Puget Sound Facts

Geography
Population
Economy/Commerce
Transportation
Tourism/Recreation
Habitat

Water Quality – Toxic contamination
Water Quality – Stormwater
Water Quality—Septic Systems
Marine Life – General Facts
Marine Life --Species Facts

GEOGRAPHY

Total scope of Puget Sound planning area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		2,458 (or 1.6 million acres)
Miles of shoreline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		2,500 miles
Average depth of Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		450 feet
Deepest part of Puget Sound (just north of Seattle) . . . . . . . . . . .		930 feet
Number of watersheds that drain into Washington ’s inland marine waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		19
Number of main rivers that feed into Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . Nooksack River Samish River Skagit River Stillaguamish River Snohomish River Cedar River Green/Duwamish River Puyallup River Nisqually River Deschutes River Skokomish River Dosewallips River Dungeness River Elwha River		14
Total number of rivers and streams that flow into Puget Sound:		10,000
Average range of tides in the North Sound (Port Townsend) . . .		8.3 feet
Average range of tides in the South Sound (Olympia) . . . . . . . . .		14.4 feet

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POPULATION

Number of cities in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		115
Number of cities with more than 100,000 population . . . . . . . . . Bellevue Everett Seattle Tacoma		4
Number of counties in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clallam King Kitsap Island Jefferson Mason Pierce San Juan Skagit Snohomish Thurston Whatcom		12
Number of people who live in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . .		3.5 million
Number of people expected to live in Puget Sound region in 2025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		5.2 million
Number of tribal nations in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . . . . Nooksack Lummi Samish Upper Skagit Swinomish Stillaguamish Tulalip Jamestown S’Klallam Port Gamble S’Klallam Suquamish Muckleshoot Puyallup Squaxin Island Nisqually Skokomish		15

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ECONOMY / COMMERCE

Second largest U.S. port (combined) for container traffic . . . . . .		Seattle/Tacoma
Total foreign trade from/to port of Seattle and Tacoma in 2006 .		Port of Seattle handled 9.9 million metric tons of imports and 9.93 million metric tons of exports in 2005. Seattle had a total value of 36.7 billion in 2005 for Foreign Waterborne Trade and the Port of Tacoma had a total value of 33.8 billion U.S. dollars. Source: U.S. Maritime Administration Foreign Waterborne Trade Statistics
Annual revenue from commercial fishing in Washington State .		$3.2 billion (includes shellfish)
Number of cargo vessels traveling in Puget Sound waters in 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		2,451

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TRANSPORTATION

Number of vehicles carried on ferries in 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		10.9 million
Number of people carried on ferries in 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		21,317,051

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TOURISM / RECREATION

Percentage of Washington 's recreational salmon caught in the Puget Sound basin, including Hood Canal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		58%
Percentage of statewide revenues from tourism and travel generated in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		Nearly 80%
Percentage of statewide tourism-related jobs located in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		75%
Number of commercial whale-watching companies/boats in Northern Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		17 companies, 22 boats
Percentage of the state's 352 public and private marinas located in Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		72%
Percentage of the state's 34,162 public moorage slips located in Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		83%
Number of boats, sailboats and other watercraft owned by Washington residents in 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		310,928 Of those, 168,374 are registered in counties bordering Puget Sound.
Number of state parks on or near Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bay View Belfair Birch Bay Blake Island Camano Island Dash Point Deception Pass Dosewallips Fay Bainbridge Fort Flagler Fort Ward Ford Worden Hope Island Illahee Jarrell Cove Joemma Beach Kitsap Memorial Kopachuck Larrabee Manchester Mystery Bay Ocean City Old Fort Townsend Pacific Beach Penrose Point Potlatch Saltwater Scenic Beach Sequim Bay Shine Tidelands South Whidbey Spencer Spit Tolmie Triton Cove Twanoh		35
Number of cruise ship sailings from Port of Seattle in 2006 . . .		196
Number of cruise ship passengers sailing from the Port of Seattle in 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		751,000

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HABITAT

Miles of Puget Sound shoreline with hard armoring (such as bulkheads) or other modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		More than 800 miles
Number of species that breed and feed in wetlands . . . . . . . . . .		175
Number of Washington ’s threatened or endangered species that require healthy wetlands for survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		More than one-third
Percentage of tidally influenced wetlands lost since settlers arrived in the Puget Sound area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		70%
Number of salt marsh plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		63

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WATER QUALITY - TOXIC CONTAMINATION

Acres of contaminated mud and sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		91,700
Acres of contaminated mud and sand cleaned up between 1991 and 2001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		more than 560
Of the 91,700 contaminated acres, number that is moderately to highly contaminated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		8,700
Of the 91,700 contaminated acres, number that is slightly contaminated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		83,000

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WATER QUALITY - STORMWATER

Gallons per day of treated wastewater discharged into Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		one billion
Number of permitted discharge points of treated waste and industrial water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		972
Pounds of chemicals released into Puget Sound annually by permitted discharges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		one million

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WATER QUALITY - SEPTIC SYSTEMS

Number of households using septic systems in Puget Sound (including Hood Canal ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

One-third

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MARINE LIFE - GENERAL FACTS

Number of species of fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		200
Number of species of marine mammals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		26
Number of species of marine invertebrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		Thousands
Size of Puget Sound 's Giant Pacific Octopus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		30-feet long, 125 pounds
Number of marine seaweed species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		More than 625
Number of Geoducks in Puget Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		About 109 million adults can live for up to 146 years

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MARINE LIFE - SPECIES FACTS

Orcas
	Number of distinct species of orca that live in or visit Puget Sound waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Resident orca Transient orca Northern Resident orca	3
	Number of Southern Resident orcas (J, K & L pods) as of June 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	87
	Orca lifespan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	25-90 years
Salmon
	Number of different types* of salmonid species that live or spawn in the Puget Sound region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chinook salmon Coho salmon Chum salmon Sockeye salmon Pink salmon Cutthroat trout Bull trout Steelhead * Each individual stock is important. A chinook salmon from one river may be quite different genetically from a chinook of another river.	8
Forage Fish and Groundfish
	Weight of Pacific herring population at Cherry Point in 2000	808 tons
	Percent decrease of herring population at Cherry Point since 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	90%
	Percentage decline of rockfish egg production In Puget Sound and Hood Canal from 1970 to 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	approximately 90%
Marine Birds
	Percentage of decline of certain marine bird species in the past 20 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	57-96%
	Number of miles traveled annually by Western sandpipers between Puget Sound and their breeding grounds and wintering grounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	thousands
	Percent decline in total number of marine birds in Puget Sound region during past 20 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	47%
	Depth to which the common murre can dive to catch fish, squid and crustaceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	200 feet
Shellfish
	Number of species of oysters that grow in Puget Sound . . . .	6
	Number of species of clams that grow in Puget Sound . . . . .	4
	Average annual sales of Washington grown oysters, mussels and clams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	more than $100 million
	Pounds of clams and oysters harvested annually by recreational harvesters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	nearly $2 million
	Average yearly state revenues from geoduck sales . . . . . . . .	$7.2 million

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