National Award for Innovation!
Start here
Up-to-date observations of visiblewater quality conditions in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Eyes Over Puget Sound
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Publication No. 15-03-078
Surface ConditionsReport,
October 6, 2015
Marine Water Condition Index

Winning programs:Ferries for Science and Eyes Over Puget Sound
EcologyReceives National Award for Innovation!
Eachyear,the Environmental Council ofthe States (ECOS)honors
outstandingstate initiatives withInnovationAwards.Ecology Director,
Maia Bellon,accepts the 2015 Awardat the annual meeting in Rhode
Island(left) andpresents it to the Ecology team(right).
“This national awardandrecognitionare exciting. I’mproudof this teamfortheir
hard work andthe innovative programthey run. They find cost-effectivewaysto
conduct ourscience,engage the public, andprotect Puget Sound.
Congratulations,team!” – Director Maia Bellon
Personal Field Impression
Field log Weather Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
ECOSAwardfor Innovationin StateGovernment
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Pictured: Backrow: Christopher Krembs,SkipAlbertson.
Front row: BrookeMacIntyre,LauraHermanson,Maia
Bellon,JuliaBos,Carol Maloy.
Not pictured:MyaKeyzers,Suzan Pool,Brandon
Sackmann (IntegralConsulting),JimThomson(UW
Applied PhysicsLab).

Personalfield log p. 4
Mooredsensors,a late summer barnacle bonanza!
Climateconditions p. 5
Oceanconditions remainwarmwithexpectedupwellingonthe
coast. Precipitationis higher, temperatures have cooled,and
river flows are finally recoveringto normal.
Watercolumn p. 6
Puget Sound waters continue to have recordhightemperatures.
Ongoing drought effects (lowerfreshwaterinputs)shift salinity
to higher than normal levels. Coastal Bays,HoodCanal,and
SouthSound exhibit lower oxygen. Will the rainchange it?
Aerialphotography p. 10
Jellyfishstill goingstrong, drifting amongred-brownblooms in
some finger inlets of South Sound. Numerous oil sheens in Lake
WashingtonShip Canal and Lake Union.
Continuous monitoring p. 25
Phytoplanktonblooms are generally fadingaway. Higher
phytoplanktonconcentrationstill present southof Whidbey
Island.
Streams p. 26
The Nisqually River was less affectedby the drought than other
rivers and waterquality has been improving.
LONG-TERMMARINEMONITORINGUNIT
Skip Albertson
Dr. Christopher
Krembs
Julia Bos
Suzan Pool
Editorial assistanceprovided by: Julia Bos, Julianne Ruffner, Carol Maloy
Marine conditionsfrom 10-6-2015at a glance
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Suzan Pool
Ardi Kveven (ORCA)
Markus von Prause

Moored sensors become home to marine animals
Afterscrapingand scrubbing, we also remove
barnacles,mussels, etc. fromunderneaththe
conductivity cell guard.
A near-surface sensoris heavily coveredwith
mostly barnacles afterbeingin the waterfor
two summer months.A clean,near-bottom
sensor package (left)
becomes heavily biofouled
with mostly barnacles
(right).
See the bare spot onthe
left side of the fouled
package? It has a copper
tape whichacts as an anti-
foulant. Because ofthe
copper effectiveness,we
added more copper tape to
the cleanpackage.
On our moorings,marine animals such as barnacles,mussels,and crabs,find homes amongst the
sensors. The most active settlingis duringsummer months when populationand growth are highest.
To maintainthe sensors,we remove this “biofouling”. The prolificgrowth is why we service our
moorings every four to six weeks.
Personal Field Impression
Field log Weather Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Personal Field Impression
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams

Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Natural Influencesleadingto 10-6-2015
Climate and naturalinfluences,includingweather,rivers,and the adjacent ocean,canaffect our
marine waters. Graphics are basedonprovisional data andare subject to change.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/mar_wat/weather.html,page 26.
Putting the puzzle piecesof influencing factorstogether…
lowerhigher expected No data*Upwelling Anomalies (PFEL)
*
Summary:
Air temperatures arecooler than
normal again after a long hot
summer.
Precipitation levels are again
normal and higher to the north.
Cloud Cover is back so sunlight
was lower in the north, and
normal in the south.
River flows arerecovering to
normal levels (largerivers flowing
into Puget Sound).
Upwelling is seasonally normal
but PDO (Pacific Decadal
Oscillation) remains in the warm
phase.

We usea chartered float
plane and boat to access
our monthly monitoring
stations.
We communicate data and
environmentalmarine
conditions using:
1. Marine Water
Condition Index
(MWCI)
2. Eyes OverPuget
Sound (EOPS)
3. Anomaliesand
sourcedata
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Ourlong-termmarinemonitoringstationsinWashington
Starthere
Isl.
.

Higherthan normal
Lower thannormal
Expected
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Dec-13
Jan-14
Feb-14
Mar-14
Apr-14
May-14
Jun-14
Jul-14
Aug-14
Sep-14
Oct-14
Nov-14
Dec-14
Jan-15
Feb-15
Mar-15
Apr-15
May-15
Jun-15
Jul-15
Aug-15
Sep-15
Discharge(m3s-1)
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
WhichPugetSoundconditionsarenormalizing?
In2014, a massive pool of warmwater developedinthe NE Pacific (the Blob). Duringthe summer of 2014,Blobwaters
were held offshore by the process of upwelling,as northerly winds movedsurface watersoffshore to be replacedby
cooler upwelledwater. This bufferedthe coast. Inthe fall of 2014,northerly winds subsided and the Blobmoved
onshore,entering Puget Sound on a massive scale.
The Fraser River is the largestfreshwater sourcefor the Salish Sea, significantly affecting estuarine circulation
Higher than normal
Lower thannormal
Expected
As of Sept 2015
(left), the Blobis
sitting offshore.
A secondwarm
waterfeature off
California is
growing.
Estuarine circulationhadbeenweak since the rivers hadrecordlow
flows. Rivers now normalize,increasingestuarine circulationand
exchange of water,likely bringing warmsurface water into Puget Sound.
Inwinter andspring 2015 the Fraser
River and other rivers dischargedprematurely. Very
low summer flows followedandinhibited the
renewal of water inPuget Sound. Rivers are now
normalizingdue to rain andestuarine circulation
should rebound.
Credit: Christopher Krembs
Source: http://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/index_e.html

Physical conditionstracked in historicalcontext
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Higher Temperature! ExpectedOxygenHigher Salinity
Explore profiles
at all stations
August temperatureswere still at record-breakinghighs.Drought effects (lowerfreshwaterinputs)shift
salinity to higher than normal levels. Withrecent rainin October (data not shown)salinity patterns should
soonchange.

a) PacificDecadalOscillationIndex(PDO,temperature) (explanation)
b) UpwellingIndex(anomalies)(Upwelling,low oxygen) (explanation)
c) NorthPacificGyreOscillationIndex(NPGO, productivity) (explanation)
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Theoceanaffectswaterquality: OceanClimateIndices
NPGO(x10)
PDO/UpwellingIndex
Three-year running average of PDO, Upwelling, and NPGO indices scores
.
Ocean boundaryconditions are in transition: (a)water is warm (PDO), (b) upwellingoflow oxygen and
high nutrient ocean water is expected (UpwellingIndex), and (c) higher surface productivityalongthe
coast (NPGO) is expected. Where are we headingnext?
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Summary: Aerial photography10-6-2015
Largejellyfish aggregations still going strong in some finger inlets of South Sound surrounded
by red-brown phytoplankton blooms. Suspended sediments fromrivers and shorelines.
Severaloil sheens in Lake Washington Ship Canal and Lake Union.
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Start here
Mixing and Fronts:
Fronts visible around river plumes.
Debris:
Very little floating organic debris, confined to fronts.
Visible blooms:
Red-brown: Eld, Budd, and Henderson Inlets.
Jellyfish:
Numerous jellyfish patches observed in southern inlets
of South Sound (Budd and Henderson) and reported in Sinclair
Inlet and Quartermaster Harbor.BloomDebrisFront
Suspendedsediment:
Suspended sediments occurring as expected near rivers and
eroding shores.
Plume
Jellyfishstill goingstrong in Budd Inlet
Oil sheenoff Fairview Park,Lake Union
oil sheen

Strait of
Juan de Fuca
San Juan Islands
Padilla Bay
Main Basin
Hood Canal
SouthSound
Whidbey Basin
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Observation Maps:
Poor visibilityin South and Central
Sound,increasingwind.
Flight Information:
10
Aerial photography
and navigation guide
Central and NorthSound
South Sound
7
5
Flight route
9
3
2
1
4
8
Tide data (Seattle):
Time Predicted High/Low
6:20 AM 1.34 L
2:04 PM 10.57 H
8:18 PM 5.16 L
6

Numerous patches of moon jellyfishmixedin with red-brown blooms.
Location: Budd Inlet (South Sound),1:45 PM.
1 Aerial photography 10-6-2015 Navigate
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Bloom
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
boat
boat

2 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Freshwater plumes with sediment hugging both shores. Small eddy.
Location: Big Cove,Totten Inlet (South Sound),1:51 PM.
boat
eddy
Plume
Plume
Plume
aqua culture
aqua culture

3 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Jellyfishpatches in water containing red-brown algal bloom.
Location: Henderson Inlet (South Sound),2:02 PM.
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Bloom
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
jellyfish
Debris

4 Navigate
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Aerial photography 10-6-2015
Nestledinto Nisqually Reach lies Anderson Island with Oro Bay.
Location: AndersonIsland (South Sound), 2:06 PM.
Oro Bay

5 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Nisqually River plume and deltaflowing low yet above daily mean values.
Location: Nisqually(South Sound), 2:06 PM.
Plume

Puyallup River plume flowing past Commencement Bay. Several faint fronts.
Location: Dash Point,Commencement Bay(Central Sound),2:14 PM.
6 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Plume
Debris
boat
ship
boat

A picture fromBill & PeggyFox,Oct. 5, 2015…”We spentthe nightin Quartermaster Harbor and were visitedby these friends”…
Moon jellies reportedfor Quartermaster Harbor for the day prior to flight. Visibility too low.
Location: Quartermaster Harbor (Central Sound), 2:16 PM.
7 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
October 5,15

Turquoise plume hugging southern shore.
Location: SinclairInlet (Central Sound),2:23PM.
8 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Plume
boat

Coastal erosion with suspended sediment from Magnolia Bluff flowing past West Point Lighthouse.
Location: West Point Lighthouse, Seattle (Central Sound),2:29 PM.
9 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
suspendedsediment
suspendedsediment
ship
barge

10 NavigateAerial photography 10-6-2015
Extensive oil sheens from dock 4 & 5 spreading with southerly winds across Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Location:Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle (Central Sound),2:31 PM.
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
oil sheen
oil sheen
oil sheen

Numbers on map refer to picture numbers for spatial reference
Date: 10-6-2015
Central Sound
Aerial photography observations in Central SoundQualitative aerial observer map during transit Navigate
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Numbers on map refer to picture numbers for spatial reference
North Sound/SanJuan IslandsNorth Sound/SanJuan IslandsCentral Sound
10
6
8
9
7
n.a

Date: 10-6-2015
Qualitative aerial observer map during transit
Numbers on map refer to picture numbers for spatial reference
Navigate
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
South Sound
1
2
3
4 5

Legendto map annotations
Comments:
Maps are producedby observers during and
afterflights. They are intendedto give an
approximate reconstructionofthe surface
conditions onscales that connect to and
overlapwithsatellite images in the sectionthat
follows.
Debris:
Debris canbe distinguished into natural and
anthropogenic debris floatingat the surface
sensu Moore andAllen (2000). The majority of
organic debris in Puget Sound is natural and
mixedwith discardedman-made pieces of
plastic,wood,etc. Fromthe plane,we cannot
differentiatethe quality of debris at the surface
and therefore,call it forreasons of practicality
just “debris”.
S.L. Moore,M. J. Allen. 2000. Distribution of
Anthropogenic and Natural Debris on the
Mainland Shelf of the Southern California Bight.
Marine Pollution Bulletin,40(1): 83–88.
Navigate
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams

Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Continuousmonitoring 10-6-2015
Chl fluorescenceon Oct 4
Summary of VictoriaClipper data:
In early October, moderate phytoplankton concentrations persistnear Edmonds, indicated by
chlorophyllfluorescence ( A, B, and C). Near Edmonds and south, we see warmer surfacewater of
14°C, while north of Edmonds, extending into Admiralty Reach, water is 2 °C cooler (data not shown).
Chl fluorescencein OctoberVictoria Clippercruisetrack
The Victoria Clipper IV carries sensors in its sea chest. The sensors
allow us to get surfacetransects of temperature, chlorophyll,
salinity, and other bio-optical measurements between Seattle and
Victoria, BC twice per day.
A. B. C.
Latitude
Time
Longitude
Longitude
Latitude

(11A080) (11A070).Ecology’s Riverand StreamMonitoring Program has measured Nisqually River water quality at twolong termsites since the1960s .
Water qualityin the NisquallyRiver
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
The Nisqually River was less affected by the drought than other rivers
The hydrological cycles inthe
Nisqually Watershedare shifting.
Several best management practices
have been implementedand overall
waterquality has been improving.
Originally fedby glaciers, the Nisqually River provides
half the total freshwater tosouthernPuget Sound.
• Lastwinter, river flows (black line) weremuch above
historical mean daily values (blue line).
• Starting in April 2015, daily mean flows (black line)
stayed justabovethe historical minimum (red line).
Historic meandaily discharge 1941-2014
2015 meandaily discharge (cfs)
Historic minimummeandaily 1941-2014
Daily maximumair temperatures
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
Dec-30
Feb-18
Apr-09
May-29
Jul-18
Sep-06
Oct-26
Dec-15
Airtemperaturemaxima(°C)
Discharge(cfs)

Link to: Water Quality Index,(11A070)
Water qualitythe NisquallyRiver
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
AnnualWQIScores
Annual WQI Scores 1996-2014 Linear (Annual WQI Scores 1996-2014)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
AnnualWQIScores
TSS Turbidity Linear (TSS) Linear (Turbidity)
Flow AdjustedAnnualWQI Scores at (11A070)
AnnualWQI Scores For Total Sediment
ConcentrationandTurbidity at at (11A070)
• Since 1997the Water Quality
Index (WQI) trendshave been
improving, from scores of 41-
70 to scores >80 (good) from
2011-2014.
• Annual sediment scores (left)
have improved substantiallyin
recent years.
• Annual nitrogen,temperature,
and phosphorusscores (not
shown) have moderate
improvement.

Nisqually Watershed Stream Restoration Efforts
Water qualityin the NisquallyRiver
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Channel
reconstruction and
restorationefforts on
Ohop Creek, a
tributary to the
Nisqually River.
Photo courtesy of the
SouthSound Enhancement Group
Over the past 10 years, bestmanagement practices have been
taking place to improvewater quality and to restoresalmon
habitat in the Nisqually watershed.
Some projects include riparian restoration to minimize stream
bank erosion, streamcorridor/culvertimprovements and water
quality monitoring on tributaries connected to the main stem
of the Nisqually River.

Accessmooring
data:
ftp://www.ecy.wa.gov/ea
p/Mooring_Raw/Puget_S
ound/
Continuous monitoring :
Suzan.Pool@ecy.wa.gov
Get data from Ecology’sMarine MonitoringPrograms
Long–Term
MonitoringNetwork
Real–Time
Sensor Network
Accesscore
monitoringdata:
https://fortress.wa.gov/ec
y/eap/marinewq/mwdata
set.asp
christopher.krembs@ecy.w
a.gov
Ecology’s long-termmarine
monitoring stations
Continuous track
Field log Climate Watercolumn Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams
Riverand Stream WaterQuality
Monitoring
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/fw_riv
/rv_main.html
Discontinued (fundingcuts)

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Many thanks to our business partners: Clipper Navigation,SwantownMarina,andKenmore Air.
We are looking forfeedbackto improve ourproducts.
Dr. ChristopherKrembs
christopher.krembs@ecy.wa.gov
Marine Monitoring Unit
EnvironmentalAssessment Program
WA Department of Ecology
Field log Climate Water column Aerial photos Continuous monitoring Streams