Event Title
Active Biomonitoring: Using Transplanted Mussels to Assess Contaminants in the Salish Sea’s Nearshore Habitats
Presentation Abstract
Toxic chemicals enter the Salish Sea from a variety of pathways. Although chemical contaminants in Puget Sound sediments and some organisms are monitored on a regular basis, the geographic distribution and magnitude of contaminants in biota living in nearshore habitats are not well known. In the winter of 2012/13 the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), with the help of other state, county and city agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, and citizen science volunteers, conducted the first synoptic, Puget Sound-wide assessment of toxic contaminants in nearshore biota. This presentation will provide an overview of the active biomonitoring technique (i.e. transplanted mussels) used by WDFW in this study, and highlight the value and necessity of using citizen volunteers for such an expansive survey. We will present our field and laboratory methodology and summarize results for a major class of contaminants found in the mussels; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We will discuss lessons learned from our pilot study, describe current and future mussel and sediment monitoring in the nearshore of the Puget Sound, and showcase the collaborative nature of mussel monitoring in Washington State.
Session Title
Tools and Strategies for Growing Citizen Science
Conference Track
Engagement
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Water--Pollution--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Mussels--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Metals--Environmental aspects--Washington (State)--Puget Sound--Observations
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Puget Sound (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Active Biomonitoring: Using Transplanted Mussels to Assess Contaminants in the Salish Sea’s Nearshore Habitats
2016SSEC
Toxic chemicals enter the Salish Sea from a variety of pathways. Although chemical contaminants in Puget Sound sediments and some organisms are monitored on a regular basis, the geographic distribution and magnitude of contaminants in biota living in nearshore habitats are not well known. In the winter of 2012/13 the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), with the help of other state, county and city agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, and citizen science volunteers, conducted the first synoptic, Puget Sound-wide assessment of toxic contaminants in nearshore biota. This presentation will provide an overview of the active biomonitoring technique (i.e. transplanted mussels) used by WDFW in this study, and highlight the value and necessity of using citizen volunteers for such an expansive survey. We will present our field and laboratory methodology and summarize results for a major class of contaminants found in the mussels; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We will discuss lessons learned from our pilot study, describe current and future mussel and sediment monitoring in the nearshore of the Puget Sound, and showcase the collaborative nature of mussel monitoring in Washington State.
Comments
The report for the pilot study mentioned in this presentation is entitled, "Toxic Contaminants in Puget Sound’s Nearshore Biota: A Large-Scale Synoptic Survey Using Transplanted Mussels (Mytilus trossulus)" and is available at this WDFW website - http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01643/.