When it comes to invasive species, we tend to hear most about the ones that are the most sensational or scariest to human beings, even though their ecological impact is pretty minor. We have all heard a lot of buzz from Blaine, Washington surrounding the giant Asian hornet (commonly referred to as a “murder hornet” in popular media), but its impact remains to be seen.
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Washington Sea Grant, in partnership with the Washington State Parks Clean Vessel Act (CVA) Grant Program, is excited to announce that Pumpout Nav, a free iOS and Android app for boaters, has expanded to Washington. Boaters can now use the interactive tool to find nearly 200 pumpout and portable toilet dump stations in Washington, in addition to hundreds of pumpout and floating restroom facilities in Oregon and California.
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You might not know it, but danger for saltwater plants and animals lurks on every single beach — from the white sand beaches of the Caribbean to the rockier beaches found along the Washington coastline, and every beach in between. Plastic debris and other trash left behind by beachgoers ends up in the sand and water, eventually making their way into the stomachs or around the necks of our favorite marine animals.
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In the depths of the Pacific Ocean, just off the upper West Coast of the United States, a collision between an unstoppable force and an immovable object has been gathering energy for hundreds of years. The Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ), where the Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates meet, must release this pent up energy eventually in an event many refer to as “the really big one”.
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To commemorate the season of all things spooky, gross and disturbing, we’ve compiled a list of some of the creepiest creatures to be found in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. To kick things off, we dip our toe into the salty waters of the Salish sea, where UW’s Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL) are situated. These labs make the ideal setting to study the marine world, and provided us with no shortage of horrors to include in this list.
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