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Meteor Showers, Other Wonders Especially Vibrant on Oregon Coast

Odd things emerge on the beaches at night, like meteor showers or this monster (actually, a rather striking chunk of driftwood that looks remarkably like a monster, photographed in Manzanita last year)

(Oregon Coast) – The coming weeks will be full of something more than a little interesting on the Oregon coast, especially this weekend’s wowing show of a meteor shower. Look for glowing sand, brown waves, sightings of all sorts of natural wonders in the bird world, and the possibility of porpoises, major whale visitations and oddities like “ocean burps” – they all are looming in the near future or they’ve already happened.

The Perseid Meteor shower that hits the Earth each August reaches its peak this weekend. Weather permitting – and that’s a bit sketchy on the coast – this region can host the most incredible front row seats for this astonishing astronomical display, with its crystalline skies and clear view of the spacey melee.

The forecast for the weekend calls for partly or mostly cloudy during the days, with the meteor shower hours in the middle of the night a little up for grabs.

Whatever the case, thanks to less atmospheric interference and far fewer lights from civilization, this display can absolutely rock your world if things work out right.

To get a good view of the showers, find a dark spot like this one just above Florence, and a few miles north of it

The showers come from the dust trails of comet Swift-Tuttle. These are from the comet passing through this area last year. Our planet experiences its dust trail a year later, resulting in the aerial fireworks that make for incredible viewing.

It’s possible our region of the world may see as many as 100 shooting stars an hour.

The phenomenon derives its name from the constellation Perseus, from where the meteors seem to originate.

The Oregon coast, with its notoriously clearer skies and big views, can be the perfect place to view these showers.

“My personal favorite is the lookouts above Manzanita,” said BeachConnection.net editor Andre’ Hagestedt. “I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve cruised into the area, pulled over to enjoy the view, and seen a vast array of shooting stars in just a few minutes of hanging out. The same goes for up a ways on Highway 53, in the country. The shooting stars there can be so cool it’s alarming.”

Other incredible spots for viewing this phenomenon are any dark area of the coast where no street lights or lighting from beachside homes interferes. This includes chunks of Manzanita’s beach, Oceanside, Netarts, some areas of Lincoln City, Gleneden Beach, southern Cannon Beach, between Warrenton and Gearhart, and some areas of Waldport, among tons of other places where no lights intrude. High vantage points that are remarkable include Agate Beach in Newport, Cape Perpetua, the overlooks just north of Florence and Cape Foulweather, between Depoe Bay and Newport.

This is one place that Newport beach expert Guy DiTorrice highly recommends.

Cape Foulweather: a 270-degree view of the sky.

“One of the Highway 101 waysides or the parking lot at the top of Cape Foulweather gives you a very clear view of nearly 270 degrees of the sky with next to no municipal light sprawl,” he said.

Dark places on the coast also mean other important findings, such as the “glowing sand” phenomenon that sometimes hits the beaches this time of year. It’s becoming more regular during the year, as Oregon’s coastline seems to be more full of the bioluminescent critters called dinoflagelettes – a form of phytoplankton that’s a lot like a firefly. They give off a faint greenish blue glow when stomped on or disturbed in the water.

They are seen by scuffing your feet along the sand on a very dark beach at night. Exactly where they are on each beach is different from one night to the next. But if you find them in standing water, the results can be especially spectacular. They explode like tiny galaxies beneath your feet.

Nehalem Bay, where the glowing phytokplankton can be especially interesting

If you run your hand through bay waters like in Nehalem Bay or Tillamook Bay, you’ll see odd, glowing trails behind your hand.

The so-called “dead zone” off the central Oregon coast may have something to do with all these kinds of phytoplankton making an interesting display. It is created by super strong upwellings of cold water that brings nutrients and phytoplankton so excessive these tiny creatures die at an incredible rate, then decay in such numbers they choke off the oxygen supply in the water.

Such a mechanism of upwellings seems to be tied to the wild abundance of “glowing sand” on the coast, said Tiffany Boothe, of the Seaside Aquarium.

It also resulted in a massive washing up of strange ocean debris earlier this week in Seaside, nicknamed an “ocean burp.”

Massive "ocean burp" covers a chunk of Seaside (photo: Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium)

“We weren’t completely surprised to see this,” Boothe said. “We were seeing high temperatures in the ocean of 66 or even 68. Then it dropped down to around 56, 57. The north winds started cooling things off, the upwellings started happening, so we expected to see something. I think it’s possible we’ll start seeing a lot of pelicans around, because the upwellings bring all the nutrients, which then bring the baitfish. The pelicans go for those.”

Colder water could also explain the sudden burst of nutrients and phytoplankton, which have resulted in spotting the glowing sand this summer and the presence of brown waves on the north coast – indicative of a large presence of another kind of phytoplankton called diatoms, which are the tiny creatures that create much of the sea foam you see. The brown foam isn’t being seen on the central coast, however.

“Last year, when the dead zone started, we started seeing a lot of nutrients in the ocean,” Boothe said. “I’ll bet we’ll start to see a pattern here every year.”

Killer whale surfacing near Florence (photo Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium)

This flood of nutrients is also likely to bring other wonders to Oregon’s beaches and waters, like the baitfish, pelicans and porpoises arriving in coves – creating more incredible sights to ogle at while you’re out and about.

Meanwhile, whale sightings up and down the coast should be up in many places, as they’re spending considerable time just grazing off the phytoplankton offshore. See more on that here.

Also, sand levels on the north coast are showing a small decrease in some places, which means more surprises to catch. Rock structures on the beaches will be showing more, with some interesting aspects popping up there, like a whole new side to them you’ve never seen before.

Geologic oddities emerging at Hug Point this past winter, when sand levels were exceptionally low (photo: Tom Horning)

If sand levels get low enough, you may see the remnants of an ancient forest that is either 4,000 years old or perhaps even 80,000 years old – depending on the theory. These have shown up at Hug Point, Arch Cape and even Rockaway Beach in recent years.

Down on the central coast, sand levels are higher, however, according to DiTorrice. Still, this has yielded some exciting moments of discovery.

“Sand appears a bit higher-than-usual on most Lincoln County beaches, with especially heavy sand build-up on the beaches at Lost Creek, Thiel Creek, Agate Beach, Moolack Creek, Coal Creek, Gleneden Beach, Siletz Bay, and D River,” DiTorrice said. “I’ve noted some fairly fresh headland erosions north of Yaquina Head, near Beverly Beach and at Otter Rock. Nothing critical. No homes endangered. But some fairly good-sized trees and other landscaping that used to be 20-50 feet above the beach are now communing with the sand.”

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