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At 9:16am, on 3/28/2022, I was birdwatching at Silver Point, Clatsop County when I was excited to observe a light-colored, white faced, large bodied sea otter swimming north around the left most sea stack. It was smaller than a seal or sea lion, and had brown fur that looked shaggier than that of a pinniped. I got good looks through the spotting scope, and here are some photographs below that I took with my Canon SX-60 (not digiscoped). The sea otter was repeatedly swimming on its back with its front paws held close to its head, and then it would disappear underwater, diving down, and moving rapidly. I noticed it was a fast swimmer, and spending significant time on its back. The photograph with the red marks shows the path the otter took, swimming towards the north out in the open ocean. According to Mr. Jim Rice, Stranding Program Manager of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, this sea otter sighting was the second sighting in 2022, and the 52nd sighting/stranding of a sea otter along the Oregon Coast since 2007. I shared this sighting with iNaturalist, Elakha Alliance, Mr. Jim Rice, and Mr. Roy Lowe.

Conditions

Temperature: 45 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Tide Level: 6.6 feet.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 3.

Notable Wildlife

At 9:16am, on 3/28/2022, I was birdwatching at Silver Point, Clatsop County when I observed a light-colored, white faced, large bodied otter swimming north around the left most sea stack. It was smaller than a seal or sea lion, and had brown fur that looked shaggier than that of a pinniped. I got good looks through the spotting scope, and here are some photographs below that I took with my Canon SX-60 (not digiscoped). The otter was repeatedly swimming on its back with its front paws held close to its head, and then it would disappear underwater, diving down, and moving rapidly. I noticed it was a fast swimmer, and spending significant time on its back. The photograph with the red marks shows the path the otter took.

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All Mile 311 Reports

Showing 8 of 26 reports

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

April 13, 2024

A mild morning walk on mile 311 during an outgoing tide revealed 5 species of nudibranch, 3 species of anemone, and an impressive flock of 150 surfbirds that landed in the rocky outcroppings between Jockey Cap and Silver Point.

sultanym

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

September 9, 2022

What a beautiful morning at mile 311!

browneyed

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

August 14, 2022

Today, we observed a total of 896 Ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) at the northern rocky outcroppings exposed by the low tides at Silver Point.

sultanym

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

July 31, 2022

Today, we observed a total of 1388 Ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) at the northern rocky outcroppings exposed by the low tides at Silver Point.

sultanym

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

July 17, 2022

Today, we observed a whopping total of 1,059 Ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) at the northern rocky outcroppings exposed by the low tides at Silver Point.

sultanym

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

June 18, 2022

Today, we observed 464 Ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) at the northern rocky outcroppings exposed by the low tides at Silver Point.

sultanym

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

June 4, 2022

A morning walk on mile 311 from Tolovanna Wayside to Silver Point/Jockey Cap revealed a high relative abundance of ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) in rocky tidepools during the outgoing tide.

sultanym

Mile 311

Jockey Cap, Silver Pt, S Cannon Beach, Tolovana Beach

March 28, 2022

At 9:16am, on 3/28/2022, I was birdwatching at Silver Point, Clatsop County when I was excited to observe a light-colored, white faced, large bodied sea otter swimming north around the left most sea stack.

sultanym