Padilla Bay Reserve, Washington
Fauna (Animal Life)
Marine invertebrates, like the crab at left, are found abundantly in the bay's eelgrass, mud and sand. Shrimp and crab, especially the Dungeness crab, are of great economic importance. Other invertebrates common to the reserve include the mud snail, Nasarius snail (both of these snails are exotic imports from Japan), mud clam, bent-nosed clam, littleneck clam, Pacific or Japanese oyster (introduced historically for commercial cultivation and more recently for recreational harvest), native oyster (now very rare), burrowing anemone, mud shrimp, tongue or acorn worms, bubbleshell (a snail with the shell covered by a mantle so it looks like
a sea slug), nudibranchs, Taylor's sea slugs, ribbon worms, polychaete worms, lug worms, brooding anemone, jellyfish and amphipods. Herring are the bay's most economically-significant fish species. Herring and smelt both use the bay's eelgrass beds for spawning. The bay is also an important migration route for juvenile Chinook, coho, pink and chum salmon (right). Common flat fish include English sole, Dover sole, rock sole and starry flounder. Other resident fish species include threespine stickleback, gunnels, sculpin and bay pipefish (below).
During the winter, the bay contains an average of 50,000 ducks of 26 species. A large colony of great blue heron live in a rookery on Samish Island. While their nesting area is outside the boundaries of the reserve, they feed in both Samish and Padilla Bays. A shorebird called the dunlin (below) is found by the thousands in the reserve. The overall bird index for Padilla Bay area exceeds 240 species making it one of the most diverse areas for birding in the state. Some of the most
spectacular residents of Padilla Bay Reserve are the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and nine other species of raptors, including merlins and snowy owls who winter in the area. The flats near Padilla Bay support one of the largest known wintering populations of peregrine falcons in North America.
As for marine mammals, as many as 150 harbor seals have been observed hauled out on the sand islands of Padilla Bay during low tide. River otters have been observed in the Bay as well. Outside the immediate boundary in deeper waters, pods of killer whales have been seen regularly. California sea lions and porpoises are rare visitors. Terrestrial non-marine mammals in the reserve include black tailed deer, racoon, red fox, coyote, muskrat, beaver, porcupine and long-tailed weasel.
For more information about plants and animals in Padilla Bay go to the Creature Feature at the Reserve Web Page.
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