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OR&R Partners with Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve for Injury Assessment Training

MAY 13, 2016--The OR&R Assessment and Restoration Division Pacific Northwest/Great Lakes Branch partnered with the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) (Mount Vernon, Washington) on a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) training on May 6.

The Padilla Bay staff instructed on eelgrass ecology and their long term eelgrass monitoring program. The Padilla Bay NERR has over 8,000 acres of eelgrass, the most significant expanse of eelgrass in the Puget Sound. Eelgrass is a valuable habitat for wildlife and commercially harvested animals. Eelgrass is used as a nursery by salmon, crab, perch, and Pacific herring. It is also home for millions of worms, shrimp, clams, and other invertebrates that are food for great blue herons, eagles, otters, seals, as well as humans. OR&R staff also led sessions on field study methods for assessing exposure and injury for Pacific herring, an important part of the Puget Sound food web. The training provided an opportunity to learn more about Puget Sound resources and will inform protocols for future injury assessments. For more information, contact Marla.Steinhoff@noaa.gov. Go back to OR&R Weekly Report.

Three people doing sampling in a sandy area.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment training. (NOAA)
Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2022 1:51pm PST