Skokomish Tribe and the Hood Canal Dead Zone

Here is some coverage of the Skokomish Tribe’s discovery of a dead-zone in southern Hood Canal this morning. This follows the major fish kill earlier this week.

Seattle PI:

A white, cottony-looking mat of marine bacteria has been discovered blanketing underwater stretches of Hood Canal, according to research from the Skokomish Indian Tribe.

The jellylike bacteria were found this summer when divers were searching for a variety of a squishy invasive species called a tunicate. The mat covered a four-mile long “ecological dead zone” devoid of other sea life

“We are deeply concerned that more of these dead zones may exist in other parts of southern Hood Canal,” Dave Herrera, a fisheries policy expert for the Skokomish Tribe, in a statement. “Our treaty-protected resources and tribal economy are threatened by the declining health of Hood Canal.”

Kitsap Sun:

Some underwater areas of Hood Canal have become an alien landscape, devoid of sea life and inhabited by a fluffy white bacteria that grows in extremely low-oxygen conditions.

The bacteria, which were growing below 50 feet of water near Twanoh State Park, were discovered by divers for the Skokomish Tribe, according to a research report released Thursday. The divers, searching for other invasive species known as tunicates, found the cottony bacteria growing in mats up to 3.5 feet thick.

Dave Herrera, fisheries manager for the Skokomish Tribe, said it appears that conditions in southern Hood Canal are worsening.

“This is certainly within the area where the lowest levels of oxygen have been seen over the past two years,” Herrera said, “but to see what was found out there was pretty shocking to us.”