Introducing Finnian the Tiger Rockfish! Thank you to the Bandon High School students for being a part of this project. Washed Ashore is so excited for Finnian to inspire future generations of students from his permanent home at the Bandon Fisheries Building.

This Tiger Rockfish sculpture, partially commissioned by a Travel Oregon grant, is the NEWEST edition to the Washed Ashore family. 

The Tiger Rockfish is aptly named due to its striped appearance with five black or red bars running down the length of its body. These fish are also recognized by the 'bony' or spiky ridges on their heads and are reported to reach a maximum length of 61cm (approx. 2 feet long)! Tiger Rockfish are shallow-dwellers and can be found off the coast of Oregon in water 64 - 305m deep (approx. 209 - 1000ft deep).

Rockfish are most diverse group of fish that occur on the West Coast of the U.S., adding up to 65 different species. However, the species are at risk due to climate change. The rising temperatures as well as changing ocean chemistry are affecting the amount of prey that Rockfish have available to them. The removal of the Rockfish species would cause a detrimental effect, felt all the way up the food chain. Plastic pollution both directly and indirectly affects climate change which means that we have an opportunity to create solutions for this problem by making changes to our plastic habits. It's our responsibility to help creatures at risk, what can you do to help?
source: racerocks.ca; sciencedaily.com; wdfw.wa.gov