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| Volunteer
divers tackle tough tunicates |
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| Alex Goo, 12, of Federal
Way, holds a fi stful of invasive club tunicates
he helped remove from under the docks and fl oats
at Pleasant Harbor Marina on a cold November day. /
Toni Droscher, Action Team |
On a cold, rainy and thoroughly miserable
day in early November 2005, two-dozen volunteer divers
spent hours removing clumps of the highly invasive “club
tunicate” from the docks at Pleasant Harbor Marina
on northern Hood Canal .
While club tunicates (Styela clava) pose little
threat to docks or boats beyond being a nuisance, they
can potentially move into and take over shellfish areas
and marine habitats.
>>> Read
more |
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Science
group looks inward, charts new direction |
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| Scientists from WDFW
(part of PSAMP) conduct surveys of English sole in
Elliott Bay aboard a trawler (June 28, 2004) /
Sarah Brace, Action Team |
Since 1989, scientists with the Puget Sound
Ambient Monitoring Program (PSAMP) have been monitoring
the health of Puget Sound. PSAMP studies provide the science
that drives many Soundwide decisions about resource management.
Long-term monitoring activities by PSAMP researchers include
studies of marine birds, water quality, eelgrass and contaminants
in sediment and fish.
The Action Team coordinates PSAMP. According
to a self-assessment conducted by the PSAMP Management
Committee in late 2005, the program is doing a good job
in its main mission of delivering data and analysis, for
example in understanding the effects of contaminants in
sediments and the marine food web.
>>> Read
more |
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Research
gathering energizes focus
on marine birds |
In the Pacific Northwest, salmon
get a lot of press. Salmon are an indicator species, and
their numbers reveal much about the health of the region’s
ecosystem.
But marine birds are also an indicator
of this ecosystem’s health. Since 1970, the total
number of marine birds in the region has dropped by an
astounding 47 percent. Unfortunately, seaducks and seabirds
don’t share the same kind of glory that salmon do.
>>> Read
more |
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Eelgrass
study brings
GOOD NEWS AND BAD |
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| A
DNR report shows eelgrass populations holding steady
overall, but there are areas of concern. /
John Southard, Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory |
First, the good news: in Puget Sound, many
eelgrass populations are holding steady.
Now, the bad news: researchers found sharp
declines in five shallow bays in the San Juan Islands and
in 14 localized sites in greater Puget Sound. The entire
Hood Canal has also had steady declines in eelgrass areas.
>>> Read
more
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