Surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)

Resident from late summer to late spring, the surf scoter dives over rock, sand and mud feeding on molluscs and crustaceans. They dive with wings partially open and swim underwater with feet and wings. Scoters are the most abundant diving duck in Puget Sound and during the winter will number about 10 birds per square kilometer in the South Sound. Their densities, however, have declined by 57 percent during the last 20 years.

Tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)

Spends most of its time on marine islands and nests primarily on Protection Island and Tatoosh Island. Feeds mostly on surface-schooling small fish and squids. Breeding numbers have fallen from over 1100 birds to 13 pairs in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and population levels have been low for the last 20 years.

Western sandpiper (Calidris mauri)

Breeds i the coastal tundra of Alaska and great numbers move through the coasts of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Different sandpiper species have varying lengths of legs and bills to exploit differing beach feeding niches. The dunlin probes deeply; Least and Western sandpipers poke the substrate and snatch surface food; Sanderlings feed at the edge of the surf.