Gray whale migration off Depoe Bay
— — the slow grey back coming up through the kelp.
Not only on a wall.
“A long stretch of basalt headland where gray whales pass twice a year, south in December and north in March, with about two hundred residents holding off the coast through summer. Depoe Bay calls itself the whale-watching capital of Oregon. The seawall above the smallest navigable harbour in the world is the place to stand. On calm mornings the spouts carry a quarter-mile.
Gray whale migration off Depoe Bay, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Depoe Bay sits on the central Oregon coast about halfway between Lincoln City and Newport, on a stretch of Highway 101 cut into basalt headland. The harbour, about six acres, is often called the smallest navigable harbour in the world, reached through a 30-foot channel cut into the rock under the Highway 101 bridge. Two gray whale migrations pass within sight of shore each year, and about 200 whales remain off the Oregon coast through the summer feeding season. The Oregon Parks Whale Watching Center stands at the seawall.
Gray whales pass Depoe Bay twice each year on the longest mammal migration on earth, about 12,000 miles round-trip between the Mexican lagoons and the Bering and Chukchi seas. The southbound run peaks from late December through mid-January, with the cows running heavier and faster. The northbound run, with new calves alongside, peaks from mid-March into early June. From May through October about 200 resident gray whales feed in the nearshore kelp beds within a mile of the Oregon coast.
The continental shelf drops off close to shore at Depoe Bay, bringing the kelp beds where resident whales feed within sight of the seawall. Spouts carry up to fifteen feet on still air. The Oregon Parks Whale Watching Center sits at the wall and posts daily sightings, with trained volunteer interpreters on hand much of the year. Charter boats run from the harbour for closer passes. Whale Watch Week, held twice a year over winter and spring break, is the busiest stretch on the headland.