Read this thought provoking article on the impact on our resident orcas of the combination of reduced food sources and increased pursuit by whale watching boats.
"The Southern Resident Orca Population Crashes In 2008: Starvation", The Island Guardian, Dec 16, 2008.
The author, Mark Anderson, is Chairman of the Orce Relief Citizen's Allicance, and was a co-founder of the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor.
Here are some recent articles on the Puget Sound Partnerships Action Agenda - a roadmap for protecting, restoring andcleaning up Puget Sound.
Seattle-PI:
It was the ultimate field trip! You may recall that my husband and I spent a month last winter on Adak, an island midway out Alaska's Aleutian chain. We returned in August for a 6-week visit, with hopes that better weather would provide increased opportunity to explore the beaches and view wildlife. By coincidence, another Island County Beach Watcher and intertidal enthusiast, Brian Giles also arrived several weeks into our visit as part of his job surveying groundwater for contaminants.
Because the Aleutians are part of the seismically active "Ring of Fire", I was not overly concerned to feel a number of mild jolting earthquakes the first couple of days we were there. Adak was, it seemed having a cluster of small quakes. The earthquakes turned out to be prelude to a volcanic eruption. Three days after we got there, Mt. Kasatochi, just 50 miles to the east of Adak, exploded and sent a plume of ash 30,000 feet into the atmosphere. I was on the beach, with a ringside viewpoint and heard a distinct but distant "bang" and glanced up, wondering about its origin, but quickly returning my attention to examining and photographing the multitude of barnacle molts on the sand. Shortly thereafter I turned and headed for home, thus becoming the only person on Adak who missed seeing the massive ash plume as it billowed into the sky.
An Adak based fishing boat had been only 7 miles from Mt. Kasatochi when it blew. The fisherman on board spent 3 desperate hours driving his boat out of a total visual blackout while his boat was pelted with volcanic rocks, then mud, and finally coated with a thick layer of ash. Using his boat's radar for guidance, he steered his way out of the plume and was then able to head back to Adak. Two U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel had actually been on the base of Mt. Kasatchi for several days prior to the eruption doing a wildlife survey and became concerned and then increasingly frantic as frequent small earthquakes became continuous and then even boulders began bouncing about. The helicopter that had dropped them off had developed a mechanical problem and could not fly back for them. Another Adak fisherman heard of their plight and courageously raced his boat over to pick them up, plucking them off the beach just 20 minutes before the volcano blew its top.
The volcano continued to simmer with Adak residents noting a frequent smell of sulfur in the air and discovering lots of pumice stones washed up on the beach.
Adak has fascinating wildlife. Introduced species such as rats and arctic foxes have caused considerable impact on bird populations. Because it is too windy for trees to grow there, birds nest on the ground making both the birds and their eggs very vulnerable to predators. In spite of that, it's a great place for bird watching. Over the course of our stay, I saw snow buntings, rock ptarmigan, horned puffins, pigeon guillemots, rock sandpipers, and black oystercatchers. Brian Giles reports that he spotted a peregrine falcon.
Crimson anemone |
A couple of days with calm water, good low tides, and no precipitation allowed me to climb down a seawall to explore for intertidal life. The most obvious animal life on the seawall was a multitude of small Metridium anemones adhered to the rocks. Another much larger and very beautiful anemone that I believe to be the crimson anemone (Cribrinopsis fernaldi) shared the habitat. Our familiar black katy (Katharina tunicata) and lined (Tonicella sp.) 
chitons dotted the rocks in abundance. Several unusual crabs also made the seawall their home. The most flamboyant was a juvenile Puget Sound king crab (Lopholithodes mandtii). The bright red carapace of this cranky little fellow was only about 1-1/2 inches across but he made it plain that he would like nothing better than to pinch the end off my finger. Turning a rock over revealed another unusual lithode crab whose common names "fuzzy crab" and "red-brown bristly crab" pretty much describe it. We have seen Hapalogastor mertensii on high energy West Whidbey beaches a couple of times and its distinctive features made it easy to recognize. One very unusual feature of this crab is its soft belly. A third crab was completely new to me and I sent photos of it to Jan Holmes to help with the identification. One of its claws was considerably larger than the other and had a grainy looking texture and it too had a soft belly. We believe it was Oedignathus inermis, the granular clawed crab.
Graceful kep crab |
Hapalogastor |
Juvenile Puget Sound King Crab |
Brian Giles checks out blowhole Anemones and urchins in blowhole
Brian Giles work schedule allowed for very few days off but at the first opportunity, my husband and I took him to Loren Station beach on the north end of Adak. This site provides a gorgeous view of the Bering Sea. A high steep bluff towers above the beach but thankfully a rope trails over the edge to serve as a safety line to hang onto for descending and then climbing back up the steep incline. The beach has an area of bedrock, a stretch of sand, and also an area of large boulders so it is a varied habitat. Checking it out, Brian found a small crab whose orange tipped black claws helped nail down its identity as Pugettia gracilis, the graceful kelp crab. One very unique feature of this beach is a large blowhole. It consists of an outcropping of bedrock with a circular hole about 8 feet in diameter of indeterminate depth. A window like opening has worn through one side of the blowhole so that when the tide rises above that level, waves crash through the opening creating a geyser-like spray out the top. Because the tide level was low, it was possible to get a good look into the blowhole and surprisingly, it was full of life. The walls were coated by red encrusting algae and numerous green sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and anemones clung to the walls. Although the coloration of the anemones was somewhat unusual, they are believed to be Urticina crassicornis, the Christmas anemone. 
The salmon run was going full blast during our 6 week stay with countless numbers of pink salmon charging up Adak's streams to spawn. Red and silver salmon were also beginning their runs. Dozens of harbor seals were seen hauled out on the beach and a minke whale was observed in Kulak Bay. Adak is a naturalist's delight!
Pink salmon |
Pumice rock |
Marcus Eriksen spoke to the BW 2008 class this spring on plastics,and recently completed a 2600 miles voyage from Long Beach, CA to Hawaii on a raft built from plastic debris (15000 plastic bottles)
For more information, see this KOMO report or "The Junk" links on the Algalita Marine Research Foundation website
The Beach Watchers Cookbook is now online at
It currently reflects the printed copy given to Kristen at the picnic, but there are several pending recipes that will appear in a few weeks. Thanks to all the Beach Watchers who contributed !
What: Speaker Series - William Dietrich
When: Thursday, July 17th - 6:30 pm
Where: Old Chapel, Trinity Lutheran Church, 18341 State Route 525, Freeland, WA
July 7, 2008 - an article by Robert McClure in today's Seattle PI discusses the problems in getting low impact development techniques applied more often.
read the article ...and make sure to see the excellent graphic.
If you missed the grand opening of Cama Beach State Park,
you can now watch it on this 67 minute video
from TVW - Washington State Public Affairs TV Network.
Hello Beach Watcher Friends
Bet you are wondering what happened to me. Some of you may be asking why you haven't heard from me in a while. I mean it wasn't so long ago that I was bugging you with emails nearly every other day. Lately you may have received emails "from me" via my old wsu.edu email address but you have been tricked! It's actually Sarah, the newest leader of the fearless Island County WSU Beach Watcher Crew. I haven't actually met Sarah yet but rumor has it that she is a quote "mature Kristen". Not to say that I was immature but I have a feeling that Sarah complements her skills and passion with a more experienced and steady energy.
So, what have I been up to?! First and foremost I am a recovering coordinator.
our recent graduate
Kylee has been -very- busy recently, stepping up to the plate to cover for the Volunteer Coordinator’s position vacated recently by Kristen Cooley. Along the way, she graduated from Columbia College, with a degree in Finance, and is justifiably proud to be the first in her family to graduate from college.
Way to go Kylee! Kylee will soon start classes toward a Master’s degree in Human Services. Not to worry, she’s not leaving... She says: "I have found the job I have been looking for and have no intentions of leaving anytime soon."
Kylee was born and raised in California. But before you say .. not another one from California .. she recently went back to California for a visit and found herself missing the mountains, Puget Sound, and the great people of Washington. Moving to Washington in 1999 with her love of hiking and camping, she is a true Washingtonian now.
Kylee served in the Navy for 6 years, leaving as a flight engineer in 2002. She says: "I loved the job but it did not transfer into civilian work."
While raising her kids and going to college, Kylee has also been very involved in the Boys and Girls Club and Head Start, at both the state and national level. She is passionate about being a part of the community in which she lives. We sincerely hope that she will remain with Beach Watchers for many years to come.
Sarah EW MartinThank you for the warm welcome you have extended me in taking the Beach Watchers Program Coordinator position. I am honored to work with such a fine, thoughtful and hard-working group of people. I am excited to get to know everyone, and to learn the the needs of the many Beach Watchers who work hard to educate and develop stewardship among the communities on Camano and Whidbey Islands. 
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio in a family of idealistic, talented artists. My father was a professor of life drawing and printmaking at the Cleveland Institute of Art before he retired, and both parents are artists. Their advice to me was to work hard and make a difference (but not through art).
. . . to educate Island communities about the fragility of ecosystems and water resources, while developing a stewardship ethic among the people who live, work, and play in the area.
Juvenile salmonid |
Bob Getz and Enid Braun at the fish trap. |
Boots required ! |
The June-2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine has a wonderful article about nudibranchs. Make sure you check out the video as well (and turn your speakers on).
Welcome to the Online Beach Log
Welcome to the Online Beach [B]Log for Island County Beach Watchers; it augments our Beach Log newsletter which is usually issued on a monthly basis in paper and in pdf versions.
This site is used to to share timely information before the next paper/pdf issue appears.
Thanks to 24 Camano Island Beach Watchers, we once again supported the Friends of Camano Island Parks (FOCIP) with their annual 2nd Grade Education Days project. Each day, May 8 and 9, there were 120 students, 30 or so parents along with about 25 FOCIP guides. We explored the forest, interacted in a program about estuaries; learned tips about safe camping and then after lunch took part in the activities of our six stations at the beach. The students come from local elementary schools on Camano Island and Stanwood. Listen up What's under that rock Sea stars in touch pools Setting up aquarium Kids inspecting aquarium
Thursday, May 8, was a very cold day at Camano Island State Park when we began setting up at 9:30 am and it stayed chilly throughout the entire day. The four divers we had were able to retrieve wonderful critters from depths of 25 - 30 feet to have in the touch tanks. They picked up a few bottles as litter and it was discovered that there was an octopus in one of the bottles; an added treat that was added to the aquarium display. A number of Beach Watchers explored the Rocky Shore area and also discovered lots of specimens to add to the aquariums.
Friday was warmer. However the tide wasn't low until later in the day which meant we weren't able to thoroughly explore the Rocky Shore and retrieve as many interesting critters to have in the aquarium as we as we had on Thursday.
As in the past years, we had six stations set up and the groups of students rotate through each area learning about the critters. We have touch pools so students can see and gently touch the marine specimens not usually visible; the natural beach of the rocky shore where discoveries are made looking under rocks and seaweed-all the time being instructed to carefully replace the rocks; barnacle feeding where students hear about the life cycle of barnacles and try to catch bubbles as "food", black hole is an activity where the students reach into a fabric covered bucket and without looking pull out an item that the leader has shown them; aquariums is always an exciting area which gives a close up view of the smaller sea critters--we had nudibranchs, an octopus, jelly fish, shrimp, clams, fish, sea stars on display; a new game of critter concentration was added this year-students matched pictures on cards with pictures on wooden discs that had been placed face down on a table.
We held a recap of the activities on Friday at 2:30 pm. A number of suggestions/comments were gathered that can be used next year as we help a new bunch of "little bodies" explore the beach at Camano Island State Park.
2008 Annual Beach Watcher Picnic Steven and Kristen
Rosario Beach - Deception Pass State Park
Sunday, July 27th noon to 4pm (or later)
The picnic this year will give us an opportunity to thank Kristen for the 2 and half years she has devoted to Beach Watchers and wish her well in her new job with Puget Sound Partnership.
We will also be celebrating Kristen’s and Stephen’s upcoming wedding by having a wedding shower.
Main dish of barbecue brats and hamburgers and steamed mussels will be provided and attendees are asked to bring side dishes of salads or desserts and beverage of choice. (along with plates/mugs/eating utensils, of course)
The grand opening is on June 21, and many Camano Beach Watchers have been working long hours to help out.
For details on the new park, see http://www.parks.wa.gov/CamaBeach
There is also a very nice picture in June's Sunset magazine (but not available online)
The Seattle Times published four hard-hitting articles from May 11 - May 14 on specific issues that compromise the health of the Puget Sound.
Whidbey Island beach monitors have so far chalked up data on five beaches: Crescent Harbor, Partridge Point, Ala Spit, Pratt’s Bluff, and Freeland Park Beach. (hint: click on the name of any beach to see its team.)
For more pictures and writeups, visit the new and improved website monitoring update at http://wsu-bw-island-intertidal.blogspot.com/ . Camano Island beaches and more Whidbey beaches will be added to the web update as they are done so check in frequently for the latest scoop!
Join your fellow Beach Watchers in a retreat at the "Top of the Watershed", North Cascades Institute, September 3rd - 5th, 2008
| Price per person: | Includes: |
| $270 (triple room) $290 (double room) $370 (single room) | Two Nights Lodging Six Meals / Local Ingredients Diablo Lake Boat Tour Naturalist Led Activities |
Need another nudge - listen to the first hand experience of Adam Lorio**
**Adam Lorio (Interpretive Specialist, Deception Pass State Park) worked/lived at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center on Diablo Lake as a graduate student in 2005. That experience has given him a unique perspective on his current work, just across from the mouth of the Skagit River.
The natural beauty of the site alone is worth the drive up the valley. The peaks surrounding the center have inspired generations of famous writer and poets like Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac. From the campus you can see Colonial and Pyramid peaks, and Sourdough Mountain, site of a historic fire lookout. The small footprint of the campus (within North Cascades National Park) invites the non-human residents of the area to be part of the local community.
Chef Charles is a wonderful chef dedicated to using locally available food; his cooking is the main reason that I actually gained weight in grad school.Some of my favorite early fall activities were hiking to the waterfall, exploring the deer creek loop trail, canoeing on Diablo Lake and watching the sunset down the Newhalem Gorge.
Where: Langley, Whidbey Island
When: June 10, 2008
See announcement flier (pdf)
Where: Coupeville, Whidbey Island
When: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
See announcement flier (pdf).
There is an short, excellent video called Shifting Baselines
posted at the Puget Sound Partnership.
Island County Beach Watchers have started a major new program with funding from the Island County Marine Resources Committee. Beach Watchers will be building a video survey system so we can measure the eelgrass beds around Island county. These marine grasslands are a major component in Puget Sound's "web of life". They also are a major indicator of the water quality in the near shore areas.
The first objective is to combine the Video, GPS, depth, and temperature measuring equipment ; train our volunteer team; and take underwater videos in Cornet Bay. We will follow the Washington DNR measuring methods and they will check that our data can supplement the data they collect.
Later we will work with other researchers (Friday Harbor Laboratories) to measure areas in Holmes Harbor and to help develop new methods for planting and improving the health of the eelgrass growing areas.
This is a high profile project with an aggressive time line. We will provide early video results to the MRC by June 30th.
Seining SeiningJim Somers '04 and Bob Buck '04 were awarded the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Environmental Hero Award this year at a ceremony on Earth Day (initially scheduled for Arlington, VA, but moved to Seattle to minimize carbon footprint). This prestigious award is given to just ten volunteers annually, and was for their dedicated and enthusiastic work leading a team in collecting juvenile salmon data in pocket estuaries on Whidbey Island the past three years and now expanding that effort in 2008. 
For a pictures of Jim and Bob, and details on the award see the articles at WSU Today Online or at NOAA. For more details on their specific seining activities, see the Beach Watchers Seining pages. See also the article describing all of the NOAA's 2008 Environmental Heroes.
Both Jim and Bob do much more than salmon research and have racked up over 2,500 volunteer hours between them in various BW projects. They would be the first ones to tell you what an amazing team they work with and how very many MORE environmental heroes exist in Beach Watchers. In Bob’s words
I know Jim will agree with me that this is truly a TEAM award. This activity is all about showing up and getting the field work done. Every team member can be proud that their dedicated efforts have been recognized through this award.
Island County Beach Watchers is very fortunate to have two such amazing individuals on our team. Congratulations to Bob and Jim and to you all!
