Naomi here to report an awesome couple days of tide pools! We have been very lucky this week, specifically with our nudibranch finds. So far we have found Sea Lemons, Candy Corn Janolus, Opalescent sea slugs, Thick Horned nudibranchs, and the star of today’s show; two giant and beautiful frosted nudibranchs! We also have been getting quite the show of their awesome water suspension gliding skills. They can navigate the top of the water if it’s calm enough, as opposed to inching across the sand. Our team was searching hard for them today and as you can see had some pretty awesome payoff. This is only a few of the amazing things we have found this week, and we have on more morning tomorrow, at 7:30 in Oceanside, and then we move to the bay to explore it’s critters on Friday. We would love to see you out there! No wading required :) Thanks to everyone who has come out the last couple days, you guys have made it an awesome time Photos/videos by @naomitravis06

The low tides are here! As we get ready to head to the beach for our rocky intertidal tide pools tomorrow, we also wanted to spotlight some of our awesome bay creatures that pop up during low tides. Lewis moon snails are giant gastropods that cruise along the bottom of the bay hunting for clams that they drill into with a special tool to help them eat. Their muscular foot under the shell can stretch up to a foot long while they move! Another cool critter is the pipe fish. Pipe fish are masters of disguise, a much longer and thinner cousin to the seahorse. They blend into the eelgrass and sway/swim along side of it to stay hidden while they hunt. One more camouflage creature is the Taylor’s green sea hare, a small green and stripped slug that fits perfectly on top of blades of eelgrass. They inch their way through the grass beds in the bay to eat the algae growing around them, and are called sea “hares” because of the two bunny-ear-like rhinophores on the front of its head, that they use to smell and pick up chemical signals. We will be out looking for all these creatures and more during our bay exploration later this week. We hope to see you at the beach and bay! Photos from @naomitravis06

On Sunday, we partnered with @solvepnw and the Oceanside Action Partnership to host our annual July 5th beach cleanup. The goal? Remove debris left behind after the Fourth of July holiday including fireworks, bonfire remnants, and other litter to prevent waste from impacting the local environment. Between Netarts and Oceanside, 82 incredible volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. Together, we removed hundreds of pounds of debris and ensured that potentially hazardous materials were safely disposed of, helping protect both our community and the marine environment. A huge thank you to every volunteer who gave their time and energy. Your hard work made a lasting impact, and we're so grateful to have such an amazing community. Thank you, also, to our incredible partners who help make these events possible every year: @schoonernetarts for hosting us and grilling oysters for volunteers. @pearlpointoyster for donating the most fresh, local, and delicious oysters we could possibly ask for. City Sanitary, for providing a dumpster and donating your time to dispose of all the debris. Tillamook County Public Works Department for offering free waste disposal at the local transfer station. @netartsoceansidefire for keeping everyone safe on the beach. @oregonstateparks for protecting our beaches. What an amazing village! #BeachCleanup #Stewardship #NetartsBayWEBS

Our beach cleanup this past Sunday was a huge success, but before I tell you about all the July 4th debris we kept out of the ocean, let's talk oysters! 🦪 It was so great to see everyone gathering at The Schooner after the cleanup to enjoy good company and delicious oysters. We owe a huge thank you to Pearl Point Oyster and The Schooner for donating their time, talent, and product for this event. Curious about how those oysters got to your plate? Max Weigardt, owner of Pearl Point Oyster, harvested those oysters from his farm in Netarts Bay on Sunday morning, drove them just 12 minutes up the bay to The Schooner where our shucking team got to work, and they were on the grill within the hour. It doesn't get more fresh or local than that! A special thanks to Taylor, The Schooner’s general manager, for coordinating the BBQ, Lee for grilling those oysters to perfection, and Sue Cudd, owner of #whiskeycreekshellfishhatchery , whose expert shucking skills saved the day. We feel incredibly lucky to have such generous support from our local businesses and community. Thank you all for joining us to build community and keep the earth healthy! 🌎 #oysters #stewardship #beachcleanup #netartsbaywebs @whiskeycreekshellfishhatchery

Check out these beautiful photos from attendees at our last Tidepool Discovery Days in June! Join us for our next Tidepool Series, coming up July 14–16! Head to netartsbaywebs.org/events for details and registration. We hope to see you there!