Minus Tides for Beachcombing during Winter Break

Slogan and logo by the Oregon State Parks

Lots of reports of gravel showing intermittently within the 6 hour tide cycle changing around the Newport area both north and south of town! We will be experiencing minus tides in the afternoons starting on the 26th, just be remember to be careful out there. Here is the link for our local December tides: http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/weather/tides/2012/sbdec2012.html

Minus tides this week...

After all of the winds that we have endured here on the coast over the last week, (the SW winds remove the sand to expose the gravel) we are all looking towards a great time at the beach.  Frank was in with an exceptionally nice agatized  enhydro Anadara clam, bloodstone, fancy agate, and a very nice specimen of Teredo wood (still showing the grain of the wood).  More photos to follow on this later.  

Yesterday Richard came home with a fossilized double vertebrae of something rather small but larger than a fish. I still have to get the photos off of Richards camera to share with you. More to come later...

Prospecting & Tidepool Discovery...

Thank you Larry for sharing your copy and making us aware that there is a new issue of Gold Prospectors The Magazine for Gold, Gem & Treasure Hunters, featuring a good article Newport's local Moolack Beach fossils by Garth Rimble. Another feature article is on the the Oregon State Gemstone Oregon Sunstone by Carrie Milanoski. Great reading for our rock hound friends and beachcombers alike!

Now regarding local info: last week we had folks coming in with agates that they had found. A couple of ladies had found some black agates (first one over a quarter of a pound and her second one was over one pound). Another gentleman also reported having had good luck that day also. More often than not the norm has been sparse collecting for very very small pea sized agate and some small jaspers!

Cape Perpetua Scenic Area ~ Events: We are having some very early minus tides so Tidepool Discovery Day - will be Saturday, August 22 from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. Naturalists will be stationed at the tide pools from 7 to 9 a.m. to share the wonders of the tidepools and the life forms that inhabit them.

Films and hikes highlighting the entire Scenic Area will also be available at the Visitor Center Theater from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Oregon Coast Minus Tides Reward Agate Hunters

This multi-color agate beauty of over 1 pound was found today during the morning minus tides here in the Newport area by beachcomber and agate collector, Don of Snohomish WA. Don found others as well but this is really one to write home about. He left here waiting for the tide to go out again this after noon.

Nice find Don, keep up the good work.

With temperatures predicted to be 90+ to 100 degrees over the weekend in the I-5 corridor, we are seeing a rush of folks here to beat the heat on the coastline, where it will be measurably cooler than the inland part of the state.

Beautiful Oregon Agate

I just finished mounting this beautiful fancy agate found here on the Oregon coast. I call this one the "paisley" as it is just so beautifully patterned and reminds me of beautiful fabrics used for dressmaking.

This agate is done in the lapidary art of wire wrap, making a pendant created in 14K gold filled wire. The stone was just found earlier this year. Quite the find in such a dry year for beach combing here on the Oregon Coast.

We are now in another week of extra low tides, customers just in had found a number of agates in the normally inaccessible tide pools. Tomorrow will be another minus tide here on the coast.

Minus tides beckon tidepoolers again this week...

Sorry we haven't had a chance to get back to the blog, pretty busy these days. Wish we could be out there on the beach with you to enjoy the great tide pooling during these minus tides and beachcombing that so many of our guest are experiencing here on Oregon's central coast!

I come across this site earlier and wanted to share these excelent photos of tide pools to get a close up and personal look of what you may experience here during these minus tides. Yes folks are finding a few small agates too but keep in mind this is NOT agate hunting season.

The Oregon Coast Exposed

As reported by Joe Rojas Burke in today's Oregonian: "Super-low tides at the Oregon coast will again provide ideal conditions to view a range of sea life not usually exposed to human visitors to the tidal zone. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, the tides will drop as low as minus 3 feet, which is about as low as the tide will get on the oregon coast. Extream minus tides reveal sea scapes and marine life that's hidden under pounding surf most of the year."

Editors Note: This photo originally appeared in the Wednesday May 27, 2009 issue of The Oregonian.