Marine invaders in Puget Sound

Read a Q&A with Conservancy scientist Jennifer Molnar. Learn more about our work to preserve Puget Sound.   Nature Conservancy scientist Roger Fuller marks invasive spartina plants at the Port Susan Bay Preserve.   The oyster drill,  a non-native marine snail, is a threat to Washington's recovering Olympia oyster populations.

Japanese oyster drills, small snails about an inch long, will drill through the shells of young oysters to eat what's inside, devastating populations of Wasington's native Olympia oyster. Spartina, a cordgrass, will spread across saltmarsh estuaries, choke out native plant life, and change the very topography of the estuary by accumulating sediment around its roots.

A new Nature Conservancy study has found marine invasives are wreaking environmental and ecological havoc on 84 percent of the world’s coastlines. Spartina and oyster drills are examples of the role marine invasive species play in Washington state, and up and down along the west coast of the United States.

Here in Washington, we’re making progress against spartina, an aggressive plant not native to the west coast, with intensive control efforts at Port Susan Bay in Puget Sound, and at Willapa Bay in the southwest corner of the state.

Later in March, the Conservancy will coordinate a volunteer effort at Liberty Bay, near Poulsbo, to clean the beach of Japanese oyster drills. Check our volunteer page to learn how you can help.

In Washington and around the world, non-native marine species get many chances to spread to new places – often due to human activities. Read an interview with Jennifer Molnar, a conservancy scientist and lead author on the marine invasives study, here.
 
 

Photo credits: Spartina by USDA; oyster drill by WDFW; others by The Nature Conservancy