Habitats around Puget Sound

Habitats are "homes" to the many plants and animals that make up the Puget Sound ecosystem.

Deep water
Puget Sound is really deep -- 900 feet deep in some places!

In the deep water of the Sound, orca whales prowl after salmon runs heading to their home rivers to spawn. The world's largest octopus live in the nooks and crannies at the bottom of Puget Sound. And porpoises, harbor seals, and lots of seabirds hang out in deep water areas, too!

Examples of deep water habitat:

• The Strait of Juan de Fuca
• the waters around the San Juan Islands
• and just about anywhere ferries go

Where have you been and what did you see?

Rocky shores
Some beaches around Puget Sound are covered with rocks. Rocks are great places for critters to hide: crabs, amphipods, copepods and different kinds of worms like to stay under rocks at low tide.

Rocky beaches are the best places to find sea stars, sea anemones, barnacles, sea cucumbers, different kinds of snails, and little fish who cruise around in the tide pools.

Sometimes rocky beaches have a seaweed growing on them called kelp, and you can find kelp crabs hanging on to the plants.

But always remember when you're visiting a rocky beach to replace any rocks or seaweed you turn over, so the animals who live underneath won't dry out and die.

Here are just a few of the rocky beaches in Puget Sound you can visit!

• Rosario Beach at Deception Pass
• most of the beaches in the San Juan Islands
• Point Defiance beach in Tacoma

Wetlands
Have you ever dug a hole deep enough to hit water? When you hit water it means you've found the water table. A wetland is an area where the water table is close to the same level as the ground.

Lakes, ponds, swamps and marshes are all different kinds of wetlands you can find around Puget Sound.

Wetlands are home to animals like frogs, turtles, redwing blackbirds, and newts. Freshwater wetlands sometimes have insect-eating plants growing in them, like sundew or pitcher plants.

Places where rivers and streams meet a body of salt water (like Puget Sound) are called estuaries (say ES-choo-air-ees), and are another kind of wetland. Estuarine wetlands are sometimes called "salt marshes".

Great blue herons like to hunt in shallow ponds and estuaries, and wetlands are important places for young salmon and some kinds of birds to stop for rest and food while they're migrating.

Wetlands you can wander:

• Mercer Slough in Bellevue
• Theler Wetlands in Belfair
• Skagit State Wildlife Refuge Area

What wetlands have you visited?

Rivers and streams
If you traveled upstream from an estuary, you could find yourself in an upland riparian zone (say ry-PAIR-ee-an). The riparian zone is the area on either side of a river or stream.

In a natural riparian zone, plants like huckleberry, hazelnut and salal provide food for some the animals who live around the stream. Tall fir and cedar trees keep the stream shaded and cool.

The stream is home to many kinds of insect larvae, crawfish, and frogs. And of course, salmon rely on the streams for spawning and hatching. River otters and eagles feed on the animals that live in or near the stream.

Streamside parks with riparian zones for you to visit:

• The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (which is also an estuary)
  
• Twin Rivers Park in Arlington
• and Connelley Creek Nature Area in Bellingham
  

What streams have you visited, and what did you see there?

Urban parks
If you live in a city, there's a park near you! City parks provide habitat for more animals and plants than you might expect. Even a play field with a few trees nearby can be inhabited by squirrels and many different kinds of birds.

Wooded parks may be home to foxes, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, woodpeckers, salamanders and more.

And if you look extra carefully, you might see hawks, falcons, flying squirrels, or even a river otter if there's water in your park.

There are urban parks in every city around Puget Sound. Visit your nearest park and see what lives there. You'll be surprised!

What parks have you visited, and what did you see there?

Your own yard
If you live in a house with a yard, you've got habitat right outside your window!

Look carefully at all the birds that use the trees and shrubs in your yard. Hummingbirds, flickers, finches and wrens are common visitors at different times of the year.

There might even be a garter snake (don't worry, they're not poisonous) living in a rock wall, or bats living in a hole in a tree.

And don't forget about bugs! All kinds of insects and very small animals that live in your yard are wildlife, too.

If you don't see lots of wildlife in your yard, invite them! Plant trees or shrubs that can provide food or shelter for animals. Maybe you can put out a bird feeder, or a birdbath. If you have fresh water available for animals in the driest part of summer, you'll be the most popular house on the block for wildlife! But remember, if you're inviting small animals to visit your yard, keep your cat or dog shut inside except for occasional walks on a leash, so no one gets hurt!

What animals have you seen visiting your own yard?

What happens to habitat?
Some of Puget Sound's animals are having a hard time finding good places to live because their habitat is disappearing. But habitat doesn't just vanish into thin air. Lots of things that people do change habitat so that it isn't good for the animals that lived there.

Forests are cut down to build houses, changing that habitat into human habitat. Wetlands are filled in and dikes are built along rivers to make pasture land, changing that habitat into farm animal and plant habitat. Pollution from our houses, cars, and factories gets into the water and makes it unhealthy habitat for just about anything. Cities, roads and suburbs get in the way of animals trying to get from one habitat to another. And certain kinds of plants and animals that were brought here from other parts of the world take over and change the habitat that was here already.

All these things make it tough for some of our favorite animals to find a place to live.

But you can do something about it!

How you can help habitat
There are lots of things you can do to help change Puget Sound's habitats back into places where animals can live happily. Pick as many different ideas from the list below as you want to, and check them off as you go!

Here's what I've done to help habitat:

• Planted a native tree or other plant
• Picked up litter wherever I go (especially plastic!)
• Used recycled paper
• Rode the bus, carpooled, or walked instead of asking someone to drive me by myself
• Stopped using poisonous cleaners that say "Caution," "Warning," "Danger," or "Toxic" on their labels
• Re-using everything I can at home and at school
• Volunteered to help a park plant trees
• Volunteered to help a park get rid of weeds that take over habitat
• Put out a bird feeder
• Put out a bird bath
• Stopped using poisonous fertilizers and pesticides in the garden
• Visited every kind of habitat I could find to learn more about it
• Told someone else about Puget Sound habitat

Tell us and tell others what you've done to help habitat. Send your message here.