Let Hood Canal take you away to another part of the world. At least, that is what happened last summer. In July of 2016, Teri King of Washington Sea Grant documented a tremendous bloom of Coccolithiphores in Hood Canal from Lilliwaup to Quilcene that had transformed the waters into a turquoise hue visible from space. Common in the subpolar regions, these singled celled microscopic plankton are plated with up to 30 hubcap like scales of white calcium carbonate, and dominate in quiet still, nutrient poor waters where other plankton are starving. Coccoliths multiply rapidly when conditions are right shedding the plates as they bloom causing the amazing blue hue. Other than out competing all of the phytoplankton in the water column, these beautiful blooms have not been documented to cause harm to sea life directly. In Alaska’s Bering Sea, Coccolithiphores have been shown to inhibit the fishing of diving seabirds, blinding them from seeing their prey as they hover over the water. Hood Canal had another smaller isolated bloom of Coccolithiphores in 2007, but the bloom in 2016 lasted for nearly two months to the delight of visitors.
Visible from space, the NASA earth observatory satellites were able to document the movement of the bloom from its origination in the calm, nutrient poor waters of Quilcene Bay down south around the Big Bend and into Belfair and north towards Port Townsend. Through the Bivalves for Clean Water Facebook Page, King and her colleagues documented the movement of the bloom alerting the residents and businesses along the Canal to keep a keen eye out. The bloom was so dramatic that the NASA Earth Observatory made it the photo of the day on July 24, 2016. Not every milky blue hued water change is due to a Coccolithiphore bloom, it could be related to snowmelt runoff from the peaks of the Olympics which carries fine silt, also changing the water color.
eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov
Cocco Bloom
NASA image of Coccoliths bloom on Hood Canal
The SoundToxins partnership, a citizen science phytoplankton monitoring program throughout the Salish Sea documents harmful algal blooms, unusual bloom events, and new species. The program managed by Washington Sea Grant and the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center plays a critical role to alert state health officials to changing harmful algae levels protecting huma health, reducing economic loss and identifying Coccolithiphore blooms.
TH E SKOOKU M R OTARY FOUNDATION PROUDLY PRESENT THE
36TH ANNUA L WA SHIN G T ON S TAT E S EA FOOD FES T I VAL
October 7 – 8, 2017
Shelton, Wash
S P EED & HALF-SHELL SHUCKI NG CHAMPIONSHIP • SEAF OOD/ NON- SEAF OOD VENDORS S E A F O OD COOK-OFF • WA STAT E W I N E & MICROBREW TASTING • L IVE MUSIC ON TWO STAGES E D UCAT I ONAL EX HI BI T S & KI DS’ ACTIVITIES • RV CAMPING • F REE SHUTTL E SERVICE
OYSTERFEST.ORG FJORD 26
