Big Beef Creek |
The Big Beef Creek The Big Beef Creek watershed is located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. It is primarily a rural watershed consisting of two sections: the upper watershed, which includes the marshy headwaters and the manmade Symington Lake, and the lower watershed, which is distinctly forested and includes the University of Washington's “Big Beef Creek field station.” The watershed is home to several species of salmon, and makes good contrasting comparison to the urban watershed studied in this course, Hylebos Creek. In April of 2002, UW Tacoma students performed a survey to assess the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the waters of the Big Beef Creek watershed. Our results indicate a healthy creek and watershed system, despite the bovine influence in the marshy, upper watershed.
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Hylebos Creek |
The Hylebos Creek is part of the Hylebos watershed. The watershed's headwaters are located in the highly urbanized city of Federal Way. Several man-made retention ponds control the flow as it makes it way through the city. Historically, the 18,000 acre Hylebos watershed contained over 25 miles of streams, 11 named lakes, and many smaller unnamed lakes. Now the same area contains only about 25% of that surface water due to filling, channeling, and underground piping of the waters.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the water quality of Hylebos Creek and assess the natural habitat (with emphasis on salmonids) within the watershed. The highly urbanized setting clearly influenced the water quality data obtained. In addition, urbanization was found to directly affect habitat, through degradation, elimination, and altering of natural food webs. |
Off Shore Coastal |
TheOffshore stations sampled aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson, were stations 2 through 7. We examined the biology, chemistry and physics of the open ocean. A CTD obtained Temperature salinity, density, oxygen (dissolved oxygen) and Fluorescence data. Dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll A, and nutrients were measured from water samples taken using Neskin bottles. A Sutar Core was used to sample ocean sediment. Overall, we were able to compile a very large database of these parameters from the entire water column at these stations. When comparing the deepest offshore station, #2 at 2600m, with the shallowPuget Sound stations, dramatic differences can be seen.
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Puget Sound |
Puget Sound The intent of this scientific study conducted aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson was to analyze how the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the saltwater change with respect to depth in the Puget Sound. The Puget Sound is unique in that it is an extremely large, very productive estuary cut off from the outer Pacific by a sill at Admiralty Inlet. When compared to data obtained from locations sampled at the Offshore stations, the results clearly indicate that the Puget Sound plankton community is very abundant, and salinity levels are much lower than that of the open ocean.
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Commencement Bay |
Commencement Bay is located along the southern portion of the Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Several river systems empty into the bay, including the Puyallup and Hylebos. Estuarine habitats within Commencement Bay have been heavily impacted due to anthropogenic uses including dumping, dredging and incompetence. Heavy industry (including two Superfund sites), a wastewater treatment facility and a deep-water port occupy much of the coastline of Commencement Bay.The Puget Sound, including the Bay, remains a highly productive ecosystem despite our efforts. However, contamination from metals, hydrocarbons, and solvents are documented. City, county, state and federal agencies have initiated current remediation efforts. Marine plants and animals are showing signs of distress, with greater detrimental effects noted within each higher level of the Bay's food web. Shellfish harvesting is prohibited, and large mammals are dying in earlier life stages with pollution-induced diseases including cancer and starvation. For this report, we have examined four sites within the Commencement Bay to compare their chemical, physical and biological properties with the locations from which they were extracted. With this information, we will have a clearer picture of the current conditions of Commencement Bay.
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