Mark Graves

3 days ago | oregonlive.com | Mark Graves

Want to see a tall ship pass your favorite riverfront spot? Use the interactive map below to track the USCGC Eagle in real time as it travels 100 miles up the Columbia and Willamette rivers to Portland. The 295-foot sailing vessel — known as “America’s Tall Ship” — is scheduled to depart Astoria around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, and arrive in Portland by 3:30 p.m., according to The Ship Report.

5 days ago | oregonlive.com | Mark Graves

The world’s oldest known living harbor seal reached a rare milestone this week, turning 50 years old—twice the life expectancy of a harbor seal in the wild. She lives at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, where she’s older than most of her caretakers. Skinny was just a pup when she was found orphaned, dehydrated and starving on a Washington beach in 1975. After receiving care, she was deemed non-releasable and taken to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma.

1 week ago | oregonlive.com | Mark Graves

Photographer Ben King of Newport, Ore., captured a magical moment during the 80th annual Fleet of Flowers ceremony on Memorial Day, May 26, 2025, in Depoe Bay. As a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter hovered offshore and lowered a rescue swimmer to place a ceremonial wreath in the ocean honoring the unknown soldier, a gray whale surfaced below, sending up a misty spout of water. “A big whale gives its blessings,” King wrote in a Facebook post.

3 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Mark Graves

A pod of four transient killer whales — including a calf — was spotted Sunday, May 10, 2025, swimming out of the Yaquina River toward the ocean. It’s the latest in a steady stream of orca sightings along the Oregon coast and in nearby estuaries. Three of the whales were identified as a family group, led by T049B, born in 1992, along with her offspring T049B3, born in 2013, and T049B5, born in 2024.

1 month ago | oregonlive.com | Mark Graves

It’s that time of the year in Oregon, when the large fanged, barricade-like longnose lancetfish, literally from the twilight zone, might wash ashore deader than a doornail in Oregon. Last Tuesday, a 4.75-foot longnose lancetfish with a belly full of squid and octopus beaks was found on the beach in Seaside. The creature quickly drew the attention of beachgoers, social media users and news outlets alike.