Orford Reef is a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

located off Cape Blanco on the southern coast of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The reef is situated around eight small rock islands: Best Rock, Long Brown Rock, Unnamed Rock, Square White Rock, Seal Rock, Conical White Rock, West Conical Rock, and Arch Rock. The reef includes forests of

bull kelp Bull kelp is a common name for the brown alga '' Nereocystis luetkeana'' which is a true kelp in the family Laminariaceae. Species in the genus '' Durvillaea'' are also sometimes called "bull kelp", but this is just a shortening of the common name ...

up to long, which provide protective habitat for numerous animals, including the

bat ray The bat ray (''Myliobatis californica'')Gill, T.N. (1865). "Note on the family of myliobatoids, and on a new species of ''Aetobatis''". ''Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y.'' 8, 135–138. is an eagle ray found in muddy or sandy sloughs, estuaries and ...

, big skate,

broadnose sevengill shark The broadnose sevengill shark (''Notorynchus cepedianus'') is the only extant member of the genus ''Notorynchus'', in the family Hexanchidae. It is recognizable because of its seven gill slits, while most shark species have five gill slits, with ...

cabezon Cabezón is the Spanish word for "stubborn" or "big-headed". In Chile, cabezon means intelligent. Cabezon or cabezón may refer to: Fish species * Cabezon (fish) (''Scorpaenichthys marmoratus''), a species of fish in the family Cottidae * '' Cach ...

kelp bass ''Paralabrax clathratus'', the kelp bass, bull bass or calico bass, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae, classified as part of the family Serranidae which includes the groupers and anthias. It is foun ...

leopard shark The leopard shark (''Triakis semifasciata'') is a species of houndshark, in the family Triakidae. It is found along the Pacific coast of North America, from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico. Typically measuring 1.2–1.5 m (3.9� ...

spiny dogfish The spiny dogfish (''Squalus acanthias''), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family (biology), family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order. While these common names ma ...

kelp greenling The kelp greenling (''Hexagrammos decagrammus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Hexagrammidae, the greenlings. It occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean Species description and etymology The kelp greenling was fir ...

plumose anemone Members of the genus ''Metridium'', also known as plumose anemones, are sea anemones found mostly in the cooler waters of the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They are characterized by their numerous threadlike tentacles extending from ato ...

, and numerous species of

rockfish Rockfish is a common term for several species of fish, referring to their tendency to hide among rocks. The name rockfish is used for many kinds of fish used for food. This common name belongs to several groups that are not closely related, and ca ...

. The reef also supports more than 39,000 seabirds, including 5% of the

common murre The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...

nesting population in Oregon. The

Oregon Coast Aquarium __NOTOC__ The Oregon Coast Aquarium is an aquarium in Newport in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1992, the facility sits on along Yaquina Bay near the Pacific Ocean. The aquarium was home to Keiko, the orca who starred in the movie ''Free ...

in Newport,

contains a simulated version of Orford Reef in its Passages of the Deep exhibit.

Common species in the reef

Spiny dogfish shark

A grey or brown shark with white spots scattering it's back and just like regular sharks,

don't have an anal fin, but they are one of their many kinds to have a venomous spine.

Yellowtail rockfish

Yellowtail are greenish to yellowish on their back side while their bottom side lays pale. These large, heavy body fishes can be founded from

Unalaska Island Unalaska ( ale, Nawan-Alaxsxa, russian: Уналашка) is a volcanic island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the US state of Alaska located at . The island has a land area of . It measures long and wide. The city of Unala ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. You can find them usually swimming in reefs, banks, and along the coastlines.

Plumose anemone

Also known as the white-plumed anemone are broad oral disc covered with short, slender, tapering tentacles and when they extend they become tall and slender.

Plumose anemone Members of the genus ''Metridium'', also known as plumose anemones, are sea anemones found mostly in the cooler waters of the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They are characterized by their numerous threadlike tentacles extending from ato ...

are colored from a white, cream, tan, orange, or brown shade. Usually can be found on pilings, floats, or breakwaters in bays and harbors in Southern Alaska to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

Copper rockfish

Copper rockfish vary in color to a dark brown or olive to pink or an orange-red with patches of copper pink or yellow. They are typically solitary swimmers yet they sometimes gather in small groups. These copper rockfishes can scatter from

Southwest Alaska Southwest Alaska is a region of the U.S. state of Alaska. The area is not exactly defined by any governmental administrative region(s); nor does it always have a clear geographic boundary. Geography Southwest Alaska includes a huge, complex, and ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, but can also be found from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to Southern California.

References