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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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Giant Pacific Octopus

The Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest of the world's 300 octopus species. This eight-armed relative of clams and snails lives in rocky crevices and caves along the West Coast. It's in Puget Sound too. Although there have been much bigger ones, a full-grown Giant Pacific Octopus spreads its arms 14 feet and may weigh 100 pounds.

Of all the world's creatures without backbones, octopuses are probably the smartest. They figure out mazes, unscrew jar lids to get food, and recognize human individuals. Because its parrot-like beak is the only hard part of an octopus' body, it can squeeze through small spaces to escape predators. If that's not enough, the octopus emits a cloud of ink that both hides it and interferes with its enemy's sense of smell.

When hungry, the Giant Pacific Octopus hunts crabs. With the almost 2,000 suction cups on its legs, the octopus grabs the crab, bites with its beak and injects a paralyzing chemical to start digesting the prey. If a predator happens along, the octopus instantly camouflages itself, changing color and skin texture to match its background.

It may seem strange for such a large animal, but the Giant Pacific Octopus lives a short life. Females lay as many as 100,000 tiny eggs, often attaching them to the ceiling of a watery cave. They care for them there, never eating, and die once the eggs hatch. Both females and males live 5 years or less.

With luck, you may see a young octopus in a tidepool or along a rocky shore. They can give a painful bite so don't touch. Just feel fortunate to spot one of the Pacific coast's most amazing creatures.

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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