Two days after landing in California from New Zealand, I got on another plane headed for Washington State. California was on fire, which made for an interesting plane flight over the vast portion of the state covered in smoke. Even Crater Lake in southern Oregon was filled in.
I was traveling to Port Angeles, Washington, for a short return to the Elwha River, my field site for four years while I worked for the U.S. Geological Survey. The Elwha dive team had gotten some last minute funding for one week of dive surveys. We were surveying fish, algae, and invertebrate underwater communities near the river mouth to see how dam removal had affected them. I had done four years of surveys with the team before leaving for NZ and was really excited to have the opportunity to dive one more time. When I dove in the summer of 2016, we were seeing strong signs of recovery, particularly for the algal community, after nearly all was lost the first year after dam removal. In the years after dam removal, my job as the algae counter was pretty boring. Many days I would write "0" on all of my underwater data sheets. I earned my keep doing point counts and taking videos of our sites, but my algae identification skills were not being put to good use. In 2015, we happened to dive on the same site three weeks apart. The first time there was hardly any algae clinging to the cobbles; the second time it was like we descended on a completely different place. Red algae and small brown kelps were everywhere. Was this the start of recovery? In 2016, we saw more algae at most sites. I didn't have quite as many zeros on my data sheets. I missed 2017 but heard the algae were back. In 2018, there were so many algal species on our transects that I had to refresh my memory on some of the species that we had not seen for years. What an opportunity to see the "before," "during," and "after" at these sites.
Diving around the Elwha River is not the most glamorous of diving. The Elwha River empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which runs west to east between Washington and Vancouver Island. The Strait has very strong tidal currents that push through four times a day, so our diving is limited to the slack periods when the tide is neither flooding nor ebbing. The bottom at most of our sites is covered in gravel that is about an inch to two inches in diameter so there isn't much relief at our sites. Occasionally we get some big boulders on our transects--which are the places where the cool critters hang out! The water is cold (46 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit) and the visibility usually leaves something to be desired. But I still love it and always enjoy dropping into a site, not knowing exactly what we will find.
The smoke from the fires in British Columbia started to move in the day I left, so I got out just in time. Summer in the PNW is sort of magical and I'm grateful I got to spend a couple weeks soaking it up.
northern California blanketed in thick smoke
Crater Lake filled with smoke
Diving around the Elwha River is not the most glamorous of diving. The Elwha River empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which runs west to east between Washington and Vancouver Island. The Strait has very strong tidal currents that push through four times a day, so our diving is limited to the slack periods when the tide is neither flooding nor ebbing. The bottom at most of our sites is covered in gravel that is about an inch to two inches in diameter so there isn't much relief at our sites. Occasionally we get some big boulders on our transects--which are the places where the cool critters hang out! The water is cold (46 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit) and the visibility usually leaves something to be desired. But I still love it and always enjoy dropping into a site, not knowing exactly what we will find.
blood star with some interesting arms
sand rose anemone
fish-eating anemone
feather duster worm
My favorite from the whole trip! A grunt sculpin.
kelp crab
beautiful birthday sunset over the Olympic Mountains
After the Elwha, I had a few days in Seattle to work on a manuscript with my friend and colleague, Sarah. It was the hottest week in Seattle of the summer so we went swimming in Lake Washington after work, which was lovely. We also attended the neighborhood "National Night Out" block party. Apparently it is tradition on their block to end the night with the hokey pokey. As I sat on Sarah's porch watching her whole neighborhood dance in the street, I was hopeful that we are not a country divided...maybe we just need more hokey pokey in our lives.
After the work was done, I headed south to Olympia to play with Tish, Morgan, and our god-kiddos. The berries were ripe and the school garden was in full bloom. What a great time to be in the Pacific Northwest! It was great to be with friends for a few days to try to ease back into our lives in the U.S.
looking at bugs under the microscope
lots of slugs on our hike
the intrepid explorers
a new tree growing from where an old tree once stood
the garden bounty
delicious raspberries at the school garden
beautiful dahlias too
M's cucumbers she grew from seed
And her big-as-her-head seastar cookie
haircuts all around!
the sandwich board was as fun as the haircut
The smoke from the fires in British Columbia started to move in the day I left, so I got out just in time. Summer in the PNW is sort of magical and I'm grateful I got to spend a couple weeks soaking it up.