Volunteer Programs

First detection of highly invasive European green crab in Skagit Bay

A participant from the Molt Search program made the important discovery

November 25, 2025

La Conner, Wash. — In late September, the molt from a European green crab was found at Similk Beach, on the northern end of the Swinomish Tribal Reservation. This was the first detection of the highly invasive species in the northern Whidbey Basin, which includes Skagit Bay.

Community member Shirley Hoh made the discovery while participating in a routine search as part of Molt ...

25
NOV

0

Green Crab Monitoring, WSG News Blog

Second Annual Salish Sea-wide Molt Blitz coming June 20

Second Annual Salish Sea-wide Molt Blitz coming June 20

June 2, 2025

Are you one of the millions of Washington residents living on or near the Salish Sea? Join the Salish Sea-wide Molt Blitz on June 20 to contribute to the largest single-day dataset of crab molts collected in our state.

Molts are the old shells that crabs shed when they grow. Collecting and recording these molts provides valuable data on which species of crab are present in an area, including invasive European green crab ...

2
JUN

0

Green Crab Monitoring, WSG News Blog

New research reveals genetic insights key to eelgrass restoration efforts

April 14, 2025

A Washington Sea Grant-funded study shows that nature, not just nurture, explains whether eelgrass flowers

Native Washington eelgrass (Zostera marina) is in trouble. Due to declines in some areas of the Salish Sea and Pacific coast over the last 20 years, restoring eelgrass – and the crucial habitat and ecosystem services it provides – is a high priority for Washington state.

Restoring eelgrass meadows often looks like simply taking eelgrass from one ...

14
APR

0

Researchers to map the genome of the invasive European green crab

April 2, 2025

With state funding, Washington Sea Grant will work with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to shed light on a highly invasive species

SEATTLE – Washington state will soon have another tool to support long-term management for one of the highest priority invasive species, European green crab, thanks to additional state funding dedicated to genetic research.

Last fall, Washington Sea Grant (WSG) received $185,000 in state appropriations to work with Washington Department of Fish ...

2
APR

0

Shoreline restoration: community science to monitor effectiveness

July 10, 2023

Read on UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences News.

Jason Toft from the UW Wetland Ecosystem Team has been monitoring shoreline armor restoration in Puget Sound for over a decade at sites where artificial armor on beaches has been removed to facilitate the restoration of intertidal areas.

Shoreline armor, also known as seawalls and bulkheads, occurs on over 25% of Puget Sound’s shorelines and was historically installed along homes and infrastructure to address erosion risk. We now know that ...

10
JUL

0

Watch: Why we monitor for green crabs

August 23, 2022

The Washington Sea Grant Crab Team’s volunteer-based early detection program helps us stay on top of potential new invasions of the green crab.

In this new video, Crab Team Program Lead Emily Grason takes us to our longest-running monitoring site in the South Puget Sound, where we are glad to report that no green crabs have been found.

23
AUG

0

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Recognizes Crab Team

June 30, 2022

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife named Washington Sea Grant Crab Team the Organization of the Year. Made up of Kate Litle, Dr. Emily Grason, Dr. P. Sean McDonald, Jeff Adams, Alex Stote, and Amy Linhart, Crab Team was launched in 2015 in response to a WDFW request to lead an early detection monitoring ...

30
JUN

0

Community Science Volunteers Discover Invasive European Green Crab in Hood Canal

May 19, 2022
Original post: https://wdfw.wa.gov/news/community-science-volunteers-discover-invasive-european-green-crab-hood-canal

WDFW and Washington Sea Grant to deploy rapid response trapping efforts

OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has received confirmation that volunteers with Washington Sea Grant have captured a male European green crab in Nick’s Lagoon near Seabeck in Kitsap County. This is the first detection of ...

19
MAY

0

Green Crab Monitoring, WSG News Blog

WSG Crab Team Wins Award for Outstanding Community Impact

May 13, 2021

We are thrilled to share that Washington Sea Grant Crab Team won this year’s University of Washington College of the Environment award for Outstanding Community Impact. Crab Team members Kate Litle, Jeff Adams, P. Sean McDonald, Emily Grason, Amy Linhart and Alex Stote were recognized at the ...

13
MAY

0

Green Crab Monitoring, WSG News Blog

New Video: King Tides Are Here

December 14, 2020

In a typical year, we would invite the public to join us at a king tides viewing party this week to learn about the highest tides of the year, and what they can teach us about sea level rise. We all know that this is not a typical year. Instead, we invite you to learn about king tides from Bridget Trosin, WSG coastal policy specialist, in the video below.

Learn more and see the calendar of when king tides ...

14
DEC

0

Head Outdoors This Holiday Season to Witness King Tides and Help Build a Picture of the Future

November 23, 2020

The MyCoast app allows you to instantly share photos of the season’s biggest tides

King tides, the annual extreme-high tides that occur whenever the moon is closest to Earth, are a dramatic feature of Washington winters – and offer a glimpse of what our future in Western Washington may look like as sea levels rise. This holiday season provides a great opportunity for people to capture these extreme tides and help scientists assemble a preview of shorelines to come. ...

23
NOV

0

Community Science Volunteers are as Important as Ever During the COVID-19 Pandemic

June 17, 2020

By Brandon McWilliams, WSG Science Communications Fellow

On a normal spring day along the Puget Sound, chances are good that one of the people enjoying the coast is also doing scientific research. Many projects at Washington Sea Grant (WSG) rely on dedicated teams of volunteers to keep tabs on conditions along our coast. These volunteers do everything from monitor invasive European green crab populations with WSG Crab Team, to checking toxic algae ...

17
JUN

0

WSG Crab Team Receives 2020 Salish Sea Science Prize

WSG Crab Team Receives 2020 Salish Sea Science Prize

April 22, 2020

The SeaDoc Society announced Washington Sea Grant Crab Team as the 2020 winner of the Salish Sea Science Prize. The SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, awards the Salish Sea Science Prize every two years in recognition of scientists whose work results in the improved health of fish and wildlife populations in the Salish Sea.

The Sea Doc Society recognized the Crab Team for their use of science to improve the health of the Salish ...

22
APR

0

Green Crab Monitoring, WSG News Blog

Newport High School A Team Wins First Place at Statewide Orca Bowl Competition

February 6, 2020

Seattle, WA – On Saturday, February 1, 2020, 20 teams of high school students from Seattle to Soap Lake gathered at University of Washington (UW) Fishery Sciences Building for the 23rd annual Orca Bowl. The teams were quizzed on their marine science knowledge in four exciting rounds for a spot in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) Finals, which will be held in Long Beach/Gulfport, Mississippi on April 16 to 19, 2020.

The Newport High School A Team took ...

6
FEB

0

We Are Puget Sound: Emma Rodriguez Shares Her Love of Puget Sound

Washington Sea Grant is a proud sponsor of We Are Puget Sound: Discovering & Recovering the Salish Sea, a new book by David L. Workman, Leonard Forsman, Mindy Roberts and Brian J. Cantwell from Braided River (an imprint of Mountaineers Books). The following profile is an excerpt from the book.

There was no large body of water for Emma Rodriguez to experience where she grew up in north central Mexico in the 1970s. But that changed in a big way when ...

17
OCT

0

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