Newport Fossil Fest 2009
by Janet Rasmussen
The Hatfield Marine Science Center of Newport, OR, sponsored Fossil Fest on Saturday, February 14, this year. We had been in Portland the evening before for a GSOC program, so we left as early as possible along with friends Bev Vogt and Bart Bartels. They stayed over with us before proceeding on to Newport. Bev and Bart took off early to help set up the GSOC exhibition table, and we followed at a more leisurely hour. Members Larry and Wenonah Purchase were already there, carrying in the fossil collection of Rosemary Kenney for display.
We drove out to look at the ocean for a moment before heading to the Hatfield Science Center. Looks like a nice day.
During the event, Dr. William Orr and Guy DiTorrece gave talks on fossils. It seemed that this year there were more visitors than last year, and it was busier all day long. At midday, Bev joined Doug and I as we dashed out for some lunch down in Nye Beach.
Rosemary poses with her fossil collection. She had a lot of oreodont bones and teeth. John Newhouse came to the event also, and Dawn Juliano with her friend Antonella Mancini, and Betty Lou Pratt.
Bev talks to a visitor drawn to the GSOC display table.
Bart indicates a location on the geologic map of Oregon.
The indoor tidepool display is colorful.
A wolf eel with starfish.
This is a photo from the North American Research Group (NARG) table. You can see Larry in the upper right (black shirt), working at unearthing a fossilized whale on the beach last summer.
After the program, we joined other GSOC and NARG folks looking at fossils and just enjoying the views on the beach.
Larry found a fossil bone, probably from a whale. The rocks with fossils are from the mud and siltstones of the Astoria Formation, about 15-17 million years old.
I'm just enjoying the beach in winter.
GSOC members Dawn and Antonella (3rd and 4th from left)joined NARG members searching for fossils just south of Beverly Beach.
The sculpted rock formations are exposed when winter storms temporarily remove sand from the beaches in winter.
It wasn't hard to find fossils.
A brief sunbreak is reflected in a pool of seawater caught between the parallel ridges of the Astoria Formation.
We met at Betty Lou's condo for drinks, and then split into two groups to find dinner. Larry and Wenonah found a nice place to eat down in Nye Beach, and the rest of us went to a Chinese restaurant out on Hwy. 101 which was really good. Again this year, we took a room at Moolack Shores Motel, just north of Newport. The views are great, and I like the woodstove. This year we took the "Hunting Lodge" room. Each room is decorated with a different theme.
This sassy seagull strutted along our deck rail for a long time. It looked through the sliding door, cocking its head like a puppy begging for food. I noticed in the guest journal that a previous visitor had made the mistake of feeding a seagull (perhaps this one?). It followed him inside!! We steadfastly refused to acknowledge its charms, so eventually it barfed on the deck and left.
On Sunday, we went running out on Yaquina Head toward the lighthouse. Then we walked down to a cove on the south side of the peninsula, with a beach of small basalt cobbles.
After breakfast, we headed down to Cape Perpetua, south of Yachats, to watch the surf break on the lava rocks. We walked down past some shore pines.
The tide was coming in. Doug stands on the rough basalt bedrock watching the waves.
I finally got a shot of the waves breaking on the rocks.
Back "home" at Moolack Shores, we enjoyed the sunset from our room. If only Lewis and Clark had a room like this, they would have enjoyed their stay on the Oregon Coast a lot more.
