A1 West Transect – 2017

Permanent Site: A1 West Transect; Depth: 8.7 Meters (28.7 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 1.9 Kilometers (1.2 Miles) West; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 6 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.13870775, -123.586203; Site Description: Transect is in eastern part of Freshwater Bay. Sediment is primarily sand/sandy mud with patches of boulders. The sandy areas on the entire transect are covered in a thin, brown layer of diatoms (small unicellular microseaweed). Nine different species of seaweeds were present this year including bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana (0:59, 1:12 seconds), Costaria costata (0:54, 1:11 seconds), acid kelp Desmarestia (1:05, 1:35 seconds) and Alaria marginata (1:12 seconds). Feather duster tubeworms Eudistylia vancouveri are seen everywhere (0:05 seconds) in contrast to the east transect (see video ‘A1 East Transect – 2017’). They are frequently surround by branching, flat leafed red seaweed (0:20, 1:19 seconds).