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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JANuARy 20, 2022
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
LOOK OUT!
T
he 154-ton iron British bark Dewa Gungadhur, under
the command of Capt. Battersby, met her doom in
January 1885. Here’s what happened:
The captain told The Daily Morning Astorian that he
was off the Columbia River Bar when he was driven back
out to sea by a gale. So he set sail to pass by the Toke
Point Lighthouse, in Washington, which faced the north
end of Shoalwater Bay and was 15 miles away.
He was about 12 miles from Toke Point when “there
came a dead calm,” he said, “and shortly after a dense fog.
About three o’clock, saw breakers to leeward.” He set
anchor.
When he set sail again and was abreast of Toke Point,
“the fog cleared a little and showed the tops of the head-
lands; there were heavy breakers close to leeward, and the
… ship drifted down to them.” Desperate, he tried to find
anchorage.
Before he could, the sea became turbulent, the fog
closed in and the ship ran hard aground. “I got out one
boat and all hands left the ship; it kept three men busy bal-
ing the boat out to keep her from sinking, the heavy sea
filling it at every lurch.” All were saved. Except the ship,
which was a total loss.
On. Jan. 27, 1885, the newspaper couldn’t resist a com-
ment. “When the Dewa Gungadhur and the Abbey Cow-
per laid their bones by the Broughton and Lammerlaw,
it was jestingly suggested that a subscription be taken up
to get a fund to build a fence across Shoalwater Bay Bar,
on which should be painted in plain black letters: ‘This is
Shoalwater Bay! Look out! Keep away!’”
AROUND TOWN
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
L
ast week there was a story about two missing dogs,
“Lulu” (left) and “Buttons” (right).
Dog handler and search and rescue expert Harry
Oakes, who donated his services, took on the challenge
of finding Lulu, who was thrown from Cliff McClel-
land’s truck in a rollover accident on Dec. 31 at the top
of Bradley Hill.
“I saw the photo on Facebook,” Oakes said, “of Lulu
in her little shoes, and my heart just melted. I had to try
to save her.”
His Facebook page tells the rest of the story. First, on
Jan. 2, Oakes obtained a scent article, and tracked Lulu
down a steep hillside. He told Cliff to set up a “home
away from home” with articles including the dog’s
bedding, dog food and toys, and some of Cliff’s soiled
clothes.
On Jan. 11, Cliff’s daughter, Megan Brown, noti-
fied Oakes that Lulu had been spotted on Clifton Road.
Oakes arrived with his search and rescue dogs, “Tyler”
and “Cindy,” and met with Cliff and Clatsop County
Animal Control.
His dogs tracked Lulu to a logging road with a “No
Trespassing” sign, so the search was halted. Oakes asked
Clatsop County Animal Control for a live trap, and
advised them where to set it up.
On Jan. 12, the good news came. Lulu was caught in
the live trap, and was just fine.
“I’m very thankful that we could help save Lulu’s
life,” Oakes said. “I’ve educated Lulu’s owner on how
to set up a dog seat belt system so Lulu can travel safely
from now on. Chalk up another happy ending.”
Buttons’ story does not have a happy ending yet. She
is a 5-pound black Chihuahua with dark brown on her
lower legs and a white spot on her chest.
On Jan. 3, she jumped, unseen, from Niki Ratana’s
car at one of three locations: The Columbia River beach
parking lot area at Fort Stevens State Park; in Chinook
Park in Washington; or near the Astoria Bridge on the
Washington side.
“I am offering a $2,000 reward for her safe return in
case someone saw her and picked her up,” Niki said.
“She is loved beyond measure and our family has been
beside itself without her.”
MEET SOME WHALES
hanks to IndividuWhale.com, from the Geospatial
Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory within
the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University,
you can learn more about some of the individual whales
passing by the Oregon Coast.
These whales belong to the Pacific Coast feeding
group, whose range is primarily from northern Califor-
nia to northern British Columbia, Canada. The laboratory
studies them using photos, drones, sound recordings and
poop.
A poop plume (say that three times fast) contains
“molecular data about the whale’s diet, gut microbiome,
genetics, toxin loads and hormone levels,” which also
helps scientists study stress levels.
One of the whales, “Scarlett” (aka “Scarback”),
described as “iconic,” is pictured, courtesy of Individu-
Whale.com. She’s named for a large scar of unknown ori-
gin on her dorsal ridge, but speculations range from har-
pooning efforts to vessel strikes.
No matter, she’s a tough old girl, and has been observed
along the Pacific Northwest coast since 1996. She’s birthed
at least three calves that she’s brought back to the Oregon
Coast with her.
So go meet some whales. You don’t even have to go out
in the rain.
T
GO FISH
SHARING THE JOURNEY
he Ear suspects this sort of idea pops up when scien-
tists are bored: Teaching goldfish to drive an aquar-
ium on wheels. Two scientists at Ben-Gurion University
of the Negev in Israel came up with this one.
The fish-cart’s movements solely depend on the fish’s
movements inside the attached tank, SmithsonianMag.
com reports, with the objective being that animals (even
fish) can learn to drive and navigate around in places that
are utterly unfamiliar to them.
“The fish were tasked to ‘drive’ the vehicle towards a
visual target in the terrestrial environment,” neuroscientist
Ronen Segev posted on Twitter, “which was observable
through the walls of the tank.
“Indeed, the goldfish were able to explore the terres-
trial environment, all while avoiding dead-ends and cor-
recting inaccuracies.” Which is more than can be said for
some humans.
T
C
hilling tidbits from The Daily Morning Astorian,
Jan. 20, 1886 on a winter’s day:
• Sleigh riding and snow balling are two things Astori-
ans don’t often enjoy, and when a chance does offer itself,
it is eagerly embraced.
• Considerable trouble has been experienced in getting
water the last few days by consumers who neglected to
box their pipes …
• Great icicles hung from the bows of the Portland boats
yesterday afternoon. They report … the Columbia solid
above Vancouver, Washington Territory, ice 4 inches thick
floating in great quantities to a point below Kalama, lots of
snow and cold wind all the way.
• … The newspaper carrier is just as sorry to see this
weather as you are, and has a hard enough time of it with-
out being growled at.
‘UNDER THE GOONDOCKS’
K, so a movie sequel to “The Goonies” is off
the table after the death of the film’s director
Richard Donner. But that doesn’t mean that the
games based on the movie can’t endlessly evolve with
expansions.
The newest shiny toy on the block for Goonies
fans is “Under the Goondocks,” an expansion of
“The Goonies: Never Say Die” game, both by Funko
Games.
“Troy and his father’s plan to turn the Goon-
docks into a country club golf course have failed,”
Funko’s website says. “But since the Goonies discov-
ered that One-Eyed Willie’s treasure was real, Troy has
been searching for it out of spite. You must stop him
before he unleashes the evils below the Goondocks!”
What’s next?
O
I
n early March 2018, Neal Moore, a freelance jour-
nalist, set off from Pier 39 in Astoria to start his two-
year cross-country canoe expedition. But his mission
was more than the journey — along the way he wanted
to “spin a story of the human face of the economic sit-
uation. And in Astoria, I’d love to start out with a good
one.”
Which he did, by interviewing several locals, includ-
ing members of the Law, Lum and Madsen families
and Liisa Penner, archivist at the Clatsop County His-
torical Society. Floyd Holcom, owner of Pier 39, was
Neal’s departure consultant, advising him on the tides
and safest time to leave.
That first attempt ended when Moore was derailed
by a cottonwood snag in Montana, Adventure-Jour-
nal.com reports, so he went back to Taiwan to earn
enough money to start again. Which he did, from
Astoria, in early February 2020, before the pandemic
lockdowns.
Almost 22 months and 7,500 miles later, in Decem-
ber, he was circling the Statue of Liberty in New York
Harbor in his trusty canoe, celebrating the completion of
his arduous journey. He was accompanied by boats filled
with friends he’d made from all over the country, and a
media boat that tagged along.
Long-haul paddler Norman Miller, one of
Moore’s friends, who took the photo shown, believes
Moore “is the only person to canoe solo across the
United States from west to east in a single go.”
Naturally, Moore has quite a story to tell, and a book is
on the way. In the meantime, you can read his blog, 22
Rivers.
“The Statue of Liberty was just the endgame,” Moore
told Adventure Journal, “but it could not have been more
symbolic of the journey. I’ve been exploring from the
very start not just the waterways, but us as a nation, us
as a people.
“Sharing the journey with my friends, and them
sharing their journeys and their spirits with me,
speaks to what this expedition has been about from the
beginning.”
WATCH YOUR BACK
un rerun: Have you ever wondered what is on the
backside of the iconic Twin Rocks in Rockaway
Beach? Drone footage of it by Av8er1978 provides an
interesting surprise: What you see from the beach is like a
Hollywood film set, all front. Shown, a side view screen-
shot from the video.
In case you’re wondering, RockawayBeach.net pro-
vides a couple of interesting little factoids about Twin
Rocks, including that they were two separate sea stacks
that became connected after millions of years.
The peak of the rock is 88 feet tall, and the hole is
35 feet across, wide enough to fly a helicopter through,
although the Ear wouldn’t suggest trying it.
And last, but not least, before 1925, the twins were
called the Profile Rocks, but the name was changed
because it was the same as some other formation in the
region. (In One Ear, 6/24/2016)
F