Current very low O2 levels in Hood Canal-Observations needed

[nwscubamom]

Just got a video link from a friend (Captain Mark Peil - Pacific Adventure Charters) showing a wolf eel having a lot of problems breathing at Flagpole in Hood Canal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvg8aMlVGtA

Sent it on to the HCDOP folks and got this response:

Janna,
Thanks for the note
I’ve had you and the rest of the Hood Canal divers on my mind for awhile considering the recent oxygen conditions in the canal.

See: http://orca.ocean.washington.edu/data_hoodsport.html

It seems ‘early’ in the year, but the Hoodsport ORCA mooring has been recording some very low oxygen conditions at depth for some time.
Currently, the oxygen concentration changes from ~3 mg/L to ~ 1 mg/L at ~80ft depth.
Any of the deep critters are likely struggling now.
I realize that Flagpole is north of Hoodsport, but that wolf eel was likely at some ‘boundary’ where conditions are changing.. and rather than move is trying to endure the lower oxygen… hence the stressed/labored breathing.

The current oxygen inventory values are at the lowest they’ve been since the fish kill year of 2004.
The inventory value is an average of deep water sampling from Potlatch to Dabob Bay.
The inventory value is the indicator used to track and compare the oxygen conditions in the larger portions of Hood Canal over time (since the 1950s).

See: http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu/doc ... P/2006.gif

I would think the dive community will likely see signs of stressed critters in the deeper water, which may start to ‘migrate’ up as the spring/summer progresses.

I would appreciate if you could relay any/all dive observations. Past dive observations have been very valuable in recognizing the stress conditions and associating the stress with low oxygen conditions.
We may consider sampling the Sund Rock location more frequently if conditions worsen.

Keep us posted.
Dan (Hannafious)

[nwscubamom]

Just got another letter from Dan Hannafious, regarding low O2 levels in Hood Canal and the need for diver observations.

BTW, I have found that Low O2 levels mean as a diver you'll see WAY MORE FISH than you usually do, at shallower depths.

(It makes for some excellent critter-filled diving, but you also need to be very careful that you do not stress fish or inverts in any way. That means HANDS OFF critters, and don't invade their personal space to the point they feel they need to move away from you - that requires precious oxygen)

- Janna
---------------------------

Greetings everyone,

It may be time to remind divers that the environment in Hood Canal is currently a bit stressful to some of the deeper water critters.

This seems especially apparent in lower Hood Canal based on the regular information from the ORCA mooring located near Hoodsport.
See: http://orca.ocean.washington.edu/data_hoodsport.html

During times of low oxygen conditions, such as are occurring now, there have also been observations of stress in fish all the way into Dabob Bay.

I would appreciate if you would ask divers to keep an eye on the critters and report what they are seeing.

If you have any questions about what information the ORCA mooring is providing, please contact me.

Please pass the word.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan Hannafious
Assistant Director
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group
Co-manager
Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program
600 Roessel Rd.
Belfair, WA 98528
dan@hcseg.org
360-275-3575 office
360-275-2011 desk
206-713-7704 cell

[mz53480]

Not sure if this is evidence of 'labored breathing' or low O2. Around 2:15 in this video there's a wolfie at ~20-25fsw at Sund Rock. April 29th 2010.

[nwscubamom]

Yup, that ABSOLUTELY is labored breathing. Wolfies don't usually do that. You got it. Keep the observations coming.

- Janna

[mz53480]

Hoodcanal (Flagpole) April 11th, 2010.
Around 70fsw, wolfie w/o labored breathing.
(~2:38--2:50 in this video)

[dieseldude]

pardon my ingnorance but isnt there a way to pump O2 into an area via air lines such as in an aqarium? I realize you cant aerate the entire ocean but perhaps attacking the most affected area would stimulate the natural occurence of O2??? Have they made a determination as to what caused it in the 1st place?
MJ

[Sounder]

pardon my ingnorance but isnt there a way to pump O2 into an area via air lines such as in an aqarium? I realize you cant aerate the entire ocean but perhaps attacking the most affected area would stimulate the natural occurence of O2??? Have they made a determination as to what caused it in the 1st place?
MJ

The cause has been well established - humans building on-shore, fertilizer, run-off, and a naturally occurring phenomena which is made worse by humans. Richard and Janna can expand upon that.

The scale of a project large enough to oxygenate the water would be extremely costly and unrealistic.

[spatman]

The cause has been well established - humans building on-shore, fertilizer, run-off, and a naturally occurring phenomena which is made worse by humans. Richard and Janna can expand upon that.

it also has to do with the mouth of hood canal being relatively shallow preventing a large exchange of water:

http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu/abo ... chure.html

The geology and bathymetry (underwater topography) of Hood Canal play a large role in the water quality and dynamics of how the water moves. The entrance to the canal is relatively shallow, about 150’. Just south of the entrance the canal becomes very deep, to 500 and 600’. This ‘sill’ at the entrance creates a condition in the canal that doesn’t allow the water to flow or exchange very easily with the changing tides and seasons. The ‘sill’ tends to retain the water (reduces the exchange) in the canal and estimates of complete water exchange rates are in the magnitude of years.

The water of Hood Canal can be highly stratified… which means there is an upper layer of different temperature and salinity (saltiness). Highly stratified water doesn’t mix very well. So, essentially, the waters of Hood Canal are deep, stratified, and exchange very slowly. This is not a good situation when considering the resilience of Hood Canal to human contributions.

[airsix]

pardon my ingnorance but isnt there a way to pump O2 into an area via air lines such as in an aqarium? I realize you cant aerate the entire ocean but perhaps attacking the most affected area would stimulate the natural occurence of O2??? Have they made a determination as to what caused it in the 1st place?
MJ

I did a tongue-in-cheek calculation of the costs a while back and came up with almost $50 million per year just in fuel/energy costs.

The real solution is in the last line of my post.

[mz53480]

...I did a tongue-in-cheek calculation of the costs a while back and came up with almost $50 million per year.
The real solution is in the last line of my post.

PM sent.
(yes, this one's for you )

[CaptnJack]

The cause has been well established - humans building on-shore, fertilizer, run-off, and a naturally occurring phenomena which is made worse by humans. Richard and Janna can expand upon that.

The scale of a project large enough to oxygenate the water would be extremely costly and unrealistic.

Alot of Hood Canal septic systems are marginal at best. Most marine waters are nitrogen limited and all that extra nitrogen (not the same form as atmospheric N2) creates excess algae blooms, which dies and falls to deeper water. The decay of that organic matter takes up oxygen. This is exacerbated by the dam on Lake Cushman (among other things). This serves to limit the flushing of the canal by freshwater, which would historically flow north along the surface (seasonal floods) with deeper ocean water from Admiralty Inlet "spilling" over the sill and flowing south to replace it. The fact that the south Hood Canal area had a fairly dry and flood free winter means that last year's water wasn't flushed out and replaced by this freshwater conveyor belt. So we are now seeing the effects of our spring bloom in declining O2 concentrations. Late May is definitely "early" and bodes very poorly for water quality later in the summer and fall.

[sheahanmcculla]

I have seen a few wolf eels while diving in and outside Hood Canal. They all seem to "breath" that way. I quick search on youtube showed the same thing. I am not arguing about the low O2 levels at all, but I am curious what makes the 1st video so unique to other wolf eel videos.

Length of time the mouth is open?
How fast the breaths are taken?

[rjarnold]

"Normal" breathing is about 50/50 incurrent/excurrent, both exchanges being fairly slow. In labored breathing, the intake of water is more prolonged, while water expulsion is done quick and usually more forcefully, and then quickly opening the mouth again to get water moving again across the gills.

[nwscubamom]

Good question, thanks for saying something. I'd say that it's the frequency of the breaths (rapid), as well as how wide that mouth is open. It also seems to be placing a lot of effort in doing this. To me that first video stands out as one stressed wolfie.

BTW, I've often observed that the more they're stressed, the more they often come out of their hiding holes (and often they'll move up shallower and lay out in the open).

Do NOT play with the wolfies in this condition, please!

Give them wide berth and leave them alone.

- Janna

[TCWestby]

I coulden't sleep last night and was channel surfing and saw something about the Oregon coast having this problem too. Only there it comes and goes, unlike the canal which doesn't get flushed out regularly.

Too bad someone couldn't find a way to introduce O2 like they do in lakes.