Manzanita, OR. Marine biologists and volunteers surveyed the five Oregon Marine Reserves over the last two months to take a snapshot of their exceptional diversity. The nonprofit Oregon Coast Aquarium is responsible for managing and monitoring Oregon’s reserves and it organized seven “Bioblitz” events to catalog marine species. One was held at the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in Neakahnie-Manzanita Sate Park on July 6th. A BioBlitz is an intensive survey of a defined area on a single day with the goal of identifying all the species to be found in that area.
Oregon Coast Aquarium scientists were on hand for the BioBlitz. The Oregon Marine Reserves are areas in our coastal waters that are dedicated to conservation and scientific research. All ocean development and removal of species is prohibited.
Oregon created the marine reserves to conserve marine habitats and biodiversity while serving as living laboratories to learn about Oregon’s near shore ecosystems and the potential effects that protections can have over time.
The five marine reserves in Oregon are: Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, Otter Rock, Cape Perpetua, and Redfish Rocks. Here’s a graphic of the Oregon Marine Reserves:
A low tide helped volunteers taking an inventory of the sea life at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in Neakahnie-Manzanita Sate Park
As the tide recedes, a unique and diverse environment is revealed in tidepools and intertidal areas. Bright sea stars in a variety of colors cling tightly to rocks. Green anemones lay open like flowers at the bottom of pools. A trained eye will find varieties of crabs, snails, limpets, coral, sponge and colorful sea slugs known as nudibranchs.