Once a month, we take to the air and travel by boat to obtain high-resolution aerial photo observations and gather water data at our monitoring stations and state ferry transects. This provides us a visual picture of the health of Puget Sound, which we call Eyes Over Puget Sound or EOPS.
Eyes Over Puget Sound empowers you to:
- See what is currently happening in Puget Sound.
- See how weather and climate are shaping Puget Sound water quality.
- Use Eyes Over Puget Sound as free educational material for your own endeavors.
Summary of latest observations
River flows remain low in September, though there has been some rain recently. This year has been warmer than in previous years, and this temperature pattern is predicted to continue. By August, Puget Sound surface water temperatures were 0.6 C higher across all regions. This change could shift the timing of key life stages for some marine organisms.
As seen on this flight, algae blooms are now limited to inlets. Jellyfish are abundant in Sinclair Inlet, and we saw anchovies in Eld Inlet.
Macroalgae, often called seaweed, are still plentiful. Mats of this macroalgae and other debris washes ashore as “beach wrack.” Beach wrack can provide shelter and food for many marine critters.
Learn more about Eyes over Puget Sound