[1][2] It was part of Cape Orford, named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, but the name Cape Orford fell into disuse and Cape Blanco became the common usage; the reef retains its original moniker,[3] after one or the other Earls of Orford and likely Horace Walpole son of the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole.

The reef includes forests of bull kelp up to 100 feet (30 m) long, which provide protective habitat for numerous animals, including the bat ray, big skate, broadnose sevengill shark, cabezon, kelp bass, leopard shark, spiny dogfish, kelp greenling, plumose anemone, and numerous species of rockfish.

[4] The reef also supports more than 39,000 seabirds, including 5% of the common murre nesting population in Oregon.

These large, heavy body fishes can be founded from Unalaska Island in Alaska to San Diego, California.

Plumose anemone are colored from a white, cream, tan, orange, or brown shade.