It’s a good day to breath air in the southern Hood Canal. Once again, winds from the south push Hood Canal’s water north and leave southern Hood Canal belching oxygen depleted water up to the surface. I blogged about it September 20th last year (From the south blows an ill wind) with some details and links that are still pertinent.
I’ve attached ORCA (Oceanic Remote Chemical-optical Analyzer) buoy readings at Hoodsport for the last 24 hours and 7 days. The water breathers are probably a little stressed.
Amazing technology that we can all observe such a dramatic response in real time. Go make graphs of your own and explore data from other monitoring sites at NANOOS (Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems). To see Hood canal data… zoom down to Hood Canal; pick your buoy; then click a variable (Oxygen conc. [concentration], Nitrate, Chlorophyll, etc.) to see a graph. Enjoy the technology; cross your fingers for the critters.
Jeff Adams is a Washington Sea Grant Marine Water Quality Specialist, affiliated with the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, and based in Bremerton. You can follow his Sea Life blog, SalishSeaLife tweets and videos, email to jaws@uw.edu or call at 360-337-4619.
