naturalist’s calendar
Dip into science, with World Oceans Day
Oregon State University will celebrate
World Oceans Day this Monday, June 8, with
a special Science Pub featuring marine videos,
a panel of expert guests, trivia, music, art and
a children’s book reading.
The free, virtual event will focus on Heceta
Bank, a biodiversity and fishing hotspot
about 35 miles off Cape Perpetua near
Yachats. Oregon State University scientists
have conducted research on the bank for
more than 60 years to understand how ocean
processes set the stage for Oregon’s fisheries
and coastal ecosystem.
“We depend on the ocean for food,
livelihood, recreation and the key role it
plays in regulating our weather and the
planet’s climate,” said Jack Barth, OSU
oceanographer and executive director of the
university’s Marine Studies Initiative. “OSU
scientists, fishermen, government partners
and coastal communities work together to
understand these vital resources and manage
them for the future. World Oceans Day
celebrates their accomplishments.”
World Oceans Day began as a global
grassroots movement for ocean conservation
and was formally recognized by the United
Nations in 2008. This year’s theme is
“Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean” and
is expected to encompass more than 2,000
events in 150 countries.
The OSU Science Pub will feature a
screening of a half-hour documentary
about Heceta Bank, a short film, “Sense of
This one’s a keeper
The Lower Nehalem Watershed Council
and Trailkeepers of Oregon will come
together on Thursday, June 11, for an online
presentation about the future of Soapstone
Lake, a popular hiking destination in the
Clatsop State Forest.
Managed by the Oregon Department
of Forestry, this loop trail goes through
second growth coastal forest, past the pioneer
homestead of Erik Lindgren and around the
lake. Old beaver dams are located at the south
end of the lake and its home to trout, newts
and a variety of waterfowl.
The presentation, “Soapstone
Collaborations: Creeks, Salmon, and Trails,”
will discuss the habitat around Soapstone
Lake, a new community trail maintenance
proposal, fish habitat enhancements and
ways to get involved. Soapstone Creek and
its tributaries look pristine but, on closer
examination, have been impacted in ways
characteristic within the Coast Range. Hiking
activity inadvertently brings in invasive weeds
which a new community group hopes to
manage as volunteers.
Brandon Tigner and Josh Durham
with Trailkeepers of Oregon are helping
to guide this new community partnership.
Tigner has spent the past two seasons as
a trail crew leader with the Washington
Trails Association and recently became the
North Coast stewardship coordinator for
Trailkeepers of Oregon. Durham, born and
raised in Oregon, is the organization’s South
Coast stewardship coordinator and has trail
experience in the Columbia River Gorge, on
Mount Hood and in the Willamette National
Forest.
Tigner and Durham will be joined by Zac
Mallon, council coordinator with the Lower
Nehalem Watershed Council, has spent the
past 10 years doing fish and habitat surveys
all over the Pacific Northwest and working
in habitat restoration from planting trees to
project management.
The presentation, which is free and open to
all, will begin at 7 pm on Facebook Live www.
facebook.com/events/538534710146889.
14 • oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • June 5, 2020
Place,” by Oregon State Productions and
a performance of “Currents,” composed
by Dana Reason of the OSU Music
Department. Participants can test their
ocean knowledge in a trivia quiz and ask
questions to a group that includes scientists, a
filmmaker and an OSU student. The evening
will end with a special children’s book
reading.
The Science Pub, which is free an open to
all, will run from 6 to 7:30 pm on Facebook
Live and YouTube Live. Registration is
required and can be completed at https://
beav.es/4bi.