Hanging by a Thread

Biologist Emily Carrington probes the secrets of the humble mussel’s powerful attachment, and how mussels will fare as sea chemistry changes

By Elizabeth Cooney, WSG Communications Fellow, Washington Sea Grant

The unassuming but commercially valuable mussel dominates temperate seas worldwide, clinging to rocks and docks by a cluster of thread-like anchors called the byssus or “the beard.” The byssus’s unique protein matrix gives each thread extraordinary strength, even in salt water. But will byssal threads still hold fast as the seas become ...

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News

4th Annual Report On Conditions of Puget Sound’s Marine Waters Released Today

September 20, 2015

The Puget Sound Marine Waters workgroup of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program released the 4th annual report on marine water conditions in Puget Sound.

The report combines a wealth of data from comprehensive monitoring programs and provides a concise summary of what was happening in Puget Sound’s marine waters during 2014. It covers areas such as climate and weather, river inputs, seawater temperature, salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, ocean acidification, phytoplankton, biotoxins, bacteria and pathogens, shellfish resources, and more.

The report ...

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WSG News Blog

WSG Teams Up with the U.S. Coast Guard

July 25, 2015

Data show that commercial and recreational boaters spill more oil in Washington waters than tankers. This summer, WSG staff and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary will kick off a summer campaign to give away free small oil spill clean up kits at vessel safety inspections, as part of a focused education and awareness campaign to prevent small oil spills among commercial and recreational boats. The Campaign begins this Thursday and will continue through August with distribution of 1,000 ...

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WSG News Blog

NOAA Science Camp 2015 Update

July 15, 2015

NOAA Summer Camp is in its second week of a full program packed with science and fun for students in grades 6 through 12. One parent, Kelly Powers, recently shared her enthusiasm:

Thank you so much to NOAA for creating the experience for Seattle area kids! It’s life changing. It’s the only camp I’ve come across that puts real science in the hands of middle schoolers. What a legacy your camp creates in two short weeks every ...

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WSG News Blog

Invasive Green Crab Monitoring Begins This Summer

July 5, 2015

In 2012, an established population of the globally invasive crab was discovered in Sooke Inlet, British Columbia, on the Strait of Juan de Fuca – the first time this species has been found in the Salish Sea. The presence of this invasive species within the Salish Sea increases the chances that European green crabs could invade further into inland Puget Sound shorelines, where habitat is plentiful for them to thrive.

Volunteering: Volunteers are being trained to conduct monthly (July–August) trapping and/or ...

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WSG News Blog

2015

burrowing shrimp

 

Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the use of imidacloprid to manage burrowing shrimp was issued, followed by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Waste Discharge Permit (WDOE). Permit for imidacloprid application requested, denied (Doenges et al 2018). Willapa Bay Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Association withdrew NPDES permit  after intense media coverage. 

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Burrowing Shrimp

Nasty HABits Update

June 20, 2015

After several relatively quiet years, a massive bloom of Pseudo-nitzchia, the diatom responsible for amnesic shellfish poisoning, has shut down several West Coast shellfish fisheries. The largest in at least a decade, this bloom is the focus of studies by the College of the Environment’s Anthony Odell of the Olympic Natural Resources Center (a unit in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences). WSG staff and investigators also have been involved in harmful algal bloom (HAB) ...

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WSG News Blog

Get Outdoors

June 10, 2015

The second annual Get Outdoors Expo will feature Washington Sea Grant Water Quality Specialist Teri King and other outdoor specialists. This event features games, giveaways, outdoor gear demonstrations, mascots, live music and food vendors. Educational displays will be provided by natural resource agencies, outdoor organizations, gear companies and more. The Expo kicks off at 11:00am with a short program from elected officials, outdoor leaders and Expo sponsors.

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WSG News Blog

2015 Presidential Migratory Bird Stewardship Award

May 20, 2015

WSG senior fisheries scientist Ed Melvin, together with research scientist Troy Guy and colleagues at NOAA, Oregon State University, the Oregon and California Sea Grant Programs, and other federal, tribal, and fishing-industry partners, has received the 2015 Presidential Migratory Bird Stewardship Award, honoring a federal program for outstanding efforts on behalf of bird conservation. Ed has pioneered, proven, and refined the use of streamer lines to protect endangered albatrosses and other bait-chasing seabirds from getting hooked and drowned in longline fisheries. ...

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WSG News Blog

Teri King Wins Award

May 10, 2015

Marine Water Quality Specialist Teri King recently won the 2014–2015 UW College of the Environment’s Outstanding Community Impact Award for many years of dedicated outreach work on Puget Sound water quality and shellfish aquaculture.

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WSG News Blog

Elwha River Update — Dramatic Changes Afoot

March 20, 2015

A paper in Geomorphology was just published on the dramatic changes that have come to the Elwha River delta following the removal of two dams and the restoration of natural sediment flow. The paper was coauthored by Washington Sea Grant’s (WSG) Coastal Hazards Specialist and resident geologist Ian Miller. Ian’s Port Angeles base gives him a ringside seat on this historic process. See “Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: Coastal geomorphic change.”

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