"the mountain and the sea are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." -john lubbock
Meet Our Team
The Salish Sea School is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, inclusion, and connectedness. We are able to grow and learn better together with a diverse team. We welcome the unique contributions that one can bring in terms of their education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.
We are stronger together with the collective sum of individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent which ultimately brings about a healthier planet.
Click on the pictures below to learn more.
Adventure: Marine Birds of the Salish Sea
During our programs, we search for and identify all the incredible local and seasonal marine birds in our area!
Research: Tufted Puffin and Marine Bird Survey
Marine Bird Survey- Students will learn what paramaters to include on a marine bird survey. You can see some preliminary data here.
Tufted Puffin Survey - Formerly common in Washington along the outer coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and San Juan Islands, Tufted Puffins have suffered the reduction and disappearance of many breeding colonies in the state, accompanied by a dramatic population decline. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission listed the tufted puffin as endangered in 2015.
When weather and conditions allow, students will observe and survey tufted puffins on Smith Island through continuous and instantaneous count methods at set stations. Guardians will also observe the puffin's cliff-top burrows and notate any prey in bill with photo evidence. If you have photos of tufted puffins with prey in bill, please email us a photo with your watermark/name to research@thesalishseaschool.org.
Action: Restoring Forage Fish Habitat
Take a look at this awesome map! It displays different forage fish spawning areas across the U.S. side of the Salish Sea. Unfortunately, shoreline armoring interferes with their beach habitat. Learn more here.
What are forage fish? Forage fish are small, schooling species that eat microscopic plants and animals that are then consumed by bigger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Examples include surf smelt, sand lance, and herring.
TUFTED PUFFIN POPULATION DECLINE
The species formerly bred in small numbers at sites throughout the San Juan Islands, but colonies on inland marine waters are now restricted to Protection and Smith islands in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca (see Figure 2 Recent and historical colonies from WA State Recovery Plan).
Reasons for the decline are uncertain, but may include reduced prey availability, predation at nesting colonies, human disturbance (mainly historical), or factors related to climate change (WA State Recovery Plan, 2019).
A comprehensive examination of puffin natural history, population trends, and habitat status, as well as threats to their continued existence, can be found in the Washington State Status Report for the Tufted Puffin (Hanson and Wiles 2015).
Smith Island, one of the last breeding grounds in the Salish Sea
Forage Fish & Their Habitat
Forage fish are small bait fish that are incredibly important to the marine ecosystem. They help feed many organisms, from birds, to salmon, to whales! Learn more by watching the video below.
JOIN US ON A TUFTED PUFFIN FUNDRASIER