About 15 of us showed up at Seal Rock State Park to be trained by two of the top experts in the Olympia Oyster in the state. Brady Blake, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Betsy Peabody, Puget Sound Restoration Fund were the primary trainers.
Did we have fun? You bet! Take a look!
On the right is Brady telling us the history of the Olympia Oyster in Puget Sound and where he's been finding them. Brady "smokes em out" and finds em, wherever they are! And he's the Lone Ranger! The only guy paid by the State to find and protect them. So he needs your help, and you won't even be shot at....you can come out, and help all of us do beach surveys at likely locations. And just like Sherlock Holmes, if you think you find a suspect Oyster, don't touch the body! Send the photo to Brady, and if it's the real deal, he'll beat a path to your door and check it out himself.
On the left is Betsy telling us all about where you find Olympia Oysters, and what to look for. No! It didn't rain more than a few spits...
Here's Brady showing us the fine points of doing sampling.
So what's the big deal in surveying for Olympia Oysters? Nearly eradicated in the 1800s in North Puget Sound by overharvets and being used as ballast in the old sailing ships, these native oysters of Puget Sound are still commonly found in the Hood Canal, South Puget Sound and portions of Central Puget Sound. The problem is identifing where and in what numbers. Having that clearer picture is critical to development of restoration plans.
These oysters are important, for many reasons. One of which is that they can grow and purify water in all sorts of horrible places you and I don't want to live. Like the sewer outfalls at Port Ludlow and other sewer outfalls around the Sound. They love it! They help clean the water! Just don't eat them there. Let them work. They work 24 hours a day at it, sort of like outsourcing the job to some other country. And we don't even have to leave home. And, we had a great day on the beach, did you? Saw many eagles, herons, olympia oysters (yes!), elephants (gotcha!) and other great wildlife.
How can you participate since you missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime (well alright, the opportunity of today)? Keep checking with your local MRC, like this one! You can join in and we'll teach you all the secrets of red flag throwing, GPS coordinate plotting, 4x4 excavating (sort of like your quilting frames if you do that sort of thing), and best of all, we'll show you how to be on the beach rather than in an office on any given day! What are you waiting for?
And here’s a quick video to watch if you want a more complete view of how you learn to identify Olympia Oysters! And if you want to watch a bunch more on Olympia Oysters, go to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund web site, and you can watch local videographer Shelly Solomon’s great films on them!
Your reporter on the beach, Oyster Al in Port Townsend...
