The Nearshore Habitat Evaluation and Enhancement Project volunteers conducted benthic invertebrate surveys in Liberty and Ne-Si-Ka bays Oct. 22-23 as part of the projects assessment and monitoring program to evaluate the health of these waterways.

They came, they saw, they went — with able bodies and bustling community spirit, to give the environment a lift and contribute to the bank of scientific knowledge of biological communities in Liberty Bay. More than 43 people volunteered over the course of two days.

The Liberty Bay Foundation/Lemolo Citizens Club project has completed its second year, funded in large part by a $215,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Fund 319 — Nonpoint Pollution Fund, administered by the Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality Program.

Marine Benthic tests will be conducted each season in the next year, as 18 sites are sampled in replicates of three sediment specimens from each costing more than $12,000 per testing period. Samples were taken by volunteers plotting out a one meter section of tideland at the day’s low tide, retrieving sediment 10 cm deep in that section and seiving or sifting through a 1,000 micron screen using seawater, then finally preserved in 10 percent formalin. Howard Jones trained participants, supervised the sampling, and will analyze these specimens over the next several months; an EPA approved specialist with Marine Taxonomic Services in Corvallis, Oregon. It was largely a public education opportunity as well.

“What we’ll be doing is establishing a baseline as we acquire more information on the condition of the bay and track these changes in structure and biomass of benthic communities. As habitat changes, so does community structure and diversity or recruitment of new entries to the system.” said Jones.

“This study is important in that there have not been many studies of the intertidal zone as this is. Most of these have been done by boat in the subtidal. I believe that abundance is substrate dependent, there is more perturbation in intertidal areas, with species moving in and out depending on these changes in salinity, dissolved oxygen and freshwater input in the estuary with some site fidelity,” Jones explained.

“The argument for real recovery, you need to look at shorelines, fish population, factors going on in the watershed and all of the limiting factors… a holistic view, multispecies approach not concentrated on one species or factor. A lot of larger animals, good species diversity will determine whether overall habitat is healthy – marginal – poor.”

“Dead zones with silt and clay won’t hold some species but they aren’t really dead when you look at them, oftentimes they contain marine worms like these,” as Jones pulled up assorted long worms and centipede-like specimens.

“These will aerate the substrate and improve the condition over time and changes occurring after the culvert was replaced up at the head of the bay are just beginning. Bringing people together that care about the area, as I see here, they will know what’s going on and stick with it,” added Kathy Jones, Howard’s wife and partner.

“In the real world — look at the ice age and tectonic plates that carved out the landscape we see now. In terms of recovery, biosystems will adjust and adapt – we’ll see loss in some, gains in others,” said Paul Dorn, Salmon Recovery Coordinator for the Suquamish tribe. With the help of the tribal boat crew, volunteers were taxied from site to site picking up the heavy five-gallon sediment samples. Dorn then received instruction on benthic collection at the site of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board bridge project he was instrumental in accomplishing (at the mouth of Dogfish Creek estuary) by recently trained Americorps staff from the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group-Project Center.

EPA watershed specialist Tracy Chellis, City Councilwoman Jackie Aitchison, Council candidate Elizabeth Hutley, Kitsap County Habitat Biologist Val Koehler, Wash. Sea Grant’s Sue Texeira, and Ann from the Puget Sound Action Team were also first timers in collecting marine benthics. Two U.S. Navy volunteers from the USS Abraham Lincoln broke from the normal routine in dry dock to lend a hand. Community members from other watershed groups and local neighbors of all ages completed the crew.

Under the Clean Water Act, benthic invertebrate testing is one of a number of biological indicators the EPA has endorsed to help set protection and restoration goals for waterways because it challenges us to answer critical questions about the physical, chemical, and biological state of the nation’s waters.

One of the most meaningful ways of answering these questions is to observe the plants and animals that live there. Because these biological indicators integrate, in themselves, the effects of various stressors, aquatic organisms and their communities reflect current conditions, as well as changes over time and cumulative effects. Bioassessments of benthic invertebrate communities are an indicator of environmental condition and, more specifically, ecological health.

It uses information gathered directly from the aquatic organisms and the biological community of which they are a part.

The biota that biological integrity is concerned with, is shaped by all environmental factors to which it is exposed over time, whether chemical, physical, or biological.

It combines multiple, community level, biological response characteristics into an indicator of cumulative environmental impacts.

The expansion of metropolitan areas in size and number (from 169 in 1950 to 347 in 2000) has been accompanied by the degradation of local watersheds, streams, wetlands, groundwater aquifers, and coastal waters. Aquatic resources in the path of urbanization have been widely polluted, littered, dredged, filled, paved over, channelized, walled, and otherwise abused. In the process. “Nature’s services” — including flood mitigation, water quality filtering, biotic habitat, nutrient uptake, soil formation, scenic amenity — have been impaired or obliterated. This has compelled cities, regions, states, and the federal government to substitute costly technology for those services, as with structural flood protection and water treatment plants. Water-based recreation, commercial and sport fishing, birding, and relaxation have all been casualties of the longstanding abuse of urban waterways and wetlands.

Biological indicators can show problems otherwise missed or underestimated. Assessing the condition of biological communities provides a basis both to determine ecological potential and to measure success in achieving that potential. Biological indicators and data is the hub for:

• Setting protection or restoration goals;
• Determining what to monitor and how to interpret what is found;
• In addition, assessing and reporting the effectiveness of management actions.

   For more information, and to track the results and activities of this project, visit the project website at: www.libertybayfoundation.com.