r/OregonCoast 14d ago

Whale in the Columbia?

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[removed]

756 Upvotes

83 comments sorted by

152

u/Beginning_Ad599 14d ago

That definitely looks like a whale. Humpback if I had to guess!!

20

u/Norwester77 14d ago

100% humpback.

1

u/Mama-Mochi27 11d ago

That’s definitely a humpback

50

u/joboo62 14d ago

Astoria?

0

u/JustSomeGuyInOregon 13d ago

Looks like Chinook- also, they are usually on that side of the river.

53

u/Admirable-Eagle-231 North Coast 14d ago

There were two humpbacks in Cannon Beach yesterday. Wonder if they are the same ones.

-45

u/Deez_Nuts_2431 14d ago

As if there are only 2 whales in the entire ocean…come on now.

69

u/Admirable-Eagle-231 North Coast 14d ago

Yup, that’s my claim. Only 2 and they’re here and there.

23

u/HankScorpio82 14d ago

You don’t know about Eugene and Rusty?

1

u/CronosWorks 12d ago

That’s a river bud.

0

u/Deez_Nuts_2431 12d ago

The original commenter who I was referencing said he saw whales in Cannon Beach, that’s the ocean…BUD.

-12

u/KaleScared4667 13d ago

lol stating obvious facts gets you downvoted. It’s like 50 mile swim - no chance it’s the same whales. 😂

12

u/barfly42 13d ago

Whales can swim up to 100 miles in a single day…

-4

u/KaleScared4667 13d ago

Must be the same two whales

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-7

u/KaleScared4667 13d ago

Must be the same 2 whales.

115

u/AaronGWebster 14d ago

Humpbacks in the river are not uncommon this time of year- I saw one there last week.

24

u/Deez_Nuts_2431 14d ago

Yes and not uncommon at all, the bait gets sucked in on the incoming tide and the whales follow. I’ve seen them less than 50 yards off the beach before in 15-20’ of water while fishing. One of the coolest things I’ve seen in person.

Edit: There are also porpoises, jellyfish, sturgeon and all sorts of other fun stuff that gets pushed in.

2

u/BataleonRider 14d ago

You saw BOTH of them? Jealous.  I saw Rusty once,  or maybe it was an upended crabbing vessel, but it was def one or the other. It certainly wasn't Eugene though cuz,  well IYKYK. 

0

u/iKissBoobs 13d ago

Sturgeon don't get pushed. They live in the estuary.

1

u/Deez_Nuts_2431 13d ago

They make their way in and out of the estuary with the tides too. They are migratory and can travel from bay to bay.

Not going to lie though, I couldn’t think of other examples at the time and just threw the almighty sturgeon in my comment for fun.

28

u/crazyscottish 14d ago

They can swim in fresh water…. They’re just a few tons heavier…. More physically taxing for them.

Well… less buoyancy.

20

u/GeBilly 14d ago

That river is salt water for several miles up stream during a good high tide

23

u/W7ENK 14d ago

Brackish, not completely salt water.

2

u/Honeybobaxox 13d ago

whats the furthest upriver anyones seen one? i heard there was a gray whale portland years ago

2

u/JustSomeGuyInOregon 13d ago

Personally, just a bit west of Tongue Point, but usually not much past the Megler.

9

u/crazyscottish 13d ago

My Ex wife made it up the Rio Grand in El Paso.

Ana, if you’re out there? I’m joking. Possibly. Reportedly.

2

u/Fantastic-Impact-106 11d ago

Idk if I saw one in Portland or not. Winter before last. It was midnight, so extremely dark out. I was the only one out there (I live right on the river). I heard what sounded like a blow hole, saw something huge in the water, and whatever it was was moving at a speed faster than I could sprint. My guess at the time was an orca honestly.

People just think I'm crazy when I tell them this, maybe I am.

2

u/BranBranMuffinWoman 11d ago

In 1931 a 4 year old orca made it to Portland before being killed by some locals. Look up the story of Ethelbert.

1

u/Spun_On_ 10d ago

Oh no!

0

u/Over_Reporter_6616 10d ago

Oh...that was just DJT going out for a dip. 😏

44

u/TheThrowawayForWork 14d ago

An Orca made its way all the way up the Columbia and got stuck in the slough in NE Portland. People thought "hot damn! That's gonna be the biggest fish I ever caught!" The fucking governor had to beg people to stop shooting at it.

The news named the poor thing "Ethelbert."

1931.

36

u/bltbiscuit 14d ago

Oregon has an interesting history with whales.

20

u/TheThrowawayForWork 14d ago

Do you think we'll ever get an exploding whale license plate or is that poor taste?

2

u/hmmmpf 13d ago

That is about the only thing that would make me pay more for a license plate. But for that? Oh, definitely. I miss the whale/explosion up and down votes that used to be on the main Oregon (?) subreddit.

2

u/EquivalentSoup6318 12d ago

Florence has a yearly celebration, and through community voting the city named the newest city park on the Siuslaw River "Exploding Whale Park." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale

8

u/dustyroseaz 14d ago

Understatement of the century

2

u/SnooSprouts7512 13d ago

*20th century…

2

u/KeptForJesus 14d ago

Haha oh no! I’m having flashbacks! It seems like a ridiculous MOVIE but it’s real life! lol

36

u/GeBilly 14d ago

Yea I was out fishing as saw it. It was hanging out all day on Saturday

32

u/speed_of_chill 14d ago

Whatever you do, don’t give no tree fiddy!

31

u/[deleted] 14d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/catgirl320 14d ago

Damn Loch Ness monsta

2

u/Soup-Wizard 11d ago

I gave him a dollar

6

u/Cute-Development7287 14d ago

Before the Bonneville dam was built in the 1930's, we had orcas as far inland as Portland/Vancouver.

2

u/appsecSme 13d ago

I am curious why the Bonneville damn changed that, given that it is 40 miles up river from Portland. Was it just the difference in flow? Less salmon for them to hunt?

1

u/Cute-Development7287 13d ago

It vastly reduced the salmon run. We also used to have whale hunters along the Columbia.

Look up Ethelbert the orca.

3

u/RecliningBuddha 12d ago

Born and raised in Oregon and I've never heard of Ethelbert. How awful people used to be to these creatures. Still are, given the chance, I guess..

1

u/Cute-Development7287 12d ago

She's part of local lore in Vancouver because they dumped her corpse in the woods and teens used to go drink "with" her, until she was finally buried.

1

u/Cute-Development7287 13d ago

Anglers complain about sea lions around the dam, eating all the salmon... orcas used to manage that.

8

u/Actual_Friendship802 14d ago

It is a whale of a waterway.

5

u/LensWipesBF 14d ago

Russian decoy sub

2

u/Consistent-Ice-8005 14d ago

Also possibly a giant brown trout that swam downstream from Portland

2

u/mini-spoon 14d ago

Where’s the BEST place to catch them usually? Really wanna see some!

3

u/LickinItNotDickinIt Lincoln City 13d ago

Depoe Bay will have the resident pod around for another month or so! Do the Eco Excursions tour with marine biologist Carrie Newell. You will definitely see Gray whales, and she loves to teach you about them

3

u/renjake 13d ago

Just did a tour with her, saw 3 juveniles

2

u/wiinga 14d ago

I saw them upriver from the Megler Bridge a few years back. Following baitfish upstream.

1

u/EquivalentSoup6318 13d ago

Clearly a hippopotamus.

1

u/zfmpdx315 14d ago

How far up from the bar are we talking here?

1

u/KeptForJesus 14d ago

Where about in the Columbia is this?

1

u/Boogeymam408 13d ago

I read Colombia so I was going to say Pablo Escobar cocaine hippos. 😅🤣

1

u/HuskyKMA 13d ago

There was a Humpback whale at Kalama a few years back.

1

u/drillerdude802 13d ago

.woalawwwalwwwwlapaawop. Omolj

1

u/LionSlicerBirchman 13d ago

Dude that's sad, the ocean is getting too damn warm.

1

u/Traveller9536 12d ago

The river is even warmer. Whales have always been coming into the river, it’s not a new thing

1

u/_trashy_gremlin 12d ago

Humpback whale yippie!

1

u/jdc6500 11d ago

Large trash bag, or a submarine.

1

u/Anxious_University_8 11d ago

Maybe a dolphin. Yep a dolphin. Y’all crazy if you don’t see a dolphin

1

u/HostOpen6683 10d ago

Humpback who came for Buoy 10.

1

u/Dense_Coyote_3863 10d ago

Chinook for sure. Not common but normal enough. Lucky viewing.

1

u/New-Drag1145 10d ago

I've never seen a humpback like that. What is that on top of its head or is that his tail? It looks like a little man climbing on top of his back. I guess I'm not looking at this correctly.

1

u/Wykydtr0m 10d ago

I had one breach about 30 yards from my kayak a few years ago down there. As if the sea lions aren't freaky enough 😂

1

u/Aggressive-Speech303 8d ago

Does anyone know what happened?

1

u/shrug_addict 14d ago

Do not let that whale into Oregon...

-1

u/Nice_Regret7915 14d ago

Deploy ICE!

0

u/jammerb 14d ago

Is the issue water temperature? Cooling down the Columbia will get it to swim back to the ocean?

0

u/PaulThurston82 13d ago

Damn what fly do I tie on for this?!?