The rain held off all day on the central Oregon coast today. I forget what these yellow wildflowers are called. But they are blooming all along the cliffs of Hwy 101.
Spring flowers blooming on the coast
Heceta Head Lighthouse is undergoing renovations. It is expected to take a little over a year. You can still hike up to it. The B&B and gift shop are still open. It’s a beautiful place!
Heceta Head Lighthouse
The sea lions were out sunning themselves today. We could see them to the south of the Heceta Lighthouse overlook; towards the Sea Lion Caves. We could hear them but not as well as when they are right below the overlook. Click on the picture to enlarge it and look at the marking on one of them to the far left of the picture. I wonder who marks them and why are they marked? I also like the 2 (or 3) in the center of the picture who are nuzzling up to the dark one. Is that called “necking”? 
Sea Lions outside the caves
According to Bryan Wright, Biometrician, Marine Mammal Research Program, ODFW, here’s the LD on the branded sea lion:
It looks like 121R, which would be a female we branded at Rogue Reef in 2001 (almost 11 years old). This is a good sighting because it appears she hasn’t been seen since 2009. Before that she’d been seen most years, almost always at Sea Lion Caves. She has also been seen at St. George Reef in California, and a couple sites in Oregon (Orford Reef, Cape Arago). Sea Lions are branded as pups and they are put to “sleep” to do it. They brand them to keep track of survivability and location.
Tags: branding, caves, coast, heceta, hwy 101, lighthouse, oregon, sea lion
March 12, 2012 at 2:25 pm |
How could you forget the name of the yellow wildflower. Thats the California State Flower. The Golden Poppy
March 12, 2012 at 5:27 pm |
Just found your blog yesterday…love your pictures and adventures. Requested to be friends on FB. We have lots of questions, so hope to hear from you.