Hood Canal

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Hood Canal separates the Kitsap Peninsula and the Olympic Peninsula.

Hood Canal is a fjord off Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is sometimes considered to be one of the four main basins of Puget Sound.[1]

Contents

[edit] Geography

Great Bend of Hood Canal from the southeast

Hood Canal is long and narrow, with an average width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and a mean depth of 53.8 metres (177 ft). It has 342.6 kilometres (212.9 mi) of shoreline and 42.4 square kilometres (16.4 sq mi) of tideland. Its surface area is 385.6 square kilometres (148.9 sq mi) and it contains a volume of water totaling 21 billion cubic meters (17 million acre-ft).[1] Hood Canal extends for about 50 miles (80 km) southwest from the entrance between Foulweather Bluff and Tala Point to Union, where it turns sharply to the northeast, a stretch called The Great Bend. It continues for about 15 miles (24 km) to Belfair, where it ends in shallow tidelands called Lynch Cove.

Hood Canal separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula for its entire length. The U.S. Navy's Naval Base Kitsap, Bangor Annex, is located on the eastern shore of Hood Canal near Silverdale. Hood Canal has several internal bays, the largest of which is Dabob Bay. Most of Dabob Bay is a Naval Restricted Area, used by the submarines stationed at Bangor. Quilcene Bay is an inlet extending northwest from Dabob Bay. Near the north end of Hood Canal is Port Gamble, a bay and a town of the same name.

Several rivers flow into Hood Canal, mostly from the Olympic Peninsula, including the Skokomish River, Hamma Hamma River, Duckabush River, Dosewallips River, and Big Quilcene River.

[edit] History

Hood Canal from Camp Parsons Boy Scout Camp

Hood Canal was named by Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver for Admiral Lord Samuel Hood on May 13, 1792. Vancouver used the name "Hood's Channel" in his journal, but "Hood's Canal" on his charts. The U.S. Geographic Board decided on "Hood Canal" as the official name in 1932.[2][3] Technically, Hood Canal is a fjord[4]


[edit] Roads and bridges

U.S. Route 101 runs along the west shore of Hood Canal, south of Quilcene.

Hood Canal is spanned by the Hood Canal Bridge, the third longest floating bridge in the world at 6,521 feet (1,988 m). According to the Washington State Department of transportation, the Hood Canal Bridge is the only floating bridge constructed on saltwater,[5] although there are others, such as Nordhordland Bridge and Bergsøysund Bridge. The Hood Canal Bridge accommodates sixteen and a half foot tides.

[edit] Recreation

There are several state parks [6] on the shores of Hood Canal including Belfair, Twanoh, Potlatch, Triton Cove, Scenic Beach, Dosewallips, Kitsap Memorial, and Shine Tidelands.

Theler Wetlands is located at the tip of the Canal in Belfair. It provides a few miles of trails and a protected environment for marsh and estuary birds and plants.

[edit] Low oxygen levels

September 2006 marked the discovery of the largest dead zone in the history of Hood Canal. The dead zone may have been caused by low oxygen levels due to algal blooms.[7] Algal blooms occur in part because of warm weather and the slow turnover of water in the southern end of the canal, causing the build-up of nutrients from fertilizers and leaky septic systems. When the algae die, bacteria feed and their populations explode, robbing the water of oxygen. The fish kill may also be part of a natural 50-year cycle of oxygen levels in the canal.[8]

In May 2006, divers searching for invasive species discovered a mat of marine bacteria covering a four-mile (6 km) stretch where all normal sea life was dead. The mat dissipated five months later.[9] Jan Newton, oceanographer at the University of Washington, said it was important to note that Hood Canal has had very low oxygen for a long time. Similar mats have been found near Tacoma, Washington; San Diego, California; New York City; and New Orleans, Louisiana.[9]

The oxygen level may also be partially due to a simple change in wind direction. The prevailing north wind generally pushes oxygenated water into the oxygen-depleted area. A sustained south wind will cut off this source of oxygen.[7][8]

The Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program has been formed by 38 groups to try to combat the problem. This program will work with local, state, federal, and tribal government policy makers to evaluate potential corrective actions that will restore and maintain a level of dissolved oxygen that will reduce stress on marine life.[10]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Features Of Puget Sound Region: Oceanography And Physical Processes, Chapter 3 of the State of the Nearshore Report, King County Department of Natural Resources, Seattle, Washington, 2001.
  2. ^ Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95158-3. 
  3. ^ USGS GNIS: Hood Canal
  4. ^ "Welcome to the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program". http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu. Retrieved on 2008-09-08. 
  5. ^ Washington State Department of Transportation (May 2005). "Hood Canal Bridge Retrofit" (PDF). http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E9F9AD95-7974-4A89-855E-DE815003E051/0/HCBMay2005.pdf. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. 
  6. ^ Washington State Parks. "Washington State Parks" (Web). http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/regncoast.asp. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. 
  7. ^ a b McClure, Robert (September 20, 2006), "Hood Canal fish suffocate", The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/285777_fishkill21.html 
  8. ^ a b Associated Press; "Hood Canal oxygen tracked"; (Tacoma) News Tribune; April 26, 2007
  9. ^ a b Dodge, John; "Bacterial mass in canal dissipates"; The Olympian; October 26, 2006
  10. ^ Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program; "HCDOP Goals"; May 24, 2004

Coordinates: 47°48′N 122°42′W / 47.8°N 122.7°W / 47.8; -122.7

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hood_Canal"
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