June 16, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A
‘Fire body’ creatures habitate local beaches
in the water, like an army. At night,
they drifted near the water’s surface.
Fisher is pretty sure cockroaches
will survive the apocalypse. After
this most recent cruise, she added
pyrosomes to the list.
“It’s very eerie,” Zeman said.
“There’s nothing else. It’s just them,
and it kind of never stops.”
“They could just keep going,”
Brodeur said. “We have no idea
where they end offshore.”
They came from
beneath the seas
By Katie Frankowicz
EO Media Group
A strange organism has taken
over the ocean waters off Oregon
this spring, clogging fishing and re-
search gear and confounding beach-
combers and biologists.
Fishermen compare them to
pickles, gummy bears and sea cu-
cumbers. They are the Borg of the
ocean, one researcher suggested,
referencing characters from the
“Star Trek” TV show. They look
like “Star Wars” creatures, a biolo-
gist said.
They are called pyrosomes, and
they are everywhere.
In all his decades doing survey
and research work off the coast,
Richard Brodeur, research fishery
biologist with the National Ocean-
ic and Atmospheric Administration,
has never encountered pyrosomes in
these kinds of numbers, or really at
all. He knew about them, had seen
them down in California, but never
off the Oregon Coast.
Then, “starting in 2014, we start-
ed seeing a few of them,” he said. In
2015 and 2016, he saw a few more.
This spring, on a survey cruise, they
pulled up 60,000 pyrosomes in a
five-minute tow.
Fire body
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Pyrosomes can be massive. Some can glow.
“This year,” Brodeur said, “we
must be setting all sorts of records.”
‘All you see’
Sam Zeman, an Oregon State
University research associate, said as
the survey boats went farther away
from shore, they saw bigger and big-
ger pyrosomes, some roughly 2 feet
long.
One researcher fixed a GoPro
camera to a net and dropped it over
the side. It was a glimpse into a fa-
miliar world that had become very
odd. They saw pyrosomes down to
a depth of 100 meters, as far as their
equipment could go.
“Watching that footage was ee-
rie,” said Jennifer Fisher, a research
assistant with Oregon State’s Coop-
erative Institute for Marine Resourc-
es Studies that work closely with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, who was on a sur-
vey cruise in May. There’s blue wa-
ter in all directions, shaded turquoise
to dark cerulean, “and all you see
is pyrosomes.” They seem to hang
Though it looks like a single
creature, a pyrosome is made up of
individual clones. Hence the Borg
reference, though in the case of the
pyrosome, the organism is physically
linked unlike the TV characters who
are mentally connected. A single py-
rosome might contain hundreds, if
not thousands of individual animals,
said Caren Braby, marine resources
program manager with the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
They don’t sting and they can’t bite.
They are essentially hollow tubes,
filter feeders, and very little is known
about them.
They are chordates, Braby said,
lacking actual vertebrae — bones that
form the backbone — but with the be-
ginning of a spinal chord, Braby said.
If you were to compare an octopus or
a pyrosome to people, “we’d be more
closely related to a pyrosome.”
Elsewhere, pyrosomes can be
massive and even display biolumi-
nescence. They glow. This is likely
how they got the name “pyrosome,”
a combination of the Greek words
“pyro” and “soma”: fire body. The
organisms off Oregon aren’t quite so
magical, possibly because they aren’t
consuming the right bacteria, one re-
searcher theorized.
Salmon trollers from Newport to
Alaska reported pyrosomes ending up
on the end of their hooks. In fisheries,
like the pink shrimp fishery where the
gear itself is designed to exclude oth-
er fish, pyrosomes are the right size
and shape to jam up the works.
Shrimper Steve Davis, who runs
several boats out of Warrenton, said
the pyrosomes can be so thick on the
gear that nothing else can get past
them. At the very least, they make it
so he’s catching less than he should
be.
“There’s just so many of them, it’s
hard to pick them out,” he said. They
range from the size of a pinkie finger
to almost a foot long, and they seem
to float in packs. If a boat is unlucky
enough to hit a patch of them, “you go
somewhere else and hope that they’re
not that thick,” Davis said.
To learn more about pyro-
somes and watch a video of
them in the water visit:
http://bit.ly/2sVJqnW
Contest represents hometown tradition
New tax to fund
affordable housing
Tax from Page 1A
Affordable
Housing Fund
The city’s budget commit-
tee approved next fiscal year’s
budget, but not without heat-
ed debate over the merits of
the newly added Affordable
Housing Fund.
The budget was approved
9-1, with the ‘no’ vote coming
Vetter.
Because of the increase in
the lodging tax from 7 to 8 per-
cent in 2016, the budget grew
4.7 percent, City Manager
Brant Kucera said. The bud-
get includes four major water
and wastewater improvement
projects, a newly funded posi-
tion for an in-house building
official to evaluate building
codes and procedure and ad-
ditional funding for updated
radio technology for police.
But one of the most signif-
icant changes to the budget
landscape is the Affordable
Housing Fund. The fund’s
purpose in this budget cycle
is to build five affordable
homes in the RV Resort on
Elk Land Road and Haskell
Lane, and $92,000 of that
fund is made up from excise
tax revenue.
The park was identified
as a potential site in a report
compiled by the affordable
housing task force last year,
citing the fact the city owned
the land, as well as relatively
low startup costs as benefits.
Each house would be
around 400 square feet and
mobile, Kucera said. With
rent anticipated to be $600
to $800 a month, the homes
would be intended for single
and working-class people
who earn about $15 an hour.
Different approaches
While the $429,740 fund
has remained in the budget,
some members of the com-
mittee took issue with the
homes relying on a bank loan,
rents and construction excise
taxes tied to a building econ-
omy — all sources of income
the committee interpreted as
either too risky or unfair to
business.
“I don’t think it’s good for
us to charge such a tiny group
of people for something that
won’t make that much mon-
ey,” Vetter said in reference to
excise taxes.
During a May budget
meeting, Kucera argued that
taking out loans to buy a
home is standard procedure,
and that the plan is low risk
given that the city already
owns the land and could sell
the units if the program does
not succeed.
“Maybe there is some
assumption of cost,” budget
committee member Carolyn
Propst said, “but if you don’t
start with a low-risk project
then how do you get started?”
But with Kucera leaving
as city manager at the end of
the month, how this project
will roll out isn’t set in stone.
Tentatively, implementation
will be pushed from summer
until fall, Kucera said, where
it will be under the direction
of a new city manager.
NORTH COAST DOOR CO.
Serving the North Oregon Coast for Over 28 Years
Pre-Hung Doors • Garage Door Sales
Installation • Complete Trim Packages
Stair Parts • Door Hardware
R.J. & Bonnie Wynia CCB #214816 • 1303 Front Street • Tillamook, OR
PHOTO BY GEORGE VETTER
Sandcastle from Page 1A
— has served in roles similar
to Nelson’s over many years.
As a judge, participant and
event organizer, he said he
noticed the cultural vibe ebb
and flow. After master artists
started taking more interest in
the contest in the mid-1990s,
he said the level of compe-
tition started to rise, taking
away some of that iconic fam-
ily feel.
“I think Debbie’s engage-
ment with the town and lead-
ership has helped make it feel
like a hometown event again,”
he said.
For Nelson, that passion
comes from a place of protect-
ing the feeling of a hometown
tradition.
In her lifetime, she has
helped judge, facilitate plots
for competitors, and organize
the dozens of volunteers it
takes to pull off the events.
“I really love the camara-
derie of getting the job done.
It’s such a satisfying mo-
ment,” she said. “I’ve lived
here all my life. It’s a lot of
work, but it’s a way to repre-
sent hometown tradition, and
I’ve decided (the Sandcastle
Contest) is the tradition I’ve
decided to put my time into.”
MOONLIGHT KARAOKE
MOBILE KARAOKE WITH KJ/DJ
• Weddings • Receptions
• Reunions • Birthdays
• Anniversary Parties
• Private Parties
• Entertainments
• Corporate Events
971.386.7369
Tom.w.Cozart@gmail.com
503-842-5300
“TO-GO”
Orders Welcome
156 N. Hemlock • Cannon Beach
503.436.9551
Owned and Operated by the Cleary Family
This year’s contest will begin 10 a.m. Saturday,
June 17. For more information on the contest,
contact the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce
at 503-436-2623.
Dining on the
North Coast
NORMA’S SEAFOOD & STEAK
20 N. Columbia, Seaside
503-738-4331
Since 1976 discriminating diners have
sought out this Seaside landmark. There’s a
chalkboard fresh catchlist, exclusively natural
Angus beef and a great regional wine list as
well as local microbrews. From Steak & Lobster to Fish &
Chips (and Chowder to die for) - this is worth the drive!
11am-10pm daily. Visit www.normasseaside.com
223 S Hemlock
503-436-2851
7AM - 3PM Daily
From hashbrown potatoes ground fresh
daily and award-winning sourdough
pancakes to homemade soups and
clam chowder, you’ll find delicious family friendly dining
at the Pig ‘N Pancake. Over 35 breakfast varieties and a
complete lunch menu, too. Our dining area overlooks a
beautiful wetland area and downtown Cannon Beach.
Experience Family Dining in
a Relaxed & Friendly
Environment
We have a fabulous patio
where you can enjoy the
weather and your meal.
If you go
PIG ‘N PANCAKE
THE COASTER THEATRE PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS
northcoastdoorco@hotmail.com • www.northcoastdoorco.com
Serving Seafood, Pizza,
Sandwiches, Espressos, Beer,
Wine, Ice Cream and our
Homemade Desserts
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A row of sandcastles at a previous contest.
JUNE 16 - SEPT. 2, 2017
JUNE 23 - SEPT. 3, 2017
PERFORMANCES BEGIN
AT 7:30 P.M.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN
AT 7:30 P.M.
TICKETS: $20 OR $25
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
Tickets6 503-436-1242 or coastertheatre.com
108 N Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, OR
TO PLACE YOUR
AD HERE!
25
ONLY $
per
issue
Seaside Office: 503-738-5561
Astoria Office: 503-325-3211