Sea Lion Caves News
The Oregon Journal
posted on 1949-11-13 00:08:00Have you seen the sea lions? One of Oregon's premier attractions rated with Mount Hood, Carter Lake and Oregon Caves are the Sea Lion Caves, located on the Oregon coast, 13 miles north of Florence.
Half a million people have become familiar with Sea Lion Caves since they were opened to the public in 1932. They came from every state in the union, with Oregon in the minority, and from every country in the world.
The attractive caves office is perched high on the rock cliff above the caves, adjacent to the Oregon Coast Highway, and its picture windows offer a panorama of the sea
On clear days one can see Cape Blanco, the most westerly point in the United States, 90 miles to the south, and ships out at sea 35 to 50 miles; while to the north, scarcely a mile away, looms the beautiful promontory on which is located Heceta Lighthouse.
Leading directly from the ticket office are stairs to the forked trail that winds down the cliff to the caves below.
Our party arrived first at the "lookout" on the left fork of the trail. Below us on the ledges were sea lions of all sizes from bulls of more than a ton in weight, bellowing at the ocean waves, to tiny mites weighing probably 30 pounds, who were squealing and nuzzling up to their mothers. Their coats were all colors from a glistening dark brown to a light buff. They were magnificent creatures. We were reluctant to leave this fascinating vantage point, yet anxious to see what lay beyond.
Quite an improvement over the hand over-hand descent down a ....(missing text)
sea lions are massed in the throne room. On an average day, as when we visited, there were probably 700 sea lions in the caves and several hundred more on the ledges. During the breeding season, the surplus males are ejected from the caves and gradually move back by late June or July.
The lions are known as Steller Sea Lions, named for the German naturalist who accompanied the Bering expedition which sailed from Peter-and-Paul in Kamchatka in 1741.
They are carnivorous, feeding on sluggish fish and octopi, according to the naturalists, who are in disagreement with the fishermen, necessitating a protected zone being set up in the vicinity of the caves.
Recently, at Devil's Churn, Heceta Head, two sports fisherman witnessed a fish story that topped any they could tell. A large sea lion was seen to dive into a wave and come up with a large fish crosswise in its mouth. Tossed playfully into the air, the fish plummeted head down into the powerful jaws awaiting to devour it, and disappeared with one gulp.
Commercial trawlers complain that because of the sea lions much valuable gear is lost, for once a sea lion comes along side to rob a fish line, tackle accompanies the loot, which disappears with one mighty lunge.
Sea Lions are not the only attraction to the caves. Birds, guillemots, sea parrots, murres, cranes and sea birds wrest their living from the waves, soaring to their young with fish almost their own size in their beaks.
Yellowish strata adorn the walls like festooned drapery and odd pictures can be traced, a hunter and his dog, a bull frog, Indian maiden, a fish head, and endless fantasies appear to the individual seeker, in the ever changing light.
The sea lions remain the premier attraction, and they put on an entertaining show accompanied by their own private choral group, whose organ-like and deafening bellows are apparently music to their ears. At least one individualist all dressed up in a toilet seat collar applauds the din with insistent flapping of its fins. The Swiss government was so impressed they made a recording to play in their native land, where sea lions, like the ?Swiss Navy? are unknown.
by Genevieve Morgan
