Ocean Acidification Monitoring in Totten Inlet

Betsy PeabodyPuget Sound Restoration FundTel: 206.780.6947 Email:betsy@restorationfund.orgwww.restorationfund.org

Thanks to Dan Cheney, Simone Alin, Brian Allen, Bobbi Hudson & Calm Cove Oyster Co. for slides

Partners NOAA PMEL University of Washington (APL,

Oceanography) Pacific Shellfish Institute Puget Sound Restoration Fund Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association Taylor Shellfish Baywater, Inc. Department of Ecology

Funded by the Puget Sound Partnership

The Warning Signs Shellfish Hatcheries – Oregon,

Washington, and beyond

The Warning SignsEffects on Willapa/Grays Harbor ecology and growers

A Larger Problem

25% of the CO2 we emit is absorbed by the world’s oceans

Ocean acidification is the gradual decrease in pH due to rising CO2.

Increased acidity leads to increased mortality in calcium dependent creatures – shellfish, plankton, corals, algae

A Larger Problem

The Manoa Loa data and ocean acidity

The Acid Ocean

275

300

325

350

375

400

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 20208.03

8.08

8.13

8.18

8.23

8.28

8.33

8.38

pH

Year

CO2

y = (1.738 ± 0.0293)x – 3105.9R2 = 0.94

y = (1.855 ± 0.224)x – 3364R2 = 0.310

y = (-0.0019 ± 0.00025)x + 11.82R2 = 0.265

Mauna Loa atmospheric CO2 (ppmv)Aloha seawater pCO2 (µatm)Aloha seawater pH

A Larger Problem Coastal upwelling

• Water upwelled off coast is loaded with more CO2 than anywhere else in the world (10% higher than Atlantic).

• The North Pacific is at the end of a deep circulation line.

• It’s full of old water (cold, salty, CO2-rich, low pH).

Increasing acidity from CO2 lowers saturation level of aragonite.

Shelled organisms need high aragonite to grow.

Bivalve juveniles experience significant mortality when aragonite values decrease and their aragonite shell dissolves.

A Larger Problem Aragonite

Question: Is There an Effect on Natural Shellfish Populations in Puget Sound

Puget Sound Partnership funded an oyster monitoring project during 2009-2010 settlement seasons

Puget Sound Sampling Stations

Big Cove, Totten Inlet

Dabob Bay, Hood Canal

Sample CollectionWeekly samples of seawater, spatfall and planktonic larvae, May – Sept.

Data correlated with oceanographic measurements (DIC, TA, pH, carbonate ion conc. & aragonite sat.)

Totten InletSummer 2009

Totten InletSummer 2010

Differences between Olympia oysters and Pacific Oysters

Potential Effects of Corrosive Seawater

Shellfish production Natural Filtration Ecological Services Ecosystem Restoration

Fewer Local Food Sources Increasingly Eutrophic Waters Troubled Local Economies

Discussion Points

No sign yet in Puget Sound that there is an effect on natural shellfish populations

Monitoring should continue given risk factors and potential impacts

Answering the question will be tricky given natural variability in recruitment.

Where do we go from here?

Ocean acidification drives home the reality of a big, global phenomenon.

Knowing about potential local effects increases the urgency to reduce global CO2 emissions.

There are outreach opportunities we can and should seize since climate change and global warming are THE topics of the day among our children’s generation.

Thanks

Richard FeelySimone AlinChristopher SabineJan NewtonDaniel CheneyBrian AllenJonathan DavisAllan Devol

Duane FagergrenCalm Cove Oyster Co.Christopher KrembsRobin DowneyAndy SuhrbierBobbi HudsonAimee ChristyMary MiddletonKristen Rasmussen