Millions of jellyfish take the center stage for this month's Eyes Over Puget Sound

By: Jessica Payne, Environmental Assessment Program communications manager


Click here to view this month's report.

Low flows from our rivers and warm temperatures from “the Blob” have Puget Sound waters acting strange. During this month's Eyes Over Puget Sound monitoring flight, we saw massive blooms of jellyfish stretching hundreds of feet long. By teaming up with NOAA, we were able to measure one of these jellyfish blooms and found that it was over 36 feet deep! That's a lot of jellies! Our waters are acting in a way never seen before.

Also in this edition

Estuarine circulation is weak, so what gets into Puget Sound stays there. Mats of organic debris and red-brown algae blooms are prevelant throughout the Sound and just bake in the sun. Learn more about the Blob, jellyfish, and current Puget Sound conditions in this month's Eyes Over Puget Sound report.

Click image to enlarge.

Puget Sound is 4° F warmer than is normal for this time of year. See how these warm conditions are impacting water quality and marine wildlife in our blog: Puget Sound waters left sweltering after double punch from the drought and the Blob.

What's Eyes Over Puget Sound?

Eyes Over Puget Sound combines high-resolution photo observations with satellite images, ferry data from travel between Seattle and Victoria BC, and measurements from our moored instruments. We use a seaplane to travel between our monitoring stations because they are so far apart.

Once a month, we take photos of Puget Sound water conditions and turn those out, along with data from our stations, in the monthly Eyes Over Puget Sound report.

Learn more and see other issues on our website.

Puget Sound waters left sweltering after double punch from the drought and the Blob

By Jessica Payne, Environmental Assessment Program communications manager

Everyone in Washington is feeling the heat this summer, and Puget Sound is no exception. It's been hot and dry, with all kinds of weather records being set. These unusually hot temperatures don't end at the water's edge. We're also seeing the record-breaking warm water temperatures from “the Blob” of North Pacific Ocean water that made its way through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and into Puget Sound late last year.

“The Blob entered Puget Sound on a massive scale in the fall of 2014 and rapidly changed conditions for temperature and also oxygen,” said Dr. Christopher Krembs, Ecology senior oceanographer. “We’re measuring water temperatures 4° F higher than normal from our past 25 years of record keeping. We’re seeing the warm water everywhere, from Olympia to Bellingham.”

Monitoring suggests that these warm conditions are having many negative consequences on the Puget Sound marine environment. This year we've seen increasing harmful algae blooms, increasing and early shellfish closures, lower dissolved oxygen levels, and unfavorable conditions for salmon and other cold-loving marine species.

Why is Puget Sound warm?

Puget Sound waters have been hit with a double-whammy. Late last year, "the Blob" Was followed by an extremely warm winter and our usual snowpack didn’t form in the mountains. We rely on this melting snow to drive our river flows in the spring and summer. Without snow to melt and flow down our rivers, Puget Sound does not have enough estuarine circulation to push the Blob out of Puget Sound. Decreased circulation can lead to low oxygen conditions and allow pollution to hang around longer.