During a recent research dive, SeaDoc scientists Joe Gaydos and Cat Lo spotted a large Ghost Net strewn across the Salish Sea floor. Not only do these nets strangle and kill wildlife, but they’re also a danger to divers. Cat supported to Joe as he hooked a bright marker to the net, ensuring that he didn’t get entangled in the process. When the divers returned to the boat, Erika dropped a GPS point to mark the exact location and the team alerted our friends at the Northwest Straits Foundation.
This month we got word that the Ghost Net had been busted! Removal of these nets is a highly specialized operation that we were lucky to document in a past Salish Sea Wild episode.
According to Northwest Straits Foundation, this net was about 300’ x 70’. It was about 65’ deep on rocky substrate near Eagle Point, off San Juan Island. It has been there for a few years, but was still in good condition and would have persisted long into the future. Entangled in the net were:
- 25 live red sea urchin
- 20 live green sea urchin
- 3 dead kelp greenling
- 1 dead black rockfish
- 1 dead lingcod
- 1 live quillback rockfish (juvenile)
- 2 dead unidentified seabird (bones)
- 2 live and 2 dead red rock crab
