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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2015)
2A • June 12, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com (lN sel¿es are noW aGviseG White-sided dolphin washes ashore on Ocean Park beach RXWRIWKHZDWHUEHOO\ÀRS- ping, somersaulting and rid- ing the bow waves of boats. OCEAN PARK, They can live for a little Wash. — A 7-foot-long, more than 40 years. Al- SRXQG PDOH 3DFL¿F though they are an offshore white-sided dolphin washed species, the dolphins will ashore in Ocean Park Tues- sometimes venture closer to shore. They are endemic to day afternoon, May 27. The dolphin had died be- WKHQRUWKHUQ3DFL¿F2FHDQ fore washing ashore. Sea- ranging from the Aleutians side Aquarium staff recov- down the west coast to the ered the animal and it was tip of Baja California. The aquarium works sent to Portland State Uni- versity for marine mammal with the Oregon Marine experts to perform a nec- Mammal Stranding Net- ropsy May 28 to see if they work to recover animals could determine the cause that have washed ashore, of death. The aquarium re- both alive and dead. They ceived the results May 31, do not see many white-sid- and the necropsy revealed ed dolphins on the shore the animal had “some sort – on average about three of heart complication, most per every two years – be- likely due to old age,” ac- cause they stay farther out cording to aquarium staffer in the ocean, as compared Tiffany Boothe. to other marine mammals, 7KHQHFURSV\FRQ¿UPHG such as harbour porpoises, what external observa- Chandler said. They can be tions had suggested, which seen swimming more often, is that the dolphin likely but if something happens to was an old male who died them, he said, they usually of natural causes, Seaside don’t make it all the way to Aquarium General Manag- shore, instead sinking to- er Keith Chandler said. The ZDUGWKHRFHDQÀRRU dolphins teeth were “really “These aren’t that com- worn,” which is a sign of mon,” he added. age, he said. One of the aquarium’s 7KH UHVXOWV UHÀHFW JRRG main goals in responding to news, Boothe said, be- incidents is to educate the cause they show “this was public. a healthy animal” with “no “When we’re out there signs of disease or human working on these animals, interaction. Just old.” people often will stop and 3DFL¿F ZKLWHVLGHG GRO- ask questions, so it’s good phins are known for their to inform them,” Chandler exuberant behavior, leaping said. By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal PHOTO COURTESY OF NEAL MAINE Wildlife photographer Neal Maine said he spotted a woman and her dog get too close to an elk cow, which then charged. Peo- ple are advised to stay well clear of cows and calves, especially during calving season from late May through early June. Warning: Keep clear of elk cows, calves By Edward Stratton EO Media Group Wildlife experts are advis- ing people to steer clear of elk and their calves after reports of dangerous encounters, in- cluding a Gearhart woman on a hike who claimed a large elk charged at her “full throt- tle.” Elk are protecting their ter- ritory and calves during calv- ing season, so the animals are wary of perceived threats. Neal Maine, a wildlife photographer, said he wit- nessed an encounter Sunday near Del Rey Beach while shooting a cow and her calf with a telephoto lens. Maine said he saw a wom- an, with her dog in tow, get up close to a mother and calf to take a photo with her cell- phone. “This woman had come up over the dunes,” he said. “She got about 10 feet away. Then the elk just kind of had it, and it took off after her.” Wildlife biologist Dave Nuzum with the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife said the reaction to humans varies from cow to cow. “What seems to set them off around people is if there’s a dog,” he said. Elk do not usually see hu- mans as predators, Nuzum explained, but dogs can re- semble coyotes. He recom- mends leaving dogs behind or on leashes in any area with lots of elk or calves, along with keeping a long distance from elk. No warning Hayley Rogers of Gear- hart conveyed in a Facebook post Monday her displeasure at a lack of warning signs about elk near public beach- es. Rogers wrote she was hiking the Birdy Beach Trail near the mouth of the Neca- nicum River Monday when she saw a large elk about 200 yards away. Having lived in the area for 14 years, Rogers added, she knew not to get close. “As I went over the hill I heard the loud galloping of hooves along with crunch- ing grass,” Rogers wrote. “I turned to see a 1,000 (pound) elk (a very large female I be- lieve) coming at me full throt- tle.” Rather than run, she chose to stand her ground: “So I stood my ground and found myself yelling, ‘Bad elk, No!’ at the top of my lungs.” Rogers wrote she ended up calling 911 as the elk slowed and got closer and she feared she had nowhere to hide. The police, she wrote, told her she should not have been in the HON¶VKDELWDWLQWKH¿UVWSODFH “Fortunately by now I had found some type of marker in the ground which was metal and about 4 feet long with D ÀDJ RQ WKH HQG RI LW´ VKH wrote. “The elk was now 20 (feet) or so away and I was swinging this marker violent- O\DWWKHHON7KLVZDVWKH¿UVW time the elk actually stopped. “I was done being scared and more angry at the police department for telling me I shouldn’t be on a trail that had been publicized by the community paper, which I’ve ran on for years.” Gearhart City Adminis- trator Chad Sweet said this is WKH¿UVWLQVWDQFHKHKDVKHDUG of someone being charged by an elk in his 18 years living in the area. While there are no plans to put up signs at public beach approaches pointing out calv- ing season, Sweet said the Fish and Wildlife Department is working on informative signs on interactions between people and animals. He add- ed Gearhart is looking at cut- ting down some trees near the EHDFKGXQHVWRORZHU¿UHULVN and prevent habitation by elk or transients. Gearhart Police Chief Jeff Bowman said he focuses on the human half of the equa- tion, shooing people away when they stop on the side of U.S. Highway 101 and try to get close to the elk for cell- phone photos. “This Gearhart herd, they don’t run off because you’re out there mowing your lawn,” Bowman said, adding if people pretend not to notice nearby elk, the animals usual- ly go about their way. Bowman, Sweet and Maine all lamented the trend of people trying to get closer to elk for photos. “I guess when someone gets stomped, there will be more heightened awareness,” Bowman said. Calving season According to the U.S. Forest Service, migrating elk herds with pregnant cows halt temporarily in late May to early June for calving sea- son. Cows will leave the herd hours to days before giving birth. Calves are secluded up to three weeks with their mothers in a calving area, which can be grasslands, shrublands and forests. “There’s a patch of forest in the Del Rey Beach area where we’ve seen calves being born in the last three years,” Maine said. Nuzum said there is very little of South County that is not elk habitat, estimating more than 5,000 animals in the Saddle Mountain wildlife management unit. Elk calves curl up and lay in grass or other covered ar- eas as part of their survival strategy, he said, and if some- one were to come across one by accident, he advised it is best to get out of the area. TIFFANY BOOTHE — SEASIDE AQUARIUM A Pacific white-sided dolphin washed ashore in Ocean Park, Wash., Tuesday, May 27. 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