Pictures of baleen, how large gray whales are compared to humans and the fun fact that Orcas or killer whales are the only natural predators of gray whales, is some of the information that Whale Watching Spoken Here volunteer Annette Smith shared with visitors Friday at Harris Beach State Park.

This past week was Winter Whale Watch Week along the Wild Rivers Coast, and Harris Beach was one of the 24 viewpoints.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  each day, trained volunteers were stationed at the viewpoints along the Oregon Coast ready to share their knowledge about gray whales with visitors and help watchers spot the whales.

The stereotypical column writer probably looks at the time around the holidays with one of two feelings: distain or joy. 

Distain stemming from the fact that many of their readers will expect the holiday platitudes to ooze out of every pore of every column in every newspaper across the free republic.

Joy erupting because they can fill their column with trite drivel and claim the protection of the seasons when their editors question their sanity.

Brookings-Harbor High School senior Thomas Spratt capped a four-year soccer career with the ultimate in high school honors: He was named a First Team All-State selection by a committee of coaches assembled by The Oregonian.

“It is a great honor,” Spratt said, “but it really goes to the team, coaches, my family, the school and the community. I know it sounds kind of fake but I really mean it. 

Travis Sallander holds two steelhead he and Carl Johnson, both of Brookings, caught on the Chetco River last Monday. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

December 16 - 22

Drought:\’draút\ noun

1: a condition of moisture deficit sufficient to have an adverse effect on vegetation, animals, and man over a sizeable area.

2: a condition of moisture deficit sufficient to have an adverse effect on anglers and their ability to plunk for steelhead over any area along the Chetco River.

The first definition of DROUGHT comes directly from the National Weather Service. The second one is mine. In fact, that sums up my philosophy in life. I fish, therefore I plunk. Which brings me to another definition.

Larry Vincent sits in his home gym after demonstrating some of the workout methods he uses on a regular basis. Vincent created his workout area from the unused crawl space under his Brookings home. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

He’s a trim 145 pounds with a 32-inch waist.

He stands just 5-foot-4.

But Larry Vincent of Brookings can bench press 238 pounds and dead-lift 343 pounds.

The Brookings-Harbor High School girls basketball team capped its championship run at the Phoenix Invitational Tournament with a 59-38 victory over the Cascade Christian Challengers on Saturday night.

The Lady Bruins came out with pressure defense to begin the game and were up by four at the half, but it wasn’t enough for Head Coach Chris Schofield. 

“We talked about forcing more turnovers during the half,” he said. “We wanted to come out and make them have to work really hard to score.”

Brookings residents Aut Strunk, left, and Dee Shurtleff prove that it can be worthwhile crabbing at the Port of Brookings Harbor’s public pier when the Chetco is flowing at 900 cubic feet per second. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Fishing report for 

December 9-15

This has been by far, the driest pre-winter I have experienced in the 31 years I have lived on the southern Oregon coast. The area received a good shot of rain last week which normally would have increased the flow of the Chetco another 700 cubic feet per second (cfs), but since the local vicinity hasn’t received any precipitation for at least a week, the ground soaked up every drop of rain like a sponge.

The Brookings-Harbor High School girls team has ridden the shooting of senior Kambri Coleman right into the finals of the Phoenix Invitational Tournament and looks to capture top honors when they face Cascade Christian today at 3 p.m.

The Lady Bruins defeated the Crusaders of St. Mary’s, Medford, 65-56 on Thursday, before moving on to demolish the Rogue River Chieftains, 64-34.

Coleman had 22 points in the first game and got the necessary help from point guard Mallory McDonald who had 14 points and claimed 75 percent from the free throw line on 8-of-12 shooting.

Senior Alex Pate sets his feet and gets a handle on the ball as he prepares to go up against a Del Norte defender. Pate was fouled and went to the line where he hit 2-of-4 free throws on the night. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

The Brookings-Harbor High School boys basketball team started the game with a 7-0 run in the first quarter. That run took the entire first quarter and the scoring got no better as the Bruins dropped their opening game of the Del Norte Warrior Classic to the host team, 30-36.

There seemed to be a lid on the basket as the Bruins missed jump shots, 3-pointers and free throws by inches during the entire game. 

While the Bruins couldn’t get the ball to fall when they were open, Head Coach Jon Young gave plenty of credit to the Del Norte defense.