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Stormwater Monitoring Season is Here! 

 

Autumn 2022 starts our second two-year stormwater sampling campaign. This time with a twist: new citizen scientists in three more cities will be monitoring city stormwater outfalls in addition to continuing our work in Anacortes. Oak Harbor, Mukilteo, and Edmonds are now part of the expanded monitoring work that Friends of Skagit Beaches is leading in the North Sound. 

20221008 104425 1000226 1K smThis work is funded by a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundations’ Southern Resident Killer Whale Conservation Program for the purpose of improving habitat, food sources, and conducting research to support recovery of the Southern Resident Orca population within our region. The grant covers the costs for volunteer coordination, recruiting, training, equipping, and managing the data captured by our volunteers.

During the summer of 2022 Friends established a partnership with the Snohomish County Beach Watcher program and the Sound Waters Stewards on Whidbey Island to connect to eager citizen science volunteers in their programs.  We recruited, trained, and equipped volunteers in Oak Harbor, Mukilteo, and Edmonds, as well as new volunteers for Anacortes. All three groups of eager volunteers are ready to get down to the beach and sometimes even in the water (photo left) to sample and take monitoring measurements. 20211115 102742 1022691 1Kpix

This volunteer effort addresses a shortcoming in our federal Clean Water Act: no required periodic monitoring of stormwater outfall pipes. Local towns would have difficulty in financially supporting the manpower and equipment costs for this activity. That’s where Friends of Skagit Beaches and our citizen science volunteers come to the rescue . . .

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Gumboot Chiton

This unusual mollusk, also called the giant Pacific chiton, grows to 13 inches, making it the world's largest chiton. For over 500 million years it has remained unchanged. Chitons are oval-shaped and wear a shell consisting of eight separate overlapping plates. Hard, leathery, reddish brown flesh covers the plates of the Gumboot Chiton and gives it its name.

Chitons don't have eyes or tentacles like many marine creatures, but their shells are equipped with light-sensitive organs. During the day, this mollusk hides under rocks or in crevices, then comes out at night to feed. The chiton uses its broad, muscular foot called a radula to scrape up bits of the red algae it eats. The radula's little teeth are magnetic, enough so that a magnet could lift the creature! Digested red algae helps give this animal its reddish brown color, making it look like a wandering meatloaf. At low tide an exposed Gumboot Chiton can breathe atmospheric oxygen. Each spring, these creatures come ashore to spawn.

The Gumboot holds onto rocks with something like suction cups, but its grip is weak. Storms easily pull chitons off rocks and wash them onto the beach. When the plates of a dead chiton are found, beachcombers call them "beach butterflies" because of their shape. Maybe you’ve seen a few yourself.

To Native people living along the coast, the giant Pacific chiton was an important food and plays an important part in stories and legends. Protect our rocky shores for future generations by being respectful. Observe chitons and other creatures without pulling them off the rocks.

In Friends Notes

Autumn 2022 starts our second two-year stormwater sampling campaign. This t...
UPDATE: Grant for Fidalgo Bay and City of Anacortes stormwater monitoring. ...
Compiled by Chris Wood with contributions from Ellen Anderson, Betty Carter...

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