Shriya Prasanna
Pacific Shellfish Institute
Aimee Christy
Pacific Shellfish Institute
This project is focused on studying the spatial distribution of Dinophysis in different regions of lower Budd Inlet.
In 2016, lower Budd Inlet set a national record for the highest level of DSP toxins measured in mussels and has been closed to shellfish harvesting for a portion of every year since.
Lower Budd is also the site of WDOH’s biotoxin sampling, NOAA’s Imaging FlowCytobot, and SoundToxins phytoplankton monitoring.
This research studies the spatial distribution of Dinophysis in lower Budd Inlet to evaluate if cell concentrations are evenly distributed or patchy, thus potentially influencing siting considerations for all 3 efforts.
The first data set of the study was conducted in January of 2022. The three sample sites were West Bay Marina, Olympia Yacht Club, and Port Plaza. At each site, YSI data was collected. Net tow samples were also collected and later preserved in Lugols solution. Each site’s sample was screened four times using a Palmer Maloney counting chamber.
This same procedure was repeated for the second data set conducted in September 2022.
There was a variation in the cell counts across different sampling sites. Moreover, the trend in the data points to West Bay Marina having larger cell counts than the other two sample sites.
Results verify the hypothesis that Dinophysis are not evenly distributed across the Inlet and that the West Bay region has higher concentrations.