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The Puget Sound Partnership

MudUp is working with the Puget Sound Partnership to engage the public and save Puget Sound by 2020!

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MudUp Activities on the Peninsula

Red Marker Scandia native oyster enhancement
Citizen science: two days of monitoring a native oyster restoration project in a beautiful setting

Be a citizen scientist and learn how the pros restore and monitor native oysters in Puget Sound.

Two different days to choose from. Come for one or both!

RSVP requested by May 15th.

The Puget Sound Restoration Fund has been working with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, who owns tidelands in Liberty Bay near Poulsbo, and many other partners (NOAA, TNC, US Navy, Tribes) to enhance native oyster stocks in the tidelands around Poulsbo. They have completed sucessful habitat enhancement projects there every year since 2005! 

They monitor their enhancement projects with seasonal surveys to check progress.

This 2-day survey in May will be looking comparitively at the native oyster populations in 3 of these project areas. Come out and do some marine science in the mud with us! No special expertise required, just a keen eye. 

You'll meet at the Poulsbo Marina parking lot at 10am and take a short boat ride across to Scandia.

PLEASE NOTE: This is hands and knees on the beach.  Lots of oyster shell and muddy sand.

 

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Red Marker Shrimpfest
The Brinnon ShrimpFest is a weekend festival celebrating Hood Canal Spot Shrimp and other local seafood.
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Red Marker Wet Wednesday Restoration
Get muddy, work hard, feel good.

The restoration site in Mud Bay west of Olympia is on private land owned by Marjorie Randall and was given in 2002 to the Capitol Land Trust in a permanent conservation easement. Marjorie is a long time resident of Mud Bay who courageously wanted to protect and restore this beautiful property forever.

The site encompasses seven acres of salt marsh, mudflat and upland in the transition area between the McLane estuary and the broader expanse of Mud Bay.  This salt marsh and mudflat habitat, which is adjacent to other protected sites, is critical for juvenile salmon and a wide diversity of birds.  A joint Capitol Land Trust and People For Puget Sound project removed 192 feet of old tires used to armor the salt marsh shore and planted two acres of upland vegetation.  Long term stewardship of the site, eventual removal of the remaining buildings and restoration of the remaining shoreline will complete restoration of this site.

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Red Marker Vashon-Maury Island Low Tide Celebration
Celebrate the seastars in the tidepools, walk the ancient geology of the shoreline, and listen to the magic of native storytellers.

Celebrate the seastars in the tidepools, walk the ancient geology of the shoreline, and listen to the magic of native storytellers.  Welcome the beach landing of the Blue Heron Native Paddlers boat.  Beach naturalists, lighthouse keepers and native plants experts will be on hand to applaud the stunning richness of the Puget Sound shoreline. 

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Red Marker Vashon-Maury Island Low Tide Celebration
Celebrate the seastars in the tidepools, walk the ancient geology of the shoreline, and listen to the magic of native storytellers.

People For Puget Sound is preparing to host the 3rd annual Vashon Lowtide Celebration at Pt. Robinson on Maury Island along with Washington Dept. of Natural Resources, Washington Scuba Alliance, and numerous island organizations, including Vashon-Maury Island Audubon, Vashon Park District, and the Keepers of Point Robinson.  The celebration’s last 2 years have seen 200-300 folks, including many families with children, come to Pt. Robinson to explore the intertidal marine life at lowtide with expert beach naturalist guides, listen to speakers and storytellers about life on the shorelines, and tour the working lighthouse.  During last year’s 2007 celebration, over 200 people signed pledges to treat the beach animals with care and respect.  Kathryn True’s Lorax Club junior members had children teaching beach etiquette to other children visiting the tidepools.  Beach enjoyment and conservation will continue to be the focus of this year’s celebration, which will also feature the beach arrival of the Blue Heron Native Paddlers crew followed by traditional welcome ceremony and song, as well as native storytelling with Leslie Creed.

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Red Marker Maury Island Shoreline Restoration
Help support a restored shoreline by weeding around native plantings.

 

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Red Marker Wet Wednesday Monitoring/Training
Do something, learn something, feel good.

The restoration site in Mud Bay west of Olympia is on private land owned by Marjorie Randall and was given in 2002 to the Capitol Land Trust in a permanent conservation easement. Marjorie is a long time resident of Mud Bay who courageously wanted to protect and restore this beautiful property forever.

The site encompasses seven acres of salt marsh, mudflat and upland in the transition area between the McLane estuary and the broader expanse of Mud Bay.  This salt marsh and mudflat habitat, which is adjacent to other protected sites, is critical for juvenile salmon and a wide diversity of birds.  A joint Capitol Land Trust and People For Puget Sound project removed 192 feet of old tires used to armor the salt marsh shore and planted two acres of upland vegetation.  Long term stewardship of the site, eventual removal of the remaining buildings and restoration of the remaining shoreline will complete restoration of this site.

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Red Marker Brilliant Colors of the Beach
discover the fascinating colors and strange shapes of the animals that live at the edge of Puget Sound

After the fireworks of the night before, come to the shoreline at low tide to discover the fascinating colors and strange shapes of the animals that live at the edge of Puget Sound.  Beach naturalist guides will share stories of the animals and help you touch them gently. 

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Red Marker Pier Peer Night Exploration
Lights, plankton nets… action!

The tide laps against the floating dock as a small group of people, bundled up in winter clothes, strolls to the end of the pier.  Equipped with marine creature ID books, flashlights, some custom-made creature “scoops,” a couple of buckets and a submersible light, they are ready to meet the night time inhabitants of Puget Sound .

The submersible light is lowered into the dark water and everyone gathers around.  Immediately visible is the ubiquitous goo of the sea:  flotsam, plankton, detritus and other, more mysterious things dart by. 

Some hydrozoan jelly fish appear, then a comb jelly rises up, the light refracting off its beating ctenes making rainbows along its surface.  The water quickly grows crowded with copopods, a siphonophore and then sometimes, a cheateagnath.  Someone spots a nudibranch on under the edge of the dock.  An arthropod reaches into the light from its hold on the dock to grab something floating by. 

Here is education and exploration at its most exciting.  After everything is returned to its watery home, the humans retire to warm up, drink some cocoa and talk about what they’ve seen.

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Red Marker Wet Wednesday Restoration
Get muddy, work hard, do good, feel good.

 

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Scandia native oyster enhancement (Poulsbo Marina, from May 21, 2008 10:00 AM to May 22, 2008 03:00 PM)
Citizen science: two days of monitoring a native oyster restoration project in a beautiful setting
Shrimpfest (Brinnon, WA, from May 24, 2008 10:00 AM to May 25, 2008 05:00 PM)
The Brinnon ShrimpFest is a weekend festival celebrating Hood Canal Spot Shrimp and other local seafood.
Wet Wednesday Restoration (Mud Bay Randall Point, Olympia, from Jun 04, 2008 10:00 AM to Jun 04, 2008 02:00 PM)
Get muddy, work hard, feel good.
Vashon-Maury Island Low Tide Celebration (Pt. Robinson, Maury Island, from Jun 07, 2008 10:00 AM to Jun 07, 2008 03:30 PM)
Celebrate the seastars in the tidepools, walk the ancient geology of the shoreline, and listen to the magic of native storytellers.
Vashon-Maury Island Low Tide Celebration (Pt. Robinson, Maury Island, from Jun 07, 2008 11:00 AM to Jun 07, 2008 04:00 PM)
Celebrate the seastars in the tidepools, walk the ancient geology of the shoreline, and listen to the magic of native storytellers.
Maury Island Shoreline Restoration (Maury Island, call for directions, from Jun 21, 2008 10:00 AM to Jun 21, 2008 02:00 PM)
Help support a restored shoreline by weeding around native plantings.
Wet Wednesday Monitoring/Training (Mud Bay Randall Point, Olympia, from Jul 02, 2008 10:00 AM to Jul 02, 2008 02:00 PM)
Do something, learn something, feel good.
Brilliant Colors of the Beach (Fort Ward State Park, Bainbridge Island, from Jul 05, 2008 12:00 PM to Jul 05, 2008 02:00 PM)
discover the fascinating colors and strange shapes of the animals that live at the edge of Puget Sound
Pier Peer Night Exploration ( Olympia (call for pier location), from Jul 20, 2008 09:00 PM to Jul 20, 2008 10:00 PM)
Lights, plankton nets… action!
Wet Wednesday Restoration (East Bay, Olympia (call for directions), from Aug 06, 2008 10:00 AM to Aug 06, 2008 02:00 PM)
Get muddy, work hard, do good, feel good.

Don't see the activity you're looking for? Create your own! If you've got an idea for a MudUp activity, or if you know about an activity or event in your area that you'd like to include in the MudUp calendar, just drop us a line at ideas@mudup.org. MudUp is a grassroots effort, so we encourage you to share the mud! We'd love to feature your local activities — the more, the muddier! And if you'd like the Mud Monster to attend your event, please let us know. One never knows where he'll show up, but we'll do our best to send him in the right direction.