Oregon Coast Late-Summer 2018

Last Week of Summer on the Pacific
The first of many views of the Yaquina Head light (I have a season pass now). Looking up from Cobble Beach. Tumbled basalt rock, known as cobbles... on Cobble Beach. Makes sense. First gray whale fluke photo of the week -- with bonus comorant flying past. Close encounter at the Rocky Creek turn-out from Highway 101. Small waves roll in to the rocks outside Whale Cove.
A long distance gray whale fluke from 500-ft up on Cape Foulweather Just past the new moon. Tides swings are large, but getting smaller during the week. Douglas Aster, very common on the Oregon coast in late summer. Yaquina Head "Outstanding Natural Area" Yaqiuna Head light, of which I have many photographs. A longboarder well off Moolack Beach. I wonder if he knows how many whales are about?
Another one of the Yaquina Light from up on Salal Hill. View north to Moolack Beach. Another one of the Yaquina Light from up on Salal Hill, wide angle this time. Strategically placing the berm to block out other tourists. California sea lion in repose at the Newport Bayfront. Never-ending fussing and complaining and barking over dock space.
They look so calm, relaxed, and cute. They are not. The barrier protecting the commercial docks is usually covered -- and noisy with barking 24/7. Silver sunshine. View from Boiler Bay over to Lincoln Beach, with a corner of our little house noted... I'm not a fan of sunset photos, but this is a pretty nice view from our beach house. A few minutes later...
A trip to Heceta Head... Wild roses (Nootka likely), 3-inches across, on the trail up to the light. Heceta Head Light. Weather did not cooperate, as the calm wind allowed fog formation all along the coast. Yaquina Bay Bridge disappears into the fog in Newport. Our only foggy day. Under-the-bridge symmetry. Brown Pelican. We saw hundreds gliding up and down the coast. They only spend late sumer and fall in Oregon. The gray whale's back bumps, or knuckles, are a means to identify individuals.
Another Aster. Doubles. We saw some triples and a few quads as well. Plenty of whales about... Coast Guard on one of their daily patrols buzz us on Salal Hill. This mature sea lion took over some space on the commercial fishing docks. He was huge. Not interested in us, he just sort of spread himself out and dozed off. Stopped by the Lincoln City glass gallery in Taft.
Heart burn. You can sign up to make your own float, heart, or bowl... at considerable cost. A Depoe Bay fluke on our way to a morning coffee. Poor image quality, but an amazing way to start the day. A second trip down to Heceta Head, following clearing skies... Ocean Beach turnout just north of Heceta Head is one of our favorite small beaches. An Osprey hunts along the surfline. Small tide pool with muscles, barnicles, and anemone. Headed back only to see our sunshine temporarily lost.
The classic view of Heceta Head. The weather would be better an hour later, but it's better than fog and gloom. Sky looked ominous for a bit, but cleared soon after. Detail in the Fresnel lens. Found a new glass gallery near Seal Rock. They had big balls (glass floats). Cobble Beach at Yaquina Head. Waves + rocks make the most amazing sound... Sunset with gray whale tails in Depoe Bay.
Less than 50-ft away from a whale while standing on the sidewalk in Depoe Bay. A smaller whale, so he had to use his tail differently to get to the bottom. I wish these shots were sharper; I may have been too close to get the focus just right. No whales at Rocky Creek this morning, but the water was pretty. From Cape Foulweather, the first place Captain James Cook saw Oregon. Good views of entire whales. A second shot in the sequence. You can hear them breath from 500-ft above.
Not perfect, but shot from over 600-ft away... Another of the 4 or 5 that went by below us. Our final night on the coast provided another visible sunset. Quiet morning for surfing off Pacific City -- which is more small beach enclave than a "city". Close-up of Haystack Rock at Cape Kiwanda. Great breakfast at Cape Kiwanda and a final coffee at Stimulus before the 6-hour drive home.