Whale Cove is a small

cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

, approximately in diameter, located on the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, approximately south of the city of Depoe Bay. The cove is located at approximately 44 deg 44 min N latitude. The ocean portion of the cove is protected as a marine reserve, and land portions of the cove are protected as parts of Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint and

Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge off the southwestern Oregon Coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges comprising the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The Oregon Islands provides ...

Central Oregon Drake landing theory

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

amateur

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Bob Ward first proposed in 1998 that Whale Cove was the location where

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

spent portion of the summer of 1579 careening his boat during his

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

undertaking. The location of Drake's landing, at which he claimed a portion of the west coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

as "

New Albion New Albion, also known as ''Nova Albion'' (in reference to Albion, an archaic name for Great Britain), was the name of the continental area north of Mexico claimed by Sir Francis Drake for Kingdom of England, England when he landed on the Nort ...

", has gained the most support over the years among more than twenty other alternative sites compiled in

Fringe theories on the location of New Albion From 1577 to 1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world. In 1579 as part of this voyage he landed on the west coast of North America which consequently has drawn the attention of scores of historians, geographers, linguists, anthropologists ...

. The Drake northern California landing theory careening site was officially recognized in 2012 and is located at the

Drakes Bay Drakes Bay ( Coast Miwok: ''Tamál-Húye'') is a bay along the Point Reyes National Seashore on the coast of northern California in the United States, approximately northwest of San Francisco at approximately 38 degrees north latitude. The ...

Historic and Archaeological District National Landmark on the coast of

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

. Canadian

Sam Bawlf Robert Samuel Bawlf (June 7, 1944 – August 20, 2016) was a Canadian politician and author. Biography In 1972, Bawlf was elected to Victoria City Council, the youngest person ever to have been so. In 1975, he was elected to the Legislative As ...

added his support for Whale Cove careening site in his 2003 book "The Secret Voyage". Archeologist/historian Melissa Darby did similar in her 2019 book "Thunder Go North". Ward proposed Whale Cove as the actual spot of Drake's landing based on its similarity to a 16th-century map made by

Jodocus Hondius Jodocus Hondius (Latinized version of his Dutch name: ''Joost de Hondt'') (17 October 1563 – 12 February 1612) was a Flemish and Dutch engraver and cartographer. He is sometimes called Jodocus Hondius the Elder to distinguish him from h ...

. Ward theorized that Drake may have conspired with

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

to mislead the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

about the true location of the cove to keep the Spanish from discovering

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

, which Ward believes that Drake thought was the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

. By 1998, Drake biographer Harry Kelsey warned about the integrity of the final Hakluyt narrative hindered by the well established fact that the ''"English authorities had determined to keep details of the voyage secret after Drake returned. []To accomplish their goal, English authorities gave out a series of changing and conflicting accounts".'' One longstanding puzzling feature of the Hondius map is the small island on the peninsula protecting the cove. According to Ward, a narrow strip of the peninsula protecting Whale Cove "has a strip through which water flows at

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

" turning 80% of the peninsula into an island. Melissa Darby was adding much later on: ''"The water is shallow over the reef. Over the last 430 years the direct force of the prevailing ocean waves and possible subduction from the 1700 earthquake has reduced this reef, but whether it was a rocky inlet just above sea level in Drake's day and drawn on the Portus illustration can only be conjectured."''

Navigation

Whale Cove is navigable only by an experienced crew: mariners are advised to stay at least offshore for the distance one mile north of Whale Cove to one mile south of Whale Cove. Though it was frequently used by smugglers to bring in Canadian whiskey during prohibition, Whale Cove is not considered a usable bay in most seasons, though in summer it can be calm with few breakers. Whale Cove was once known as Bootlegger Bay for being ''"small and dangerous for mariners"'', therefore ''"perfect for rumrunners smuggling Canadian whiskey into the Northwest"''.https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/whale-cove

Central Oregon Drake landing theory

Navigation

References

Further reading