DEPOE BAY

Depoe Bay

The Depoe Bay estuary is located on the Oregon coast at Depoe Bay. The estuary is approximately 25 acres in area and has a watershed of approximately 15 square miles.

The Depoe Bay estuary is designated as a Shallow Draft Development estuary under the Oregon Estuary Classification system. The geomorphology of the area is that of a Drowned River Mouth estuary.

Depoe Bay

Depoe Bay (Oregon Coastal Atlas)

The Depoe Bay estuary is located in Lincoln County. Principal industries of the county are lumber, fishing, agriculture and tourism. The county seat of Newport is home to Oregon State Universitys Hatfield Marine Science Center, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and a busy commercial fishing fleet. By 2006, Lincoln County had grown to 44,500 representing an increase of 12.7% over 1990, but less than 1% since 2000.

For several million years the Pacific Ocean has been carving its way through the tough basalt formations that form the sides of Depoe Bay, resulting in the smallest year-round navigable harbor in the world. The picturesque bay is landlocked, except for the harbor entrance through the rocks. A summer population of resident gray whales and the Oregon State Parks Whale Watching Center have helped Depoe Bay claim the title of "Whale Watching Capital of the World."

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries maintains a tsunami inundation map for the Depoe Bay area.

Sources

Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. Tsunami Hazard Map of the Depoe Bay Quadrangle, Lincoln County, Oregon. Portland, OR: The Department. Open File Report O-95-27. 1995.

Oregon Ocean-Coastal Management Program. Learn about the Depoe Bay Estuary in the Oregon Coastal Atlas. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. 2000.

Snavely, Parke D. and Norman S. Maxwell. Visitors guide to the geology of the coastal area near Beverly Beach State Park, Oregon. OreBin 33 (5) (1971): 85-105.

Excerpts with permission from The Oregon Coastal Atlas, Compiled by Susan Gilmont, Staff, OSU Libraries (2007)