By Joe Gaydos
Special to the Sounder
While diving at one of his favorite sites in the San Juan Islands, Evergreen College student and recreational scuba diver Nick Brown became alarmed. “We were swimming along a beautiful wall counting fish when I saw what I thought looked exactly like Ciona savignyi, ” said Brown. It was a non-native, jellylike animal Brown had learned to identify as a participant in the volunteer Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF)fish and invertebrate monitoring program.
“I was fairly certain it was the real thing, even though it had never been reported in the San Juan Islands,” said Brown, who took a picture and reported the sighting.
There are about 100 species of animals similar to Ciona savignyi that are native to Puget Sound. They are tunicates that filter water and feed on plankton. Invasive tunicates have the ability to completely cover over and smother native species. In November 2005 a small clump of Ciona savignyi was discovered at Sund Rock in Hood Canal; a year later there were thousands.
The REEF monitoring program was established in 1990. As they dive in a region, the volunteers gather information about marine fish and invertebrate populations and keep an eye out for non-native species.
The SeaDoc Society has trained almost 300 REEF volunteers in Bellingham, Olympia, Port Townsend, Seattle and the San Juan Islands.
REEF instructor Janna Nichols,and SeaDoc Society Chief Scientist Joe Gaydos confirmed the presence of Ciona savignyi last week. “On the second dive we saw the bad guys,” said Gaydos. Nichols confirmed the identification and Gaydos and Nichols destroyed the four tunicates. They are planning to re-survey the site this spring.
“I know these critters like a bad migraine,” said Nichols, “and I’m not happy about seeing them in the San Juans, but I couldn’t be happier that our volunteer REEF diver monitoring network is working.”
Pam Meacham, the aquatic invasive species coordinator at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, agreed. “Early detection is our best hope for controlling the spread and eradicating it if possible.” Divers finding a invasive tunicates are asked to take a picture and report the sighting to Meacham at 360-902-2741
The SeaDoc Society ensures the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystems through science and education and has a regional focus on improving the health of the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia. Their website is www.seadocsociety.org
Joe Gaydos is an Orcas Islander and Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society.
