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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2021)
SN THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 2, 2021 | $1.00 Watching for whale tails By Lloyd Little Siuslaw News Retired teacher, coach and game offi cial Community & Lifestyle With more than 55 years as an athlete, coach, parent and specta- tor, Lloyd Little has gained some insights and perspectives regarding athletics. Each week, he shares what he's learned about sports from his multiple points of view. Stopping the Clock (Originally published in the Siuslaw News February 2020) ODFW REGIONAL FISHING REPORT www.dfw.state.or.us/RR Local Lakes and Ponds: North Coast lakes are done with trout stocking until next spring, but many lakes have holdover trout from earlier sea- son’s stockings. Warmwater fish- ing should be over for the year as water temperatures are too cold to keep those species active. Mid-coast lakes will receive trout stockings the first couple weeks of February. These lakes include: Cleawox, Munsel, Alder and Dune lakes. Wild coho fish- eries in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes are open and provide a unique opportunity to catch a coho in a coastal lake. SIUSLAW RIVER: Winter steelhead Winter steelhead fishing on the Siuslaw has been blown out with the recent high water. Expect the first good push of fish to be around when the river drops back into shape this week- end and next week. The Whitaker Creek area is the best place to target returning hatch- ery fish. Hatchery fish are also planted in Lake Creek and are released into See FISHING 3B Tide Tables Entrance Siuslaw River High Tide Low Tide Jan. 2 2:39am / 6.5 1:29pm / 7.7 7:51am / 3.5 8:36pm / -0.6 Jan. 3 3:19am / 6.7 2:18pm / 7.3 8:43am / 3.3 9:17pm / -0.2 Jan. 4 4:01am / 6.8 3:14pm / 6.7 9:44am / 3.1 10:01pm / 0.4 Jan. 5 4:46am / 7.1 4:23pm / 6.0 10:52am / 2.7 10:48pm / 1.1 Time Out COURTESY PHOTOS The tail of a grey whale emerges from the water near Newport as the migrating mammal dives below the surface. I t was 42 years ago when Don Giles of the Hat- field Marine Science Center in Newport trekked out to Yaquina Head Light- house with a pair of binocu- lars to look for grey whales. Along with fellow marine biologists Bruce Mate and Denise Herzing, the trio verified what their instincts told them: the migration of grey whales along the Oregon coastline occurred like clockwork twice a year — southbound in the win- ter and northbound in the spring. The discovery launched the Whale Watching Spo- ken Here program, which still continues today more than four decades later. And even though safety restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandem- ic means there will be no rangers “speaking whale” at locations along the cen- tral Oregon coast as in past years, the winter migration of grey whales from Alaska to Mexico continues. And so do opportuni- ties for visitors to watch them. In the winter, nearly 20,000 gray whales swim and breach their way along the coast of Oregon be- tween mid-December and mid-January to the warmer waters and lagoons of Baja Mexico. Typically, park rangers and volunteers are onsite at two dozen whale watching locations along the Oregon coast, informing and ed- COURTESY PHOTO A grey whale calf breaches near a small fishing boat off of Depot Bay. ucating visitors about the whale migration and help- ing people spot them. This winter, as it was with spring, there won’t be volunteers at those loca- tions and the ODPR’ Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay will remain closed, as it has been since the March shutdown. Keep in mind that spot- ting gray whales takes a fair amount of patience. It’s helpful to use binoculars while scanning the ocean slowly near the shoreline in search of telltale spouts — similar in appearance to a vertical spray of mist much like a geyser. Visitors can also look for a tail to break the surface, which sometimes emerge from the water as whales dive. If luck is really on your side, you might even spot a breaching whale, which is when they break the surface before crashing back into the water. It is also important to re- member that winter whale watching along the Ore- gon coast can present cer- tain dangers when stormy weather or high tides are occurring. At those times, avoid jetties, rocky shore- lines and other potentially dangerous locations that See WHALES 2B Cheating is defi ned as acting dishonestly in or- der to specifi cally gain an advantage over the oppo- nent. When former Oregon Ducks football coach Chip Kelly introduced the hy- per-speed off ense, defenses needed a way to slow them down. In 2010, Arizona State University linebacker Vontaze Burfi ct introduced to the football fan a sure- fi re way to disrupt the Or- egon off ense; he got injured on a play. In fact, he was escorted off the fi eld four times in the fi rst half alone. His amazing recovery was duplicated by teammates a total of seven times in the fi rst half — all by defensive players. Von- taze would only go down one time in the second half of that game. He would only miss one play before return- ing to the fi eld. All told, the ASU players would have twelve injury delays while Oregon had just one. Did ASU play- ers cheat? Were the ASU coaches involved with this delay tactic? Th is injury delay, whether a legitimate injury or faked, has exploded as more and more off enses are now no huddle speed games. It is understandable for 300-lb. defensive linemen to get tired chasing the passers, so substitutes are rushed onto the fi eld as quickly as possi- ble. In the NFL Aaron Rog- ers of Th e Green Bay Pack- ers and Tom Brady of Th e New England Patriots are masters of the quick snap. Once they see the substi- tutes enter, they immedi- ately hike the ball for a free play or free 5 yards. Football is not the only sport where players fake in- juries to have an advantage or to try and get an oppo- nent called for a foul. Soc- cer and basketball are two sports where fl opping has See LITTLE 2B Jan. 6 5:32am / 7.4 5:44pm / 5.6 12:05am / 2.1 11:42pm / 1.8 Jan. 7 6:22am / 7.7 7:13pm / 5.4 1:17pm / 1.3 Jan. 8 7:13am / 8.1 8:38pm / 5.5 12:42am / 2.5 2:23pm / 0.6 2021 grant applications still available from WLCF Western Lane Community Foundation (WLCF) contin- ues to accept applications to its 2021 grant cycle. The ap- plication can be found on its website located at wlcfonline. org. Each year, WLCF awards several grants to local non- profit organizations for proj- & SHEET METAL, INC. “Your Local Independent Trane Dealer” lorence’s Oldest & argest Heating Contractor ects/programs in its target area of western Lane County. Grants are awarded in the areas of education, medicine and science, the arts, and so- cial and civic services. The annual amount to be awarded is determined by the performance of the in- vested portfolio of discre- • Heating Systems • Heat Pumps • Sales / Service • Ductless Heat Pumps tionary funds during the current year. Grant requests for the 2021 grant cycle will be accepted until Jan. 15, 2021. Appli- cations can be downloaded at WLCF’s website and it is highly recommended that applicants review the Grant Guidelines included there. Hours M-F, 8am-4pm 1645 Kingwood ~ Florence • www.trane.com (541) Submit applications to Western Lane Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1589, Florence, OR, 97439 or by email to wlcf@wlcfonline. org in PDF format. Complet- ed applications must be post- marked or received no later than close of business on Jan. 15, 2021. 997-2422 (L-R) Matteo Cocciolo, Owners Krystal & Steve Wolfor Trinka Griffin CCB