicated to learning more about Oregon's ocean? Do you enjoy communicating science to a variety of audiences? Look no further, we've got an opening for a Communications and Engagement Project Leader position.

We're looking for a person who can:

lead strategic communications and outreach planning
implement communications and outreach
serve as community liaison for the marine reserves program

Applications are due on October 17th. For more information about the Oregon Marine Reserves program check out our website. To learn more about this position or apply directly click here.

Reports from the Field - September 2022

Photo: ODFW staff hold a Yelloweye Rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) before carefully releasing the fish back down to depth.

Over the last month we've been busy with fieldwork:

Cape Falcon: Oceanographic moorings deployed at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and Cape Mears were recovered with the help of a local Garibaldi vessel and fisherman. These moorings and their associated sensors collected data on temperature and oxygen.

Cascade Head and Cape Perpetua: Hook and line surveys were completed at Cape Perpetua and its associated comparison area. We saw several unique species including two Big Skates (Beringraja binoculata) and two Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei). We also started hook and line surveys at the Cascade Head Marine Reserve.

Otter Rock & Redfish Rocks: We completed our final SMURF (Standardized Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Fishes) surveys this month to study juvenile fish settlement in the nearshore environment. We partnered with OSU aboard the R/V Elakha to pull the moorings out of the water at Otter Rock.