Off the Olympic Coast with NOAA

Along the Olympic Coast of Northwest Washington State, NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) and the ground presence of the National Park Service are inexorably connected. NOAA administers the 3,310 square mile Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary but has a minimal presence on the beaches where the National Park Service has multiple back and front country rangers on duty along the 73 miles of wilderness coast between the Quinault and Makah Nations. Park Service personnel are trained to respond to sea mammal standings as well as other reporting and education procedures.

NOAA's science craft Tatoosh often plays host to scientists and wildlife survey teams. It played host to eight coastal Park Rangers and educators for a few hours in late June.

It is this relationship that is the impetus behind NOAA hosting a group of Park Rangers for an off-shore tour this last week. The rangers and one local teacher met at NOAA’s science boat Tatoosh that is based out of La Push, Washington.

The tour began on the south side of James Island through the narrow mouth of the Quillayute River into the open ocean were conditions were akin to a lake. The only complaint was that there was an abundance of high thin clutter clouds that amounted to a slightly less than powder blue-sky day. As we rounded James Island and headed north, Mt. Olympus towered over the Olympic Peninsula towards the southeast.

Cake Island is just a few miles off shore from famous Rialto Beach at Olympic National Park.

First stop on our excursion was Cake Island which serves as a major rookery for a number of seabirds. Chief among them are Puffins and Common Murre, but also include Cormorants and Western Gulls. As we arrived, a Bald Eagle was raiding the colony and chaos was the rule of the moment. While the island is set aside as a place for the birds to call their own, peace and quiet was not to be had as the gulls raided and the Murres took flight, momentarily leaving their eggs behind and in peril.

Murres and Puffins among other species litter the water around Cake Island.

Common Murre

Puffin

Next was a pair of islands to the north aptly called Sea Lion Rock and then Carroll Island. Sea Lion Rock is a low lying, surf beaten stone that has a high point just 50-75 feet above the sea and is the reign of sea lions. A few hundred yards to the north at Carroll Island, Sea Lions and bird life were abundant on the low lying shores that led to the steep cliffs several hundred feet above. In three locations, the ocean cut large caves including one that chopped through the entire island from west to east. From within the caves came the unmistakable social communication of California and Stellar Sea Lions.

Two California Sea Lions greeted us as we approached Sea Lion Rock.

Carroll Island has several caves where Sea Lions find solitude from the pounding surf of the Northern Pacific.

At one point during the tour, our captain shut off the boat’s motor on the northern side of the island and allowed the craft to drift silently first east and then south as we silently listened to and watched the private dramas that were taking place on shore.

Cormorants dominante the landscape adjacent to Carroll Island.

The northwest side of Carroll Island had this population of Stellar and California Sea Lions. The island is used generally as a retreat for males after the breeding season, but on this day, females and pups were also spotted and stirred a scientific inquiry thaty may have to be updated.

The tour was derailed as we began to head north for potentially 30 minutes take a close look at Ozette Island off the western most point of Washington State near Cape Alava. In transit, our captain came over the speaker and said that a whale had been sighted. Sure enough, a Humpback was fishing a current and the boat captain began playing a game of hide and seek with the massive fisher. Based on experience and guesswork, our guide would move the boat to a spot where the whale would probably surface and then turn off the engine.

The tail of a Humpback whale is usually a signal that the whale is going into a dive that will last for five to seven minutes. Wait patiently, he will most likely return to the surface is the same general area.

Time after time, this strategy was rewarded with the preceding “blow” and then surfacing of the whale. While we never witnessed a full breech (the whale jumping completely out of the water), the estimated 55 foot whale consistently provided us with many sightings.

The most we saw of a humpback whale that we kept company off of the Olympic Coast on a Tuesday in late June.

After the trip, I thought about my limited role as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service and how it relates to NOAA and the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. I now have more of an affliction to the wildlife that lies just off the beaches where I educate visitors and patrol on a daily basis. The partnership is now in sharp focus.

The Statues of La Push

I had to post this photo that really didn't work with any other stories and themes of this blog. It does illustrate wild coast atmosphere of Washington's Olympic Coastline.

Two eagles pose for photos on Tuesday morning in the Quillayute village of La Push.

Third Beach an Impressive Sight

Olympic National Parks 48 miles of wilderness coastline includes many secluded beaches, but a few of them are have relatively close access from roads. Third Beach is 1.6 miles from La Push Road west of Forks. The trail had surprisingly large trees, both hemlock and sitka spruce.

I can be reached via a super freeway of a trail from beginning to end. The final quarter mile drops about 200 feet down a drainage which empties on the beach. It is also a good source of water for the longer 17 mile hike down the south coast wilderness to Oil City and the Hoh River drainage.

Looking south on Third Beach show an impassable headland that an overland trail must solve.

My recent hike to Third Beach found a pair backpackers camped behind a rock on the small beach. That evening found a mild high tide and a rough surf which amounted to limited space on the beach. Waves lapped the 36 inch plateau where their tent was located and wetted my boots as I looked for the southern exit from the beach.

Large Sitka Spruce and Hemlock trees highlight the trail to Third Beach.A thin waterfall drops from the headland to the crashing surf below on the south side of Third Beach.

A trail departs from the over the headland to the next beach to the south. Using the beach as an overnight camp is permitted, but permits are necessary through the Olympic National Park Wilderness Information Center or the various locations throughout the park.

The First Days are Always Exciting

>"Hole in the Wall" just north of Rialto Beach allows visitors to cross through the passage and take in the tide pools at low tide.

In all of my positions in new places, this is the first time I could start relaying initial impressions right from the beginning. Starting a new job like this is so exciting on so many levels. It is a new park, a new story, and a new culture. When you learn this much this quickly, there is much excitement. I have been at enough parks now where you can't help but make a few notes.

The view from the sea level waterfront in Port Angeles makes the little town a great tourist destination.

I took advantage of the near perfect weather on Thursday to walk 1.5 miles north on Rialto Beach. After walking through "Hole in the Wall" and exploring a few tide pools, I caught up with an older couple as we crossed Ellen Creek.







They were from Germany, but had spent many years in the United States. We talked about jobs and the economy (who isn't these days?) and the lady just sighed. "We just took a trip through British Columbia and traveled on the ferry to Port Angeles," she said. "Compared to Victoria, Port Angeles looked like a third-world country".

An inmature bald eagle flies northbound along Rialto Beach.
It has been several years since I was in this area so I had no instincts to be anything other than objective. It is always thought provoking to hear the perspective of another.

After I left them, I wandered to the north jetty along the Quillayute River. It lies on the opposite shore of the tribal community La Push.

A pair of seagulls join all the rest of the life watching a Rialto Beach sunset.

I sat and waited for a Bald Eagle perched on a snag to make his move, but the only other movement were two other eagles, a couple of seals and a handful of cormorants in the river.

A Rialto Beach sunset.

Just two miles from where I am spending the summer, this jetty may make a good place to hang out.