FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS OF THE STEAMER ALBATROSS. 
157 
WASHINGTON AND OREGON. 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
The coasts of Washington and Oregon, from Cape Flattery to the California 
boundary line, have a total length, due north and south, of about 383 nautical miles, 
reaching, therefore, through nearly 6£ degrees of latitude. The examination of this 
region by the steamer Albatross was begun in September, 1888, and was continued at 
intervals until in October, 1889, when it was practically completed. Since that time, 
however, some additional observations have been made. 
As in the Alaskan region, it has been necessary to spend most time in determining 
the contour and general characteristics of the bottom, as very few soundings had 
previously been made beyond a depth of 50 fathoms, and only comparatively limited 
areas in more shallow water had been surveyed. The regular hydrographic work of 
the Albatross consisted in running parallel lines of soundings seaward from the coast, 
at intervals of 5 to 10 miles, and generally into depths of 200 or more fathoms, thus 
serving to develop the entire width of the Continental platform to its abrupt outer 
edge. As the bottom fishing-grounds are mostly confined within a depth of 100 
fathoms and rarely extend beyond a depth of 200 fathoms, the survey made here by 
the Albatross has been sufficiently comprehensive to meet all the requirements of the 
fishery interests in that respect, although in some places more detailed examinations 
would be desirable. Wherever the nature of the bottom or previous information 
indicated the occurrence of fishing-grounds, the sounding stations were run more 
closely together, and the amount of time spent in determining their contours and 
conditions was proportioned to their importance. 
The width of the continental platform varies considerably at different places along 
the coast. At Cape Flattery the 100-fathom line is 40 miles from shore, while at Cape 
Johnson, 26 miles further south, it is distant only 18 miles. Off Grays Harbor the 
distance is 30 miles; off Willapa Bay, 20 miles; off Cape Disappointment, at the mouth 
of the Columbia River, 3 5 miles ; at Tillamook Rock, Oregon, 27 miles, and at Cape 
Lookout 11 miles. From this point the platform gradually broadens out, attaining a 
width of 35 miles off the Siuslaw River, in the region of Heceta Bank, immediately 
south of which it is abruptly constricted to about 14 miles, becoming reduced to 7 
miles at Orford Reef and 12 miles at the California State line. 
The superficial area of this platform within the 100-fathom line has been estimated 
at about 3,700 square miles for the coast of Washington and about 4,750 square miles 
for the coast of Oregon. 
The soundings off Cape Flattery were irregular and suggest the existence of 
submarine ridges lying parallel with the coast. A very elongate crescent-shaped 
depression, having depths of 100 to 200 fathoms, extends southward from the mouth 
of the Strait of Fuca a distance of some 20 or more miles, being distant from the 
coast from 8 to 12 miles. Thence to Yaquina Head, Oregon, the slope is regular, 
except in the region of the rocky bank off Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, where 
elevations of a few fathoms were found. Below Yaquina Head the platform attains 
its greatest width south of Cape Flattery , the somewhat triangular area which occurs 
there being occupied at its southwestern extremity by Heceta Bank. Further south 
the soundings are regular, but the depths increase more rapidly from the shore 
outward. The bottom consists generally of fine sand in the shallower water, changing 
