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SPRING 2023

FREE

THE CURRENT INSIDE

de DiscoveryGui 2023 Y

TILLAMOOK COUNT

TILLAMOOK COUNTY DISCOVERY GUIDE INSIDE FOR SUBSCRIBERS

parks, towns Discover the County in Tillamook

and attractions

VOL. 47, ISSUE 13

FREE

JUNE 23, 2023

CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM

Sandcastles: Art, Imagination and Wonder By DEB ATIYEH

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he weather was perfect for the 59th annual Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest held on Saturday, June 10th. The number of talented contestants increased to 26 this year from the 15 in 2022, according to Jim Paino, Director of the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event. The beach was full of smiling people, children playing in

the sand, dogs wagging their tails, cars on the beach and kites flying in the air. A moment in time when the world was full of magic, wonder, and sandcastles. At the end of the day, the tide came in and the sandcastles floated out to sea. The sun set and darkness fell as people gathered around beach fires with the warmth of family and friends, listening to the ocean under a sky full of stars. As the sea and

sky became one, we dreamed about sandcastles in the sea that merged into the sky... The Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest is an Oregon Heritage Tradition. The annual Sandcastle Contest will be celebrating it’s 60th anniversary next year on June 15th. Until then we hope that you dream about sandcastles in the sky. These imaginary creations will manifest again next year in Cannon Beach, when that sense of wonder

and creative wizardry will come alive in the magic of sandcastles on the beach. Mark your calendars and plan ahead. 60 years will be a celebration of something special and you will not want to miss the artistic enchantment of this event. PHOTOS BY BOB KROLL PHOTOGRAPHY BobKrollPhotography@gmail.com www.BobKrollPhotography.com

59th Annual Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest Celebrates a Day of Creativity and Fun for All

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annon Beach, Or- The 59th Annual Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest, held on June 10th, brought together sandcastle enthusiasts of all ages for a day filled with imagination, creativity, and friendly competition. Despite the cloudy start in the morning, the weather cleared up to reveal a beautiful sunny afternoon, with temperatures

reaching a pleasant high of 61 degrees. It was the perfect setting for participants to showcase their sand sculpting skills and construct aweinspiring sandcastles. The Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest is an annual Oregon Coast heritage event that has captivated participants and spectators for nearly six decades. This

beloved tradition brings together sandcastle enthusiasts of all ages to showcase their craftsmanship. Held on the scenic shores of Cannon Beach, this event continues to inspire and unite the community in a celebration of art, expression, and the natural beauty of the Oregon coast. Save the date as we anticipate the celebration of the

60th Annual Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest next year on Saturday, June 15, 2024. For more information & future events, visit the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce website at www. cannonbeach.org or Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest on Facebook. Winners by division Master’s: 1st: Form

Finders creating Hair to The Throne, 2nd: Ozymandias creating Turtles All The Way Down, 3rd: The Hey! Stackers! creating Jammin Animals Large Group: 1st: Team Pug Love creating Pugkin Patch, 2nd: Team Camp Castle, 3rd: The Juicy Fat Lobsters Small Group: 1st: Turtella Florella, 2nd: JJ Sands, 3rd:

Las Tortugas Marinas Verdes Sand Teens: 1st: Sisters Doing It Together Sand Juniors: 1st: Haystack Rocks, 2nd: Baker’s Half Dozen, 3rd: Valli Sand Flea Participants: The Sand Band, Majestic Littles, Dragon Castle Warriors, Andrade, Nehalem Bay Sand Slingers

The Tufted Puffins of Haystack Rock By BOB ATIYEH

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ike the swallows of San Juan Capistrano, the Tufted Puffins made their annual return to Haystack Rock in April. After leaving their burrows high on the open grassy areas of Haystack Rock in late summer, they return to the open sea where they spend the majority of their lives among huge ocean waves, high wind and heavy rain. After enduring the short days and long nights of winter, they return eight months later to their same burrow to meet up with their same puffin spouse to produce a single egg. After keeping the egg warm for six weeks, they constantly supply the voracious newly hatched puffin chick (called a puffling) with small fish for at least another six weeks. Then, in an extreme example of “tough love” they leave their young puffling to its fate and fly out to sea to complete their annual cycle. After coming into this world hatched out of an egg deep inside a dark burrow 200 feet up the side of Haystack Rock, the young Tufted Puffin will emerge from it’s burrow, fling itself off the

rock and find its way out to sea in search of food; not returning to a rocky nesting site near shore for four years. In a good year, only 50% of young puffins make it out to sea, and many don’t survive their first winter. Puffins can live up to twenty years, but with their slow reproductive rate, their population is vulnerable and declining in the areas affected by the California Current along the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. So far this year, the puffin count on Haystack Rock is the lowest ever recorded, with only 20 confirmed burrows representing about 40 puffins. The total count of 74 puffins in 2022 was a 25% decline from the previous year, and the lowest count since annual surveys began at Haystack Rock in 2010. Tim Halloran has been counting Tufted Puffins as a volunteer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 2012, and is now in his 12th year of monitoring the puffin population at Haystack Rock. So far this year, “Nest 52A” on the northeast side of Haystack Rock has been very active with the most reliable sightings. Halloran spends

to seek cooler temperatures about 20 hours a week on deeper underwater or further the beach between mid-May north. and early September, scanThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife ning the rock at 15-minute Service (USFWS) recently intervals and monitoring the denied a burrows. petition Just a to list the few years Tufted ago, he Puffin for said “it protection was not under the unusual Federal to see 30Endan40 Puffins gered at a time; Species last year Act, it was although 20, and PHOTOS BY BOB KROLL the USFthis year PHOTOGRAPHY WS does about BobKrollPhotography@gmail.com employ a 10.” www.BobKrollPhotography.com wildlife Our biologist local to coorpuffins dinate are facing puffin several research threats along the such as Oregon pollucoast. tion and The decreased Haystack food supRock ply due to Awareoverfishness ing, as Program (HRAP) assists in well as an increase in ocean this effort by educating visitemperature caused by tors and ensuring that federal climate change; forcing the small fish that Puffins feed on regulations are being fol-

lowed near Haystack Rock, which is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Even though puffin numbers are declining along the west coast, Alaska has a healthy population of an estimated two million puffins, and it is unknown if our puffins are genetically distinct from their Alaskan relatives to the north. Little is known about where our west coast puffins spend most of their lives, but studies of Atlantic Puffins living on the coastal islands of Maine show that many spend their winters off the coast of New Jersey. Studies of Atlantic Puffins in the United Kingdom have shown that some head north, while others fly as far south as the Mediterranean. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research suggests that Haystack Rock supports the second largest Tufted Puffin colony in Oregon. The best way to spot a Tufted Puffin on Haystack Rock is to go at low tide. This allows closer access to the grassy areas high on the north and northeast sides of Haystack Rock where most of the puffins have their burrows. Puffins tend to hang out by

the burrow entrance before leaving or returning to their nest, providing the best opportunity to see them. Tufted Puffins are about half the size of the Western Gulls common to our shores. Look for birds with orange legs, a black body, a white head, and a large orange beak; they stand out among the Common Murres and Western Gulls sharing the grassy areas of the rock. Bring a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, or ask one of the friendly red-coated folks of the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) and they will do their best to help you spot one. The summer months of June, July and the first part of August are the best times to see puffins; but this is wild, raw, unpredictable nature, so sightings aren’t guaranteed. To increase your odds, go in the morning when puffins are most active.


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