Eops 2015 7_6

Surface Conditions Report, July 6, 2015
MarineWater Condition Index
Start here
Up-to-date observations of visiblewater quality conditions in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Eyes Over Puget Sound
Fieldlog Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Publication No. 15-03-075
Guest: GabrielaHannach, King County Environmental Lab

Personalfieldlog p.3
Experience as a WashingtonConservationCorps
Internat Ecology.
Climateconditions p.6
Unusually warmtemperatures andsunshine continue around
the region. River systems connectedto the Puget Soundare
experiencinglower thannormal summer flows.
Watercolumn p.7
Warmwater inPuget Soundbecause of “the Blob”.
Temperatures are the highest onrecordsince 1989. Oxygenis
exhibitingnew historical minima,an unusual conditiongiven
the time of year.
Aerialphotography p.11
Very large debris islands in South andCentral Sound,
Port Susan,and Padilla Bay. Numerous patches ofjellyfish
infinger inlets of SouthSound and Sinclair Inlet.
Phytoplanktonblooms inSouthSound,smaller bays of Kitsap
Peninsula,and aroundthe San JuanIslands.
Continuousmonitoring p.36
Water is warmer andsaltier than the past 5 years.
Oxygenis near normal.
Streams p. 39
The Nooksack River has the highest nitrogenyield
of all Puget Sound Rivers!
LONG-TERMMARINEMONITORINGUNIT
Mya Keyzers
Laura Hermanson
Brooke McIntyre
Skip Albertson
Dr. Christopher
Krembs
Julia Bos
Suzan Pool
Editorial assistance provided by: Julianne Ruffner, Suzan Pool, CarolMaloy
Marine conditionsfrom 7-6-2015 at a glance
Gabriela Hannach
Markus von Prause

Personal Field Impression
Fieldlog Weather Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Hot and Dry: Phytoplankton & Noctiluca
Noctiluca is a large
dinoflagellate that
often causes
conspicuousblooms
in Puget Sound.
Carotenoid pigments
fromingested algae
giveNoctiluca blooms
their characteristic
brightorangecolor:
“tomato-soupred”
Noctiluca are 0.5 mm across, with
an active tentacle that helps in the
movementof food particles.
A sample of images collected with a FlowCAMshows
variouschain-forming diatoms, including severalspecies of
the common genus Chaetoceros.
Gabriela Hannach
King County
Environmental Lab
B. Noctiluca bloomsA. Diatomscontinueto bloom in PugetSound
Circles show
concentrations
ranging from5 to
1400 cells per liter
(June15-17, 2015).Noctiluca

Experience as a Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) Intern at Ecology
ForBrooke McIntyre,work in the MarineMonitoringUnit at Ecologyis dynamicand fun.
I divide my time between water and sediment monitoring, and the BEACH program. Here’s
a peek into myexperience…
I operate a CTD and collect water
samples on marine flights.
I service moorings. The sensor at
the bottom gets covered in
barnacles! Ihelp clean these off so
it can function properlyagain.
I run chlorophyll and dissolved
oxygen lab samples.
Mt.Rainier sunrise

Learn more about the WCC and current opportunities at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/wcc
I collect sediment samples in the
field. Lookat this huge polychaete
we caught in the grab!
Advice for young
scientists:
• Be curious and always ask
questions.
• Be a volunteer. Make
connections and discover
what gets you excited.
• Be engaged. Give every
task100%.
I sort samples
for benthic
invertebrates
under the
scope.
I volunteered
on a NOAA
tow-netting
cruise.We
caught a
varietyoffish
and lots of
fried egg
jellyfish like
this one!

Climateand natural influencesthrough5-31-2015
Summary from June:
(Skip is on vacation)
Air temperatures werewarmer
than normal across Western
Washington.
Precipitation wasbelow normalin
the Puget Sound region.
Sunshine hasgenerally been
abovenormal.
River flows havealldropped,
especially the Skagit and Puyallup
Rivers. Fraser River is the only
river running still (slightly) above
normal.
PDO remains in the warmphase,
and upwelling is now above
normal.
Climate and naturalinfluences,includingweather,rivers,andthe adjacent ocean,canaffect our
marine waters. Graphics are basedonprovisional data andare subject to change.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/mar_wat/weather.html.
Puttingthe puzzle piecesof influencingfactorstogether…
No data

We use a chartered float
plane and boat to access
our monthly monitoring
stations.
We communicate data and
environmentalmarine
conditions using:
1. MarineWater
ConditionIndex
(MWCI)
2. EyesOverPuget
Sound (EOPS)
3. Anomaliesand
sourcedata
Ourlong-termmarinemonitoringstationsinWashington
Starthere
Isl.
.

Physical conditionstracked in a statistical & historical context
Higher Temperature! LowerOxygenExpectedSalinity
IsWillapa Bay
returning to
normal?
Black boxes
show expected
temperatures
basedon
historicaldata
Explore profiles
atall stations
Conditions are still dominatedby warm water overall,yet some places (Willapa Bay,HoodCanal surface)
show seasonally normal temperatures. Salinity has increasedto expectedlevels andoxygenshows a mix of
expectedandlower levels inPuget Sound.

a) PacificDecadalOscillationIndex(PDO,temperature) (explanation)
b) UpwellingIndex(anomalies)(Upwelling,lowoxygen) (explanation)
c) NorthPacificGyreOscillationIndex(NPGO,productivity) (explanation)
Theoceanaffectswaterquality: OceanClimateIndices
NPGO(x10)
PDO/UpwellingIndex
Three-year running average of PDO, Upwelling, and NPGO indices scores
.
Ocean boundaryconditions are in transition: (a)water is warm (PDO), (b) upwellingoflow oxygen and
high nutrient ocean water is expected (UpwellingIndex),and (c) higher surface productivityalongthe
coast (NPGO) is expected. Where are we headingnext?
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Is the food web changing in Puget Sound?
Follow the experts
WebEx
Hypothesis!
Increasesin
nitrate
concentrations
couldbe caused
by a top-down
controlon
phytoplankton
biomass.
Is Noctiluca
a visible
harbingerof a
food web
change?
Hypothesis for combining a series of recent observations
affecting energy and material transfer to higher trophic levels
Arechangesin highertropic levelspart of a story of the low food web?

Summary: Aerial photography7-6-2015
Massive debris islands in South and Central Sound, DyesInlet, Liberty Bay, PortSusan, and
Padilla Bay. Numerous patches of jellyfish in finger inlets of South Sound and Sinclair Inlet.
Phytoplankton bloomsin South Sound, smaller baysof Kitsap Peninsula, and San Juan Islands.
Remnantsof Noctiluca bloom near Mukilteo and East Passage.
Start here
Mixing andFronts:
Tidal eddy off Blake Island. Tidal frontsare nicely visible by
differentcoloration of the water in response to blooms.
Debris:
Massive occurrences in South and Central Basin, Dyes Inlet,
and Padilla Bay.
Visible blooms:
Green-brown: Totten Inlet, Dyes Inlet, PortTownsend, eastern
CentralBasin, Case Inlet.
Red-brown: Eld, Budd, and Henderson Inlets; East Sound.
Green: PortSusan.
Noctiluca: Mukilteo and East Passage.
Jellyfish:
Sizablejellyfish patches present in southern inlets of South
Sound (Budd and Eld Inlets), Sinclair Inlet, and Liberty Bay.
BloomDebrisFront
Suspendedsediment:
Reduced suspended sediments fromriver plumes found in
expected locations near rivers.
Plume
Skagit River flows are noticeably low!
View of the CTD into the water fromplane

Straitof
Juan de Fuca
San Juan Islands
Padilla Bay
Main Basin
Hood Canal
South Sound
Whidbey Basin
Observation Maps:
Limited visibility,due to smoke from
Canadianforest fires that increased
haziness towards the north.
Flight Information:
11
10
Aerial photography
and navigation guide
6
Centraland NorthSound
SouthSound
7
12
5
Flight route
9
18
3
2
1
4
13
14
19
16
15
20
8
Tide data (Seattle):
03:02 AM 4.65 L
08:15 AM 9.42 H
02:46 PM -0.53 L
09:42 PM 12.46 H
17
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=86190
July6, 2015, NASA Earth Observatory
smoke

Large patches of algae at the surface of Capitol Lake.
Location: Olympia (South Sound),9:34 AM.
1 Aerial photography 7-6-2015 Navigate
Debris
Debris
Debris

2 NavigateAerial photography 7-6-2015
Numerous patches of jellyfishin water containing red-brown algal bloom.
Location: Eld Inlet (South Sound),9:37 AM.
boat
Bloom
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish

Large islands of organic material and a front with red-brown algal bloom.
Location: Dyes Inlet (Central Sound),9:59 AM.
boat
Bloomboat
Debris
Debris

4 Navigate
Aerial photography 7-6-2015
Large islands of organic material and patches of jellyfish.
Location: LibertyBay(Central Sound),10:03 AM.
Bloom
Debris
Debris
jellyfish
jellyfish
boat
boat

Red-brown bloom separated by front from water in Admiralty Reach.
Location: Port Townsend (North Sound),10:16 AM.
Bloom
boat

Bloom at surface near aquaculture pens.
Location: Penn Cove (WhidbeyBasin),10:58 AM.
boat
boat
Bloom

Water rich in glacial flour from Fraser River meet red-brown bloom and reveal patterns of mixing.
Location: West of Blakely Island,San Juan Islands (North Sound),11:10 AM.
boat
Continuous
Bloom

Reflectionof reddish sunlight in bays due to smoke of Canadian forest fires in BC and northerly winds.
Location: Sucia Island (San Juan Islands),11:44 PM.
boat
red

A. B.
Water contain Nooksack River plume adjacent to a front with a brown bloom from Georgia Basin.
Location: A.West of Lummi Island,B. Lummi Bay(North Sound), 12:34 PM.
boat
Bloom
Debris
Bloom
Debris

Large islands of organic material drifting at the surface off Samish Island.
Location: Padilla Bay(North Sound),1:05 PM.
ship
Bloom
Debris
Debris
Debris
Debris

Large islands of organic material drifting at the surface off Guemes Island.
Location: Padilla Bay(North Sound),1:05 PM.
boat
boat
Debris
Bloom
Front

Tidal fronts separating sediment-richwater from water with organic debris islands at Huckleberry Island.
Location: Guemes Island,Padilla Bay(North Sound),1:06 PM.
12 Navigate
boat
Debris
Debris

Long debris line along tidal front separating sediment-richwater from water with glacial flour.
Location: Skagit Bay (WhidbeyBasin),1:39 PM.
Debris
Debris
Front

Organic debris islands, green algal bloom, and sediment-richwater show complexity of surface water.
Location: OffBeach Drive, Camano Island,Port Susan (WhidbeyBasin),1:44 PM.
14 Navigate
boat
Debris
Debris
Bloom
Debris

15 Navigate
Extensive accumulations of organic debris along fronts spanning across Central Sound. Brown bloom.
Location: Between Port Madison and Shilshole (Central Sound),3:03PM.
boat
boat
Debris
Bloom

16 Navigate
Extensive accumulations of organic debris, a brown algal bloom, and a large oil sheen.
Location: Between Port Madison and Shilshole (CentralSound),3:05PM.
boat
boat
Debris
Bloom
Front
oilsheen

17 Navigate
Tidal front linedwith organic debris separating phytoplankton-rich water enteringCentral Sound.
Location: Between Fort Worden and Blake Island (Central Sound),3:09 PM.
boat
Debris
Bloom
Debris

Diffusely structured red-brown bloom in water and macro-algae on the beach.
Location: Henderson Inlet (South Sound),3:30 PM.
18 Navigate
boat
Bloom
macro-algae

19 Navigate
Strong red-brown bloom dwarfing sailboat.
Location: BigTykle Cove, Budd Inlet (South Sound),3:33 PM.
boat
Bloom

20 Navigate
Red-brown bloom and a tidal front.
Location: Across Frye Cove CountyPark,Eld Inlet (South Sound),3:35 PM.
boat
Bloom
Debris

Numbers on map refer to picture numbers for spatial reference
Date: 7-6-2015
CentralSound
Aerial photography observations in Central SoundQualitative aerial observer map during transit Navigate
10
NorthSound/SanJuan Islands
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
13
14
16
15
17

Date: 7-6-2015
Qualitative aerial observer map during transit
Navigate
SouthSound
12
20
19
18

Legendto map annotations
Comments:
Maps are producedby observers during and
after flights. They are intendedto give an
approximate reconstructionofthe surface
conditions onscales that connect to and
overlapwithsatellite images inthe sectionthat
follows.
Debris:
Debris canbe distinguished into natural and
anthropogenic debris floatingat the surface
sensu Moore andAllen(2000). The majority of
organic debris inPuget Sound is natural and
mixedwithdiscardedman-made pieces of
plastic,wood,etc. Fromthe plane,we cannot
differentiatethe quality of debris at the surface
andtherefore,call it for reasons of practicality
just “debris”.
S.L. Moore,M. J. Allen. 2000. Distribution of
Anthropogenicand Natural Debris on the
Mainland Shelf of the Southern California Bight.
Marine Pollution Bulletin,40(1): 83–88.
Navigate

Continuousmonitoring 7-6-2015
These plots show the
probability of
observationsover the
pasttwo-week period.
High probability shown in
warmcolors.
Left Panels: Density is
defined by salinity and
temperature.
Right Panel: Dissolved
oxygen concentration in
relation to salinity.
At the Mukilteo mooringstation,we continue to observe warmer than normal water
temperature. Tidal cycle and lowriver flows influence gradual increase in temperature and
salinityfor the past month. Dissolved oxygen is decreasingfor summer and is near normal levels
observed in June. Temporal patterns followa seasonal trend.
Data are not available
for this time period.
Look for themnext
month.
No oxygensensor on
the shallow instrument
package.
12-16 m depth
2-6 m depth

Our mooringstation in Mukilteo is located
in WhidbeyBasin near Everett. It is also
located at the transition between
Possession and CentralSounds at a depth
that is influenced bythe Skagit and
Snohomish River discharges,prevailing
winds,and tidal mixing.
As the largest regional contributor of
freshwater to Puget Sound,understanding
the timingand magnitude ofthe Skagit
River flow is important.
We present dailymeans for the past 31
days. Data are plotted in PacificStandard
Time. Wind data are from Paine Field in
Everett. River flowdata are from USGS.
Click on icon to view real-time
data of the moorings

At the Mukilteo mooring,we use the near-bottom
sensor (12-16 m deep) to measure significant inter-
annual variabilityin temperature,salinity,and
dissolved oxygen.
Inter-annual variabilityis shown over a 5-year
period. All three variables showstrongseasonality.
In June, water is warmer and saltier than past
several years. Dissolved oxygen is near normal
levels.
Seasonally,variabilityofeach parameter remains
minimal from Januaryto June.
Pleasenote that data are provisional. Data are in GMT.

WaterQualityofthe Nooksack River
Nooksack River flowing into Bellingham Bay
AtBrennen, 1995-2014:
Reddottedline = water quality met
exceptions(good)
The NooksackRiveris listed for
exceedancesin waterquality criteria for
temperatureand oxygenand has a
managementplan for bacteria.
Ecology’sRiver and StreamMonitoring
Programhasbeen obtainingwater
quality informationat the confluence of
the NooksackRiver since 1971.
Annualsediment and nutrient scores are below 80 and rangebetween moderately low to poor. Suspended
sediment loading at the confluence of the Nooksack (USGS Station 12213100) ishigh, averaging 1070 kilo tons a
year since 2011.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Fecal Coliform Oxygen pH TSS Temperature Total Nitrogen Total Phosphorus Turbidity
WQIScores
AtBrennen, 1995-2014:
Reddottedline = water quality met
exceptions(good)

WaterQualityofthe Nooksack River
NooksackRiver represents the largest
sources of freshwater nitrogen contribution
to Puget Sound. (Von Prause, 2013).
Station
TN
(all)
NO2,3
(all)
01A050 90.54 64.43
01A120 41.39 32.35
03A060 23.56 15.93
03B050 81.3 64.15
04A100 13.48 9.4
05A070 92.04 49.2
05B070 56.18 44.74
05B110 54.24 41.24
07A090 52.89 41.4
07C070 36.63 28.61
07D050 53.37 41.44
07D130 45.36 37.39
08C070 40.39 53.49
08C110 26.78 23
09A080 52.1 36.17
09A190 21.7 16.81
10A070 36.46 23.47
11A070 29.05 19.19
13A060 49.7 41.22
16A070 34.56 13.03
16C090 9.78 5.01
18B070 10.4 4.23
Averageyieldsfor
freshwater nitrogen
(kg/sq. km/month).
“All” refersto all
months.
Data are from WY
1995 through WY
2013.
Darker shading in the
table body indicates
higher relative yield.
The NooksackRiver has the highest nitrogen
yield ofall Puget Sound Rivers!
Nooksack River

Accessmooring
data:
ftp://www.ecy.wa.gov/ea
p/Mooring_Raw/Puget_S
ound/
Continuous monitoring :
Suzan.Pool@ecy.wa.gov
Get data from Ecology’sMarine MonitoringPrograms
Long–Term
MonitoringNetwork
Real–Time
SensorNetwork
Accesscore
monitoringdata:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/a
pps/eap/marinewq/mwda
taset.asp
christopher.krembs@ecy.w
a.gov
Ecology’s long-termmarine
monitoring stations
Continuoustrack
Riverand Stream WaterQuality
Monitoring
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/fw_riv
/rv_main.html
Discontinued (fundingcuts)

You maysubscribe or unsubscribe to the Eyes Over Puget Sound email listservby going to:
http://listserv.wa.gov/cgi-bin/wa?A0=ECOLOGY-EYES-OVER-PUGET-SOUND
Many thanks to our business partners: Clipper Navigation,SwantownMarina,andKenmore Air.
We are looking forfeedbackto improve ourproducts.
Dr. ChristopherKrembs
christopher.krembs@ecy.wa.gov
Marine Monitoring Unit
EnvironmentalAssessment Program
WA Department of Ecology

Eops 2015 7_6

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Eops 2015 7_6