Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to explore Oregon’s northernmost Marine Reserve by boat with a rad crew of people. The North Coast Land Conservancy (NCLC), which houses the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve Program, invited me to attend their annual boat tour of the marine reserve, along with partners from Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), Bird Alliance of Oregon, Department of Land Conservation & Development, Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, the City of Garibaldi, volunteers, advocates, and more.
We headed out from the Port of Garibaldi before 7am aboard the Norwester, operated by Garibaldi Charters. We were treated to some sunshine and light wind as we headed north to the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, stopping to drop crab pots on the way. As we approached, the weather started to cool and clouds came in, giving Cape Falcon and Onion Peak a moody backdrop. Entering the marine reserve, we learned from Captain Lance about the Santo Cristo de Burgos, a 17th-century Spanish galleon that sank just outside of Smuggler’s Cove, and is the source of beeswax and fragments of fine china that periodically wash up at Short Sands Beach. Captain Lance also told us about his experiences attending every public meeting during the design and implementation of the reserve, advocating that certain areas over others be included in the boundary in order to minimize impacts on the commercial fishing industry and his livelihood. He shared that he was happy with the result, felt heard during the process, and has not experienced any negative impacts on his charter fishing business. While he doesn’t think of what he does as running “ecotours”, I might disagree. In addition to helping us land black rockfish and lingcod (outside of the reserve), he shared a wealth of historical and ecological knowledge about the area with us along the way. It seems like a rebrand could work- "ecotour with optional fishing".
The reserve itself is managed by ODFW, with NCLC promoting awareness and educating the public about the benefits of the reserve. Along the way, we passed buoys marked “RESEARCH” and learned from Mark Freeman, Engagement Specialist at ODFW, about the site-specific sampling and monitoring activities performed at this underwater ‘living laboratory’. The State and their partners collect data on fish and invertebrate species, the composition of algal communities, habitat characteristics, and oceanographic conditions. Changes are tracked over time, and that data is studied against ‘comparison areas’: nearby unprotected sites with similar characteristics (geology, size, fishing pressure). ODFW also studies the human dimensions of the marine reserves, such as the social and economic impact they have on their local community, as well as how people perceive and interact with natural resources and protections.
The Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, the newest of Oregon’s five reserves, sits adjacent to Oswald West State Park. In 2021, NCLC acquired 3,500 acres of temperate rainforest east of the State Park, creating the Rainforest Reserve and helping form a continuous 32-square-mile conservation corridor stretching from the summits of coastal-fronting mountains to the nearshore ocean. From the water, we saw the NCLC Tidepool Ambassador Program in action on Short Sands Beach, where they provide interpretation of the flora and fauna of the rocky intertidal zone to visitors. We were also treated to a harbor porpoise sighting, and got our fill of myriad sea and shore bird species. Witnessing this remarkable land-sea connectivity and getting to see my local marine reserve from a new perspective was an amazing experience, and I’m so grateful to be a part of this conservation effort!