Summary:

The objective of the research was to collect discrete and continuous water property parameters, microscopic biological diversity and quantity, and sediment analysis for Hood Canal.

Hood Canal is a unique body of water due to its shape and location. Low oxygen levels have been a problem in this water for decades. Some of the living organisms in Hood Canal have adapted to these extreme conditions, and others have not. The Hood Canal area has ongoing oxygen studies conducted by the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program and the data is available to the public.

More data will have to be collected on a continuous basis throughout different seasons to test the variations in oxygen levels and to observe which organisms can survive stressful events. Unexpected storm events or human caused problems will create changes in the water. If something like that occurs, the Hood Canal should be sampled to determine if the effects are positive or negative.

Sources of information: http://wa.water.usgs.gov/projects/hoodcanal/data/HC.pdf and UW Tacoma 2005 Hood Canal research