8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Craft sea
creatures in
Cannon Beach
CANNON BEACH — The
Haystack Rock Awareness
Program is hosting a day
camp 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 23, where
the young and the young-
at-heart can learn about
sea creatures and make sea
creature crafts with recycla-
ble materials.
The “Egg Crate Sea
Creature” camp will be led
by Chrissy Smith from the
Friends of Cape Falcon
Marine Reserve.
“It will be fun for all
ages and abilities while
participants learn about
Haystack Rock’s intertidal
animals, and make ador-
able sea creatures out of
egg crates and paper towel
rolls,” the program said in a
release.
Participants should pre-
pare to immerse themselves
in the elements — by dress-
ing for all types of weath-
er— as they venture down
to the beach in Cannon
Beach. They will meet at the
red truck in front of the rock.
This class is $35; pro-
ceeds support the HRAP
Education Department,
which offers free fi eld trips
educating over 2,500 stu-
dents every year.
Now in its 32nd season
on the beach, HRAP aims to
protect, through education,
the intertidal and bird ecol-
ogy of the Marine Garden
and National Wildlife Ref-
uge at Haystack Rock.
Learn more about the
program’s various events
or register at www.ci.can-
non-beach.or.us/HRAP/
page/camps.
For more information,
visit www.ci.cannon-beach.
or.us/hrap/page/camps,
or contact Lisa Habecker,
HRAP education and volun-
teer coordinator, at 503-
436-8064 or habecker@
ci.cannon-beach.or.us
NW
word
nerd
By RYAN HUME
FOR COAST WEEKEND
DOMOIC
[DƏ•MŌ•IK]
noun
1. Domoic acid: a natu-
rally occurring neurotoxin
with the chemical composi-
tion of C15H21NO6. This
amino acid is produced by
certain types of microscop-
ic algae, especially of the
genus Pseudo-nitzschia, of
which 23 of the known 48
species generate the toxin
responsible for amnesic
shellfi sh poisoning.
While there are always
scant amounts of domoic
acid present in ocean waters
where the algae is found, it
is when the algae blooms
that shellfi sh, sardines and
anchovies absorb levels of
the toxin that can become
dangerous to the birds, sea
mammals and humans that
consume them. Amnesic
shellfi sh poisoning can
cause confusion, vomiting,
seizures, brain damage
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
and death.
The bivalves, crusta-
ceans and small forage fi sh
that regularly consume
this phytoplankton are
unaffected by the degen-
erative effects that occur
higher up the food chain
and, with time, will excrete
the concentrated toxin and
be safe to eat again. The
international and national
standard for domoic acid
THE COASTER THEATRE PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS
JUNE 16 - SEPTEMBER 2, 2017
JUNE 23 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
ALL PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M.
TICKETS: $20 OR $25
ALL PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M.
TICKETS: $20 OR $25
Sponsored by
The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach,
Lodges at Cannon Beach and Candi & Jon Holzgrafe
Sponsored by
The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach,
Lodges at Cannon Beach, Probuild/Milgard
and Leland E.G. Larson
108 N Hemlock Street,
Cannon Beach, OR
Tickets: 503-436-1242 or
coastertheatre.com
in shellfi sh meat unfi t for
human consumption is 20
parts per million
Origin:
Also called demoate in
neurophysiological jar-
gon, domoic comes from
the Japanese, dōmoi, ドウ
モイ, which is a regional
word from the Tokunoshi-
ma Island dialect meaning,
“seaweed,” where the toxin
was fi rst isolated from a
species of red algae known
as Chondria armata in
1958. For many years, the
toxin was used there as an
antiparasitic drug, often to
deworm Japanese children.
Its fi rst known use as
domoic in English is traced
to 1982. It is now widely
believed that an August
1961 incident in which
hundreds of sea-birds
dive-bombed the city of
Capitola, California, which
served in part as inspiration
for Alfred Hitchcock’s “The
Birds,” was the result of
domoic acid poisoning the
fowl after a feast on local
anchovy.
The toxin was fi rst offi -
cially detected on the west
coast in 1991 and has been
the scourge of Dungeness
and razor clam seasons for
many years since.
“Shellfi sh and fi sh can
accumulate domoic acid
without apparent ill effects.
Research has shown that
razor clams accumulate
domoic acid in edible tissue
and are slow to expel the
toxin. In Dungeness crab,
domoic acid primarily ac-
cumulates in the viscera or
‘butter.’ Cooking or freez-
ing affected fi sh or shellfi sh
tissue does not lessen the
toxicity.”
— Washington Depart-
ment of Fish & Wildlife,
“DOMOIC ACID - A major
concern to washington state’s
shellfi sh lovers,” http://wdfw.
wa.gov/fi shing/shellfi sh/ra-
zorclams/domoic_acid.html,
accessed Aug. 7, 2017
“Just as the unexplain-
able avian attacks in ‘The
Birds’ have terrifi ed movie
buffs for more than half
a century, the 1961 fren-
zy puzzled scientists for
decades. They now believe
the culprit was domoic
acid — the same neurotoxin
that has delayed this year’s
Dungeness crab season in
California.”
— Laurel Hamers, “This
Hitchcock movie was in-
spired by crab toxin frenzy
in Capitola,” The Mercury
News, Dec. 7, 2015 CW