Mile 116 - Seven Devils cliffs, Cape Arago South Cove - 05/17/2026

Report Details

A -2.3 feet minus tide lured me, Oregon Coast Watcher Elaine, and my companion A out to the South Cove of Cape Arago on a sunny early Sunday morning. Our start time of 6:30 AM was the earliest I have ever been on South Cove, and I am so happy I’ve now had the experience of an early morning at the cove! I will definitely repeat it when tide and time allow. The sky was clear with far distant clouds on the horizon. Best of all - no wind! The beach was still in shadow when we arrived about 45 minutes before the 7:17 AM low tide, and by the time we left at 10:45, only the far southern side of the cove was still in shadow while the north side and central beach were sunny and warm. We started our survey on the south end of the cove, noting the wrack line lingering just at the border where rock meets open sand on the south end of the beach. We crossed and explored the north end of the cove shortly after low tide. Elaine stayed closer to shore, focusing on trash removal this trip while A and I headed out to the point and then slowly made our way back to the beach through the tidepools. I took special note of the sheer delight of the humans visiting our intertidal friends on this gorgeous day. We talked with a group of folks visiting for the first time from Colorado and shared with them some of our tidepool knowledge. We chatted with a couple of locals - one of whom is a student from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB) who taught us about gunnels (picture below). There were solo people, families, couples, and friends. It seemed as though everyone had the same look in their eyes of gratitude and awe for this special place. I love the spirit of curiosity and the desire to learn from each other that the tidepools inspire in human visitors.

Conditions

Temperature: 47 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: -2.3 feet.

Activities

Types of Activities: Fishing/Clamming/Harvesting, Tidepooling.

Number of people: 25. Number of dogs: 3.

Other Activities: Almost everyone was exploring the tidepools except one person was fishing..

Notable Wildlife

Notable features of this particular visit: the abundance of resplendent seaweed (some featured in the pictures below). A massive abalone - about 1 foot long and 10 inches wide - the first living one I’ve ever seen in the wild! We saw more of the large red sea urchins than usual - Elaine noted that the red urchins prefer deeper water and when the tide is particularly low, we can expect to see more of the red urchins since we can explore the areas that are usually deeply under water. We saw and heard several pairs of nesting pigeon guillemot; I did not manage to get a picture, but I highly recommend listening to their call on the Cornell Lab or Ornithology website/Merlin bird ID app.

Wrackline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Wood pieces.

Natural Changes

The entrance to the beach remains quite eroded with makeshift ropes for hand-holds. The "unofficial" entrance to the south is slightly easier to traverse these days. Someone had placed a board across the creek for easier access.

Report Images

The south side of the cove when we first arrived.

The north side of the cove when we first arrived - in less than an hour, the sun would be hitting the top of the bluff.

Seaweeds galore. The abundant bubbly-looking yellow-green one is commonly called "dead man's fingers," a rather gruesome name for such a pretty plant. (photo by A)

I need to brush up on my seaweed identification, but I particularly liked this sturdy handsome specimen in red.

Here is what I love about tidepools - to me, this is a picture of a red sea urchin, but when I zoom in I see anemones, several species of seaweed, coralline algae, chitons, tube worms, and who knows how many more seen and unseen living things. Behold! (photo by A)

Urchin-carved rock formation in the sunshine.

Still Life by Nature (2026, mixed media). I think what Nature was really trying to convey with this piece is the fleetingness of time. It’s a meditation on mortality.

When I’m exploring the tidepools, and especially when I’m there to make a report for Coast Watch, I get a sort of seek-and-identify tunnel vision. “Painted anemone, blood star, mossy chiton…” A catalog of species flips through my mind. I saw this massive abalone from about 10 feet away, and my mind auto-supplied “abalone.” Then I snapped to and thought ABALONE! Really special to see this beauty. Look at that irridescent patch - swoon!

This was a loose chunk of what I assume to be the decaying sturdy base of some seaweed. And now it’s a home to countless small creatures! It reminds me of a nurse log in a forest.

So this is a gunnel, not an eel like we thought. I typically take a live-and-let-live approach to the tidepools, but I do not regret getting to see that face up close and personal.

Miraculous. Phenomenal. Otherworldly. Stunning. What more can we say? (photo by Elaine)

Our parting view from the pools on the north end of the cove. What a morning.(photo by A)

Report Images

Bridgett

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