Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Western Washington University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 391 - 420 of 2456

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Impacts Of Egregia Menziesii, A Foundational Alga, On Intertidal Communities In The San Juan Islands, Angelina Zuelow Apr 2022

Impacts Of Egregia Menziesii, A Foundational Alga, On Intertidal Communities In The San Juan Islands, Angelina Zuelow

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Canopy-forming seaweeds provide shade for smaller algae and invertebrates in intertidal communities, ameliorating low tide abiotic stressors such as ultraviolet radiation, desiccation, and high temperatures. Conversely, canopies can negatively affect understory organisms by limiting settlement, causing physical disruption, and trapping sand. We examined the effect of Egregia menziesii, a canopy-forming foundation species, on intertidal communities, using manipulative experiments at Cattle Point, San Juan Island, WA. We hypothesized that plots with Egregia would have a higher abundance and richness of other invertebrates and algae than plots without Egregia. In the field, we set up 20 low intertidal plots, each 0.25m2 in …

Go to article

Abnormal Salinity And Temperature Profiles: Conditions Of Plankton, Ayesha Toor Apr 2022

Abnormal Salinity And Temperature Profiles: Conditions Of Plankton, Ayesha Toor

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Plankton species tend to have a set of conditions that make certain environments ideal for that species to thrive to its highest capability. By focusing on factors such as salinity and temperature, the health of an environment can be tracked based on the consistency of those numbers and its overall impact on marine species’. Plankton being an important part of underwater food chains, as they are commonly eaten amongst other marine species, makes the understanding of their ability to survive in certain circumstances crucial to sustaining a healthy underwater ecosystem. Presented is an accumulation of data taken from various sites …

Go to article

Taking Stock Of Chinook Salmon Energy Densities Has Implications For Resident Killer Whales Meeting Their Energy Needs, Jacob E. Lerner, Brian P. V. Hunt Apr 2022

Taking Stock Of Chinook Salmon Energy Densities Has Implications For Resident Killer Whales Meeting Their Energy Needs, Jacob E. Lerner, Brian P. V. Hunt

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) rely on large reserves of energy accumulated at sea to complete their journey upstream, mature reproductively, and spawn. In part due to these energy reserves, Chinook are the primary prey species for resident killer whales. However, energy density has been shown to vary significantly among Chinook populations, indicating that data on stock specific energy density are necessary to assess whether available prey can meet resident killer whale energy requirements. In this study, we sought to derive stock specific estimates of Southern British Columbia Chinook energy density. To begin, we evaluated a microwave energy meter as a …

Go to article

European Green Crab (Carcinus Maenas) Predation In Puget Sound Estuaries, Mary Fisher Apr 2022

European Green Crab (Carcinus Maenas) Predation In Puget Sound Estuaries, Mary Fisher

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

First detected in the Puget Sound, WA, in 2016, European green crab (Carcinus maenas) is a damaging invasive species outside of its native range in the northeastern Atlantic. There are substantial concerns around the species’ potential ecological impacts to the Salish Sea should it become established, including degradation of eelgrass and estuarine habitats and significant alteration of food webs. However, it can be difficult to assess the trophic impacts of introduced species in newly invaded areas, where populations are small or not yet fully established; in situ observations of crab predation are also complicated by the crab mastication process, which …

Go to article

Covid-19 And The Srkws: A New Suite Of Problems Facing The Critically Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales In The Salish Sea, Erin Casellas, Alanna Frayne Apr 2022

Covid-19 And The Srkws: A New Suite Of Problems Facing The Critically Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales In The Salish Sea, Erin Casellas, Alanna Frayne

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW, Orcinus orca) may be found year-round in the Salish Sea. These killer whales comprise three matrilineal pods (J, K, and L) and were listed as Endangered under the Canadian Species at Risk Act in 2003 and under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2005 due to prey scarcity, vessel noise and disturbance, small population size, and exposure to toxins. Through federal, state and local regulations vessel disturbance has been mitigated by increased approach distances, reduced speeds, increased on-the-water enforcement, limitations of the number of commercial whale watching boats allowed to be with a group …

Go to article

Effects Of Vessel Presence On Northern Resident Killer Whale Rubbing Behaviour, Varsha Rani Apr 2022

Effects Of Vessel Presence On Northern Resident Killer Whale Rubbing Behaviour, Varsha Rani

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The presence of vessels in the ocean has a significant impact on marine mammals, including highly cultural species such as northern resident killer whales (NRKWs). NRKW engage in beach rubbing, a unique social behaviour where individuals approach shallow pebble beaches to rub against the stones. During rubbing bouts, the whales are exposed and vulnerable to disturbance. To investigate the effects of vessel disturbance on this important cultural behaviour, the initiation of rubbing and rubbing bout length were examined in relation to vessel presence and proximity. In July and August, for years 2020 and 2021, data were collected from an elevated …

Go to article

Characterization Of Northern Resident Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca) Call Types And Source Levels During Beach Rubbing, Madeleine Bouvier Apr 2022

Characterization Of Northern Resident Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca) Call Types And Source Levels During Beach Rubbing, Madeleine Bouvier

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Robson Bight Michael Bigg Ecological Reserve (RBMBER) is located within the Northern Resident killer whale (NRKW) population’s critical habitat. A recognized social behaviour of the NRKW population is “beach rubbing”, where individuals will come into the shallows of particular beaches to rub their bodies on smooth pebbles. During beach rubbing, the whales are considered to be more sensitive to disturbance. The physical presence of vessels, as well as the noise from vessel engines has the potential to disturb NRKW and interfere with this sensitive behaviour. To reduce the likelihood of disturbance and protect this important cultural behaviour, recreational vessel …

Go to article

Eyes On The Water: Citizen Science In The Salish Sea, Susie Washington-Smyth Apr 2022

Eyes On The Water: Citizen Science In The Salish Sea, Susie Washington-Smyth

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The knowledge and expertise of local communities is often ignored or underused in planning for protected species. This is a success story of citizen science collaboration, although the catalyst for this project was driven by the lack of reliable year-round data on Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) and how they use their designated critical habitat. This data, particularly in the high traffic areas of Boundary Pass, Active Pass and Strait of Georgia, is critical to make informed management decisions for this endangered species. Frustrated, community groups capitalized on their considerable local knowledge about the marine ecosystem, and the SRKW, to …

Go to article

Mapping Whale-Watching Effort Using Ais Data In The Salish Sea, Norma Serra-Sogas Apr 2022

Mapping Whale-Watching Effort Using Ais Data In The Salish Sea, Norma Serra-Sogas

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Commercial boat-based whale-watching is a very important touristic sector in the Salish Sea, taking thousands of people to view and experience up close the natural beauty and wildlife of the area. This sector provides economic benefits to local communities and opportunities for education and increase awareness for nature protection. The recent growth of whale-watching activities also can bring potential negative effects such as disturbances to wildlife. To achieve a sustainable commercial whale-watching sector, it is important to gain a good understanding of the footprint this activity has on the marine environment. For this, we assessed the spatio-temporal distribution of whale …

Go to article

Foraging Strategy, Prey Preferences And Limited Competition Among Forage Fishes In The San Juan Islands; Implications For Chinook Recovery, Russel Barsh Apr 2022

Foraging Strategy, Prey Preferences And Limited Competition Among Forage Fishes In The San Juan Islands; Implications For Chinook Recovery, Russel Barsh

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Previous research has shown that juvenile Chinook outmigrants prey preferentially on young-of-year Pacific herring and Pacific sand lance as they transit the San Juan Islands. The relative abundance of these two forage fishes and their proportional representation in the neritic diet of juvenile Chinook have varied since 2009 in ways that suggest that they respond to changing marine conditions in different ways, including relying seasonally on different zooplankton prey. In 2020 and 2021, co-occurring forage fishes (herring, sand lance, Pacific surf smelt, Northern Anchovy) and zooplankton were collected from a Lopez Island bay where juvenile Puget Sound Chinook annually congregate. …

Go to article

Marine Habitat Use Patterns Of The Endangered Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus Marmoratus) In The Central-Southern Puget Sound, Bryce Poplawsky Apr 2022

Marine Habitat Use Patterns Of The Endangered Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus Marmoratus) In The Central-Southern Puget Sound, Bryce Poplawsky

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Marine habitat use patterns of the Endangered Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in the central-southern Puget Sound Seabirds face a number of threats including human disturbances, pollution, and climate change. Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) are particularly vulnerable to these impacts, as both terrestrial and marine environments are crucial for their survival. Listed as Endangered in Washington state and Threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service south of the US-Canada border, Marbled Murrelets are well-studied; however, relatively little is known about their distribution and marine habitat use patterns in the central and southern Puget Sound. We conducted shore and boat-based observations …

Go to article

Holistic Approaches For Invasive Species Management: Exploring Biotic Resistance Of European Green Crab (Carcinus Maenas) Via River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Diet, Bobbie Buzzell Apr 2022

Holistic Approaches For Invasive Species Management: Exploring Biotic Resistance Of European Green Crab (Carcinus Maenas) Via River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Diet, Bobbie Buzzell

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Establishment of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) on the west coast United States has led to concerns regarding loss of eelgrass beds and influence on marine communities. To begin examining whether predators can potentially buffer green crab expansion, I studied river otter (Lontra canadensis) diet from scat remains and green crab abundance was estimated from removal trapping efforts. River otter scats on the Wa’atch and Tsoo-Yess rivers, Washington, USA, were collected during August-September 2018 and April-September 2019. Hard remains of prey were reported as percent frequency of occurrence, and green crab prey were compared to monthly catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE). Scats …

Go to article

Seasonal Changes In Trophic Interactions In The Plankton Community In The Strait Of Georgia, Nicole Mcewan Apr 2022

Seasonal Changes In Trophic Interactions In The Plankton Community In The Strait Of Georgia, Nicole Mcewan

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

As the base of the food web, plankton are key in energy transfer and influence the biomass and composition of organisms higher up in the food web. However, the diversity of plankton species, as well as their trophic processes and interactions are often over-simplified in food web models. Throughout a year, the plankton community varies greatly, further increasing the complexity of trophic flows. Here, we have used Ecopath to model the plankton food web in the Strait of Georgia in three seasons. The plankton community is represented in the models by ten mesozooplankton groups, two mixotrophic microzooplankton groups, one phytoplankton …

Go to article

Vessel Drift And Rescue Tug Response Analysis For The Strait Of Juan De Fuca To The Southern Strait Of Georgia, Marta Green Apr 2022

Vessel Drift And Rescue Tug Response Analysis For The Strait Of Juan De Fuca To The Southern Strait Of Georgia, Marta Green

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Protection against a catastrophic oil spill is among the highest environmental priorities for San Juan County. Positioning an emergency response towing vessel (ERTV), or rescue tug, to reduce the spill risk in Haro Strait and Boundary Pass has been identified by the Dept. of Ecology as a priority risk mitigation measure (Oct 2016) and is a recommendation of the Governor’s Southern Resident Orca Task Force (Nov 2019). The capability of an ERTV to respond quickly enough to prevent a disabled, drifting vessel from grounding has been questioned. San Juan County partnered with Nuka Research & Planning Group, LLC and UW’s …

Go to article

Species Abundance And Conditions Of Plankton Blooms In Possession Sound, Maci Larsen Apr 2022

Species Abundance And Conditions Of Plankton Blooms In Possession Sound, Maci Larsen

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can threaten the health and stability of an ecosystem. They occur when there is a significant increase in the abundance of toxin-producing phytoplankton. Paralytic shellfish toxins are just one example of how these massive blooms can be lethal to marine life and even humans if the poisoned shellfish are consumed. HABs are seen as a considerable threat to the ecosystem, but what about the non-HAB-forming plankton that make the waters of the Salish Sea their home? Plankton of many kinds do not require complex conditions for blooming to occur; it can be as simple as temperature …

Go to article

Does Ocean Acidification Affect The Bioenergetics And Susceptibility To Pathogenic Disease In Juvenile Pacific Herring (Clupea Pallasii)?, Christopher Murray Apr 2022

Does Ocean Acidification Affect The Bioenergetics And Susceptibility To Pathogenic Disease In Juvenile Pacific Herring (Clupea Pallasii)?, Christopher Murray

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

This study examined how chronic exposure to ocean acidification affects the bioenergetics and immune functionality of juvenile Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii). Wild herring offspring were reared from hatch under three contrasting pCO2 treatments [low (~650 µatm), intermediate (~1,500 µatm), and high (~3,000 µatm)] to assess impacts on long-term growth, critical swim speed (Ucrit), and susceptibility to the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). During the first two months of larval development, growth trajectories were largely unaffected by pCO2 level. However, between 60 - 105 days post-hatch (dph), treatment mean growth rates (±SD) were significantly reduced under high (0.59±0.09 mm·d-1) and intermediate …

Go to article

Startling Seals To Save Salmon: Assessing Effectiveness Of An Acoustic Deterrent With A Statistical Application Of Cress-Salsa 2d, Laura Bogaard Apr 2022

Startling Seals To Save Salmon: Assessing Effectiveness Of An Acoustic Deterrent With A Statistical Application Of Cress-Salsa 2d, Laura Bogaard

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Startling Seals to Save Salmon: Assessing effectiveness of an acoustic deterrent with a statistical application of CReSS-SALSA 2D This study presents the first implementation of a new acoustic deterrent, Targeted Acoustic Startle Technology (TAST) as a conservation tool to mitigate over-predation on an endangered population of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) by harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) at a vulnerable point along their migration path at the Ballard Locks in Seattle, Washington. The device was deployed for ten days, and trained observers recorded seal occurrence and behaviour in the study area while the device was on and off. A species distribution modelling …

Go to article

West Whidbey Island Nearshore Bathymetry And Coastal Topography Survey Reveals Diversity Of Sediment, Morphology, And Habitat, Delaney Stokes, Amanda Hacking, George Kaminsky, Hannah Drummond Apr 2022

West Whidbey Island Nearshore Bathymetry And Coastal Topography Survey Reveals Diversity Of Sediment, Morphology, And Habitat, Delaney Stokes, Amanda Hacking, George Kaminsky, Hannah Drummond

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

In May 2018, The Washington State Department of Ecology Coastal Monitoring & Analysis Program (CMAP) performed a coastal topographic and bathymetric survey along a 4-km reach of west Whidbey Island between West Beach County Park and Hastie Lake County Park with topographic lidar extending southward an additional 5 km to Point Partridge at Fort Ebey State Park. High-resolution topographic and bathymetric data were collected using boat-based lidar and dual-head multibeam sonars aboard the R/V George Davidson, with additional topographic data collected by foot using GNSS on backpacks to fill in shadows from the lidar and obtain intertidal cross-shore beach profiles. …

Go to article

Nitrogen In The Nooksack River Watershed: Comparing Models To Monitoring, David U. Hooper Apr 2022

Nitrogen In The Nooksack River Watershed: Comparing Models To Monitoring, David U. Hooper

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Nooksack River Watershed of northwest Washington and southwest British Columbia faces several issues linked to high nitrogen (N) in surface and groundwater. The Sumas-Blaine Aquifer, a locally important drinking water source, has nitrate levels that exceed the EPA recommended 10 mg nitrate-N/L in many wells. Many tributaries to the Nooksack River have 303(d) listings as “impaired” for dissolved oxygen, which is tied to high nutrient loading. Based on results from the USGS Sparrow model, the Nooksack River has one of the highest rates of N loading per watershed area to the Salish Sea of all monitored rivers, contributing to …

Go to article

Two Waterways One Salish Sea, Ellen Southard Apr 2022

Two Waterways One Salish Sea, Ellen Southard

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

In WA State there is no legal mandate to treat polluted runoff from roadway surfaces on bridges. To-date Ellen Southard/Site Story has led outreach and fund development for 12 green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) projects at 6 bridges to improve water quality and salmon habitat on the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Contaminated stormwater from the 6 bridges on the canal has been discharged untreated for over 80 years, impacting migrating salmon and subsequently impacting resident orcas that depend on those salmon as a primary food source. The project is the first in the country addressing polluted stormwater off public bridges to …

Go to article

Supporting Collaborative Engagement For Water Quality Management In The Salish Sea With A Web-Based Visual Analytic Tool, Dora (Dissolved Oxygen Regional Assessment Explorer), Kyong Yun Apr 2022

Supporting Collaborative Engagement For Water Quality Management In The Salish Sea With A Web-Based Visual Analytic Tool, Dora (Dissolved Oxygen Regional Assessment Explorer), Kyong Yun

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Water quality issues of the Salish Sea system are complexly intertwined, with multiple stakeholders and an extensive management community. Both researchers and regulators have focused on better understanding the impact of human activity on the water quality of the Salish Sea. The modeling efforts primarily focused on the human activity impact on dissolved oxygen based on different nutrient loading scenarios for the Salish Sea. However, to improve the public access and understanding of scenario impacts across various water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, and net primary production both spatially and temporally, we designed a low-cost prototype of a …

Go to article

Shoreline Restoration In An Urban Environment – Lowman Beach Park, Pablo Duarte Quiroga Apr 2022

Shoreline Restoration In An Urban Environment – Lowman Beach Park, Pablo Duarte Quiroga

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

A shoreline restoration project will be completed at Lowman Park by January 2021. The Park is located on the Puget Sound in an urban context in the Morgan Junction neighborhood in West Seattle and just to the north of Lincoln Park. The approximately 1.5-acre Park is bordered to the north and south by private residential properties and to the east by Beach Drive. Subsurface infrastructure related to sewer and public storm drains is located at the Park as well. The shoreline restoration project will enhance the Park and the shoreline in a naturally sustainable way that meets multiple objectives: Improve …

Go to article

The Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Temperature Rise On The Thermal Tolerance And Critical Thermal Limit Of Pacific Herring (Clupea Pallasii), Nicole Singh Apr 2022

The Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Temperature Rise On The Thermal Tolerance And Critical Thermal Limit Of Pacific Herring (Clupea Pallasii), Nicole Singh

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Effects of Ocean Acidification and Temperature Rise on the Thermal Tolerance and Critical Thermal Limit of Anthropogenic climate change is projected to affect marine ecosystems by challenging the environmental tolerance limits of individual species. The interactive effects of ocean acidification and temperature rise has been documented in a handful of marine fishes, with major physiological impacts experienced in early-life stages. Pacific herring are an important forage and commercial fish species widely distributed in coastal systems across the North Pacific. Recent studies have found temperature to be the primary stressor affecting the embryonic development of Pacific herring, but deleterious effects …

Go to article

Projected Changes To The Hydroclimate In The Pacific Northwest And Implications For Coastal Hazards And Compound Flooding, Nathan Vanarendonk Apr 2022

Projected Changes To The Hydroclimate In The Pacific Northwest And Implications For Coastal Hazards And Compound Flooding, Nathan Vanarendonk

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Future changes in the Pacific Northwest climate have implications for regional habitat restoration, flood hazard mitigation and community resilience. Modeling regional exposure to flooding requires capturing the interactions of extreme stream discharge, sea levels, and flood mitigation controls (e.g., dams, flood gates). Here, extreme statistics of stream flow are derived from ensemble hydroclimate forecasts throughout Puget Sound, provided by the Columbia River Climate Change study (CRCC, Chegwidden et al., 2017). Flow projections are examined from four hydrologic models (three Variable Infiltration Capacity models and one Precipitation Runoff Modeling System model) used in the CRCC, each forced by 10 different global …

Go to article

The Salish Sea Was Saturated With Respect To Aragonite In Pre-Industrial Times, Susan Allen Apr 2022

The Salish Sea Was Saturated With Respect To Aragonite In Pre-Industrial Times, Susan Allen

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

As the ocean takes up anthropogenic carbon dioxide, the pH decreases as does the saturation state of CaCO3 minerals, including aragonite. This process is commonly described as ocean acidification. Aragonite is used as a building material by many marine organisms, including pteropods, fish (otoliths), some corals, and larval oysters. The increase in inorganic carbon in the Salish Sea is moderate compared to other regions in the world because the incoming water is old. However, the naturally high carbon content of Pacific waters and the nonlinearities of the carbon system amplify the resultant effects. Here we investigate biogeochemical changes between the …

Go to article

A High-Resolution Tidal Hydrodynamic Model For Sequim Bay, Wa To Support Marine Renewable Energy Research, Taiping Wang Apr 2022

A High-Resolution Tidal Hydrodynamic Model For Sequim Bay, Wa To Support Marine Renewable Energy Research, Taiping Wang

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Marine renewable energy (e.g., tidal current and wave energy) comprises resources that do not generate carbon emissions. Because of high energy potential, the Salish Sea and adjacent coastal waters have been identified among the top candidate sites in the U.S. for marine energy development. To better support a variety of marine energy related research and development activities, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory in Sequim, WA has been preparing Sequim Bay as a testbed for researchers to utilize its unique tidal and geographic setting for pilot-scale tidal energy, ocean technology, and environmental monitoring research. In this study, …

Go to article

Improving Access To Ocean And Coastal Data: How The Northwest Association Of Networked Ocean Observing Systems Serves The Pacific Northwest, Rachel Wold Apr 2022

Improving Access To Ocean And Coastal Data: How The Northwest Association Of Networked Ocean Observing Systems Serves The Pacific Northwest, Rachel Wold

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), the regional association of U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS) for the United States Pacific Northwest, developed its NANOOS Visualization System (NVS - http://nvs.nanoos.org/) to provide users with a rich interface to access observations, forecasts, and satellite overlays from a wide range of ocean and coastal assets in a user-friendly format. NVS also offers tailored apps for specific user groups. Working with distributed partners, NANOOS has brought together data streams from academic, agencies (federal, state, local), tribes, industry, and NGOs and developed the data displays to suit a variety of …

Go to article

Introducing A Different Kind Of “Blob” In The Pnw – The Snark!, Skip Albertson Apr 2022

Introducing A Different Kind Of “Blob” In The Pnw – The Snark!, Skip Albertson

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Puget Sound experienced progressively saltier conditions from 2017 to 2019 compared to time-averaged seasonal norms from 1999-2018. Reduced freshwater inflow from rivers drove much of these salinity increases; however, we report on another process raising salinity on the landward end of Case Inlet. Like “Meddies” in the Mediterranean Sea, evaporation leads to the formation of hypersaline blobs of surface water, known as “snarks”. Extreme low tides in the summer expose mudflats to elevated temperatures, providing a pathway to evaporating more water. When denser, hypersaline water sinks on the landward side of an estuary, it can cause inverse-estuarine conditions and increase …

Go to article

Influence Of Lithology On Erosion Along The Dungeness Bluffs, Gabrielle Alampay, George Kaminsky, David Parks, Samuel Angel, Kathy Troost, Amanda Hacking Apr 2022

Influence Of Lithology On Erosion Along The Dungeness Bluffs, Gabrielle Alampay, George Kaminsky, David Parks, Samuel Angel, Kathy Troost, Amanda Hacking

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Erosion along the Dungeness Bluffs, located along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, poses a serious hazard to landowners living above. Concurrently, species such as forage fish depend on sediment input from bluff erosion to replenish the beaches in which they spawn. Between 2001 and 2012, the Dungeness bluffs eroded an average of 0.36 m/y, ranging from 0.0 to 1.88 m/y (Kaminsky et al., 2014; Parks, 2015). The steep bluffs in the area are ~30-80 m tall and are composed of glacial and interglacial sediment that vary in composition and strength. Failure styles range from steady erosion due to raveling, …

Go to article

Why (And Where) Are Ghosts Fishing? Mapping Areas Of Commercial Gear Loss Risk In British Columbia, Caitlin Frenkel Apr 2022

Why (And Where) Are Ghosts Fishing? Mapping Areas Of Commercial Gear Loss Risk In British Columbia, Caitlin Frenkel

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Lost fishing gear is a globally under studied problem, damaging marine ecosystems via habitat degradation, killing marine life, and negatively affecting commercial fishery operations. Since 2018, Canada has been mitigating this damage by funding derelict gear retrieval and responsible disposal programs. In British Columbia (BC), gear retrieval work has been spearheaded by NGOs and environmental consultants, but operations are expensive and funds are often limited. Additionally, a lack of peer-reviewed research has produced a large knowledge gap regarding why and where commercial fishing gear is lost in the province. This research investigates gear loss factors and locations in BC, building …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last