The turquoise Cocco Bloom

Cocco Bloom

Let Hood Canal take you away to another part of the world. Almost annually since 2016 (when Teri King of Washington Sea Grant documented the first giant bloom of Coccolithiphores in Hood Canal) the cocoa blood has transformed the waters from Lilliwaup to Quilcene 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 recent years has lasted for nearly two months to the delight of visitors.

Visible from space, the NASA earth observatory satellites are 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. The 2016 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.

When you are visiting Hood Canal this summer, keep your eyes open for the beautiful turquoise blue filling the water. Remember it is just the reflection of little calcium rich bodies -- no need for concern! Enjoy the tropical feel!