Bellingham Bay

Primary productivity: A quantitative analysis of primary productivity in Bellingham Bay has not been made. Nor have the phytoplankters responsible for primary productivity been described. Seasonal measurement using fluorometric techniques were attempted as part of this study. However, fluorescence attributable to the sulfite waste liquor of surface waters interfered with the results. Other data on primary productivity (Chlorophyll a measurements) are being monitored by CH₂M/City of Bellingham/Georgia-Pacific (1975). These data, however, have not yet been analyzed. A detailed study documenting major areas and rates of primary productivity and evaluating the effect of low concentration of sulfite waste liquor should be initiated.

Zooplankton: There is a rich distribution of zooplankton in Bellingham Bay. Even in those areas covered by a layer of fresh water, zooplankton are found in the salt water column beneath. A number of larval forms are present in the zooplankton during summer months. Shrimp larvae also show peaks of abundance during summer months. These data indicate that Bellingham Bay is important as a nursery ground for a number of species. Eggs of some fish species show peaks from April to June.

Pelagic fish: Bellingham Bay supports important commercial and recreational salmon fisheries. Part of the aquaculture program of the Lummi Indians is a salmon hatchery enrichment of salmon stocks in the Nooksack River. Smelt are also common in Bellingham Bay and runs are recreationally fished in the Nooksack River and Squalicum Creek. Trout, steelhead, herring and dogfish are other important pelagic fish stocks in the bay. A resource inventory of pelagic species in the bay should be made.

Juvenile salmon are also important in Bellingham Bay. The Washington State Department of Fisheries maintains two juvenile salmon sampling stations in Bellingham Bay - one at Wildcat Cove in Larrabee State Park and one at Pleasant Bay in the south end of Chuckanut Bay. Their data show that Bellingham Bay is important as a transition zone for the movement of juvenile salmon from the Nooksack.

Benthic fish are important biological components of Bellingham Bay. Fifty-five species of fish have been sampled from the bay. Fish are distributed fairly evenly over the bay. There are no areas that have markedly higher or lower catches. Even near Whatcom Creek, benthic fish are as common as other areas of the bay. A number of the species occurring in the bay are potentially commercially important.

Nearshore fish: Fish species that use the shallow water habitats close to beaches are for the most part the same species that are found in the benthic and pelagic habitats of the bay. There were 42 species of fish collected by beach seine at various locations in the bay. Most areas sampled from near the delta in the north to Eliza Island in the south had similar compositions and densities of fish species. A few species were found only at nearshore areas (high cocks-comb, Anoplarchus purpurescens; saddleback gunnel, Pholis ornata; sandlance, Ammodytes hexapterus; spiny lumpsucker, Eumicrotremus orbis; sharpnose sculpin, Clinocottus acuticeps; and silverspotted sculpin, Blepsias cirrhosus).

Benthic invertebrates: Bellingham Bay has a rich variety of benthic invertebrates. Water quality near the bottom of the bay is good. Salinities are above 30% and quality and consistency of bottom sediments are suitable for a wide range of species. Only bottom sediments in the inner harbor are stressed from industrial effluents and fewer numbers and species of invertebrates found.

One benthic species, Cancer magister ( dungeness crab) is in adequate numbers to support a commercial fishery. It appears that Bellingham Bay is a nursery ground for this species. Crab larvae are common in the plankton and juveniles are found on the intertidal mud flats of the bayís estuaries. Although not commercially fished to any extent, a second crustacean species with commercial value is found in the bay. Shrimp were periodically caught in large numbers during this study. Distribution was patchy through the bay at any one time and there were changes in seasonal abundance. Shrimp were most common during summer months.

Other invertebrate benthos in Bellingham Bay ranged over the invertebrate phyla. Over 90 benthic species were identified during the study. Many smaller species were collected but not identified.

Intertidal invertebrates: Compared with other Puget Sound areas the diversity and density of intertidal invertebrates in Bellingham Bay is relatively low. Reduction in surface salinity by freshwater drainage and industrial activities in the bay are stresses to many intertidal organisms. Rocky beaches of Chuckanut Bay, Lummi Island and Eliza Island have the greatest diversity and density of infauna. The cobble beach areas of Post Point receive limited salinity stress and are moderately rich intertidal communities. Beaches northward from Post Point are stressed by industrial activity as well as fresh water drainage and diversity and density of organisms is low. The northerly beaches and beaches of Lummi Peninsula and Portage Island all receive high fresh water influence and have low diversity and density of intertidal organisms. Gravel, sand and muddy beaches of Chuckanut Bay are the best shellfish habitats. Very few oysters are found in Bellingham Bay.

Birds: The Bellingham Bay area lies directly in the path of the north-south migratory flyway for western birds. Twenty-one species have been recorded as using Bellingham Bay during spring and fall as stopovers on annual migrations. More important perhaps is the use of Bellingham Bay as a wintering ground. Fifty species of marine birds have been recorded as using Bellingham Bay as a winter habitat.

The bay owes its excellence as a bird habitat to the quiet waters provided by the sheltering effect of Portage, Lummi, and Eliza Islands, as well as the peripheral sub-habitats - specifically the Nooksack River delta, Chuckanut Bay, Squalicum Creek, and the Edgemoor and Point Point lagoons.

Bird species composition of the bay fluctuates monthly, numbers generally peaking during January and at a minimum in June.

The most common bird in Bellingham Bay is the Western Grebe, often flocking in groups of over 3,000 birds. Red-necked and horned grebes are also common, along with loons, cormorants, mallards, pintails, widgeons, scaups, golden-eyes, scoters, and glaucous-winged gulls. The glaucous-winged full population of the bay is currently decreasing. In particular, in the area where raw sewage used to be discharged into the bay the number of gulls is probably related to the current better water quality conditions.

Mammals: Sightings of marine mammals in Bellingham Bay are uncommon. In February of 1975 a killer whale (Orca orcina) was observed for 10 minutes in the center of the bay. Seals have been observed on Eliza rocks, Chuckanut shoreline, Post Point area and in Whatcom Waterway. Sea lions have been observed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel.

Food chain studies: The benthic invertebrates in Bellingham Bay are an important food source to benthic fish. Stomach sample analyses show a wide range of bottom invertebrates used as a source of food. Amphipods, crabs, shrimps, and mysids were the most important food sources to a range of species. Fish were very non-selective in food species taken from different sites. Also there appeared to be little species specificity. All species of fish favored crustaceous as a food source, although polychaetes and brittlestars were common food organisms. Modification to the Natural System

Modification of the delta systems of the small creeks entering Bellingham Bay have been described above. In this section further alterations of the natural shoreline of Bellingham Bay will be documented. For beaches in Bellingham Bay under Whatcom County jurisdiction, a study by Wolf Bauer has provided data on beach modifications. These data are in Appendix 5.

Railroad right-of-way: The rail right-of-way of the Burlington Northern Railroad has impacted extensive areas of the eastern shoreline of Bellingham Bay. Along the shoreline of Chuckanut Bay the rail right-of-way acts as a bulkhead in many areas. This riprap substrate offers habitat in the high intertidal area for invertebrate species that would otherwise not be found. Further north, the rail right-of-way cuts off the Chuckanut Creek estuary from contact with the rest of the bay except through a narrow trestle. The main impact of the right-of-way is the reduction of wave energy to the cove, which is causing an increase in sedimentation rates. It is likely that this cove will become an extensive marsh area as tidal elevation of the mud flats increases.

Between Chuckanut Bay and Post Point the rail right-of-way has produced three ponds. The most southerly pond has no direct tidal exchange, although water levels change with tidal cycles. Water is brackish and beach slopes steep. No marsh areas exist in this pond.

The second pond is referred to as "Edgemoor" pond. Until recently it had no direct tidal exchange. As a result of legal action against Burlington Northern, access for small boats was established. The pond has fairly gentle sloping beaches with high densities of shellfish. Water quality is at times a problem. The sewage system serving the local area has a pumping station close by and in times of power failures, sewage overflows into the pond. There is a small development of marsh vegetation at the edge of this pond.

The third pond is adjacent to the City of Bellinghamís sewage treatment plant and has tidal access to Bellingham Bay. This pond is shallower than the other two and has little water at low tide. Beach slopes are relatively steep and no marsh areas exist.

All of these ponds serve as protected habitats for wildfowl and are extensively used by migrating birds during winter months.

Dredging and filling: Modification of the shoreline by dredging and filling has occurred primarily within the city limits of Bellingham. Tidelands associated with Whatcom and Squalicum Creek have been almost totally filled, and provide the land base for the major industrial developments of Bellingham. Filling and dredging are current problems. A large area between Whatcom and I & J waterways has just been filled with garbage from the City of Bellingham. Georgia-Pacific is just completing the filling of a log pond with sediments from the Whatcom Creek waterway.

To the north of the City of Bellingham in the area of the cement plant the shore has been modified by dumping of rubble. Some reports indicate that this dumping still occurs periodically although no permit has been issued.

Georgia-Pacific effluents: Georgia-Pacific discharges 50 x 10⁶ gallons of industrial effluent daily into Whatcom Creek Waterway. This flow, combined with approximately the same flow from Whatcom Creek, does not cause a significant reduction in salinity of surface waters of Bellingham Bay. It does, however, introduce large quantities of sulfite waste liquor into the surface waters of Bellingham Bay. Georgia-Pacific discharges an average of 2.6 x 10⁶ lbs./day of sulfite waste liquor. This discharge results in toxic levels of sulfite waste liquor in large areas of surface waters. The precise distribution of sulfite waste liquor at any given time is dependent on tide and wind conditions. The prevailing winter winds tend to pile up the surface waters containing sulfite waste liquor in the southeasterly parts of the bay. When northerly or northeasterly winds blow, the surface waters containing sulfite waste liquor tend to follow the shoreline southerly and may result in the visible concentrations of sulfite waste liquor as far as the southerly parts of Chuckanut Bay. Concentrations of sulfite waste liquor that are adequately high to cause acute toxicity to marine organisms are commonly encountered in southern areas of Bellingham Bay. Post Point, 2.5 miles from the discharge point, is reported to have an average concentration of 12 ppm of sulfite waste liquor, although it is common to obtain values of 40-50 ppm sulfite waste liquor at this distance. Concentrations of sulfite waste liquor observed in the Post Point area have caused significant mortality to oyster larvae when used in bioassay tests. It is likely that toxic effects are extensive, and affect many organisms, particularly the lower levels of the food chain. It is not possible at this point, however, to predict the extent to which the total efficiency of the Bellingham Bay estuary is being affected by toxic effects of sulfite waste liquor.

Mercury in Bellingham Bay sediments: Sediments in benthic areas of the Whatcom Creek Waterway received an estimated 10-20 tons of mercury between 1965 and 1970 from waste water of the chlor-alkali plant of Georgia-Pacific. Currently, discharge rates of mercury from Georgia-Pacific are less than 0.2 lbs. per day. The mercury content of contaminated sediments is decreasing. A half life of 1.3 years has been observed. Studies on the benthic organisms of the area showed that the mercury was not entering the food chain through the benthos. During 1974 Georgia-Pacific dredged much of Whatcom Creek and filled an approximate 5 acre log pond. Much of the sediments removed had high concentrations of mercury. Considerable deposits of sediments with high mercury levels still remain; the fate of the mercury that is leaving the sediment is not known.

Padden Creek: The freshwater flow of Padden Creek is lowest of the small creeks emptying into Bellingham Bay (0.25 cfs). Consequently its impact on the salinity of the bay estuary system is minimal. The delta system of Padden Creek has been reduced by filling and bulkheading. The Burlington Northern rail right-of-way blocks off the delta from the bay except for access through a trestle. The delta is bordered on both sides by fill. What remains is an approximately two acre mud flat. The tidal height of the mud flat is around +2.0 feet which means that it is exposed a high percentage of the time. This exposure reduces the diversity and density of benthic organisms.

When water covers the Padden Creek mud flats an important area for waterfowl is formed. During winter months duck are commonly found here.