On and off West Seattle shores: ‘Pinkapalooza’; eelgrass, jellyfish views

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Two notes:

‘PINKAPALOOZA’: We don’t know for sure if that’s what the people in Mark Ahlness‘s photo, shared via the WSB Flickr group, were fishing for at Lincoln Park – but we do know that the every-other-year pink-salmon run, dubbed “pinkapalooza” in this story from the Seattle Times (WSB partner), is on the way. Six million of them, in fact, says The Times, with the Puget Sound catch peaking in the next few weeks.

BENEATH THE SURFACE: “Diver Laura” James has a video shot while she was out for some underwater cleanup off Alki, concurrent with the beach cleanup yesterday, mentioned here last night. This video was shot right off the sandy beach while they were out:

In addition to a “tour” of the eelgrass offshore – the grass that nourishes a variety of sea/shore life, including the beautiful brant geese who migrate here every year – you’ll also see an encounter with a “fried egg” jellyfish, the type you’ll see if you watch the water this time of year – especially off piers like Seacrest and Jack Block (where we saw several on Friday).

RG July 28, 2013 (3:58 pm)

Yea Diver Laura! Goodness on ya!

Mark Ahlness July 28, 2013 (3:59 pm)

re: the fisherpeople – I bet they were after salmon, and I bet there are more there today. The hard copy of the Times next to that article listed “Top 10 shoreline places to catch pinks”. Number 1 on the list? Lincoln Park :)

WSB July 28, 2013 (6:58 pm)

Mark – thanks for the photo, and I did notice that, forgot to mention it. Two years ago we had a reader-contributed photo of the lineup on the Lincoln Park shore – https://westseattleblog.com/2011/08/west-seattle-scene-in-pursuit-of-pink-salmon … I am glad to have noticed both the Times story and your Flickr-shared photo so as to give at least one heads-up for folks who might walk by in the weeks ahead and say wow, what’s THAT about?! – TR

Chris W July 28, 2013 (4:59 pm)

I wonder if all the pinks will attract more orcas to our part of the Sound.

sean July 28, 2013 (7:42 pm)

I don’t understand what is all the hubbub over pink salmon- I understand they are pretty poor eating (though admit I have never tried)

seaopgal July 28, 2013 (7:56 pm)

We need a Chinookapalooza for the orcas … the Southern Resident Killer Whales (our endangered species) eat primarily (if not exclusively) Chinook salmon, which are also endangered. The transient orcas, now called Biggs Whales, eat marine mammals (seals, dolphins, etc.).

wsmama3 July 28, 2013 (8:29 pm)

Sean – it’s really good salmon (if you bleed & ice it right off the bat) AND it’s one of the few times you don’t need a boat and can get a big fish off the shore which is really exciting for kids and families.

Chuck and Sally's Van Man July 28, 2013 (8:31 pm)

Sean: they are actually a fine eating fish if bled and iced immediately. Sadly, many people just throw there’s up on the beach and wonder why it is so soft later on. They smoke up reaaaaally nice (same handling required). Fish right out of the salt are the only I’d eat; once they hit fresh water they do turn fairly quickly. No, they’re not coho or kings, but still salmon and should be treated as such. It’s a heck of a fishery that we have right at our doorstep!

enviromaven July 29, 2013 (9:56 am)

Thanks, as always, Diver Laura! Is that Nina Simone singing on your soundtrack? And I’m with seaopgal on a Chinookapalooza for our SR sea pandas. (The local orca pods that were wiped out by captures for the “entertainment” industry in the 60’s and 70’s.) Brutal!

DiverLaura July 29, 2013 (12:53 pm)

Yup, LOVE Nina Simone!

enviromaven July 29, 2013 (1:52 pm)

What’s not to love? :)

Sean July 29, 2013 (2:25 pm)

Thanks for the info, I think I end up getting a lot of my info from fish-snobs haha. Happy fishing everyone.

DiverLaura July 30, 2013 (1:39 am)

Cross your fingers for me, maybe i’ll be able to shoot some video of the 6 million fish coming through… I’ve only seen adult salmon a few times whilst diving, they are amazing…
In the case that i get some good footage, i’ll put it out to the West Seattle Blog and crowdsource ideas for music :)