Sometimes, the tiniest things can be cause for celebration.
When tiny crab larvae were observed crawling along a section of beach at Cornet Bay in July, it put a smile on many people’s faces involved with a major beach restoration project.
The crab are not only an unusual beach discovery, they represented another example of a return of marine life to a shoreline that underwent a dramatic facelift two years ago.
The public is invited to attend a celebration of the Cornet Bay beach restoration at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 18.
Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson and Deception Pass State Park Manager Jack Hartt will be among the speakers on hand to share the story of a collaborative effort that led to 750 feet of shoreline restoration at Cornet Bay to improve fish habitat.
The celebration is for the first phase of an ongoing, eight-year project within Deception Pass State Park at Cornet Bay expected to be completed in 2016.
The project involved removing the bulkhead and restoring a natural beach slope, vegetation and sediment along a vast stretch of shoreline. (Below: A photo taken before the bulkhead, installed in the 1970s, was removed in the fall of 2012.)
The goal was to return the shoreline to a natural state where forage fish could spawn on the beach for the first time since the 1970s when the bulkhead was installed.
Forage fish are a staple food for juvenile salmon, which spend considerable time in the shallow water at Cornet Bay seeking shelter and food as they prepare themselves for the journey to deeper ocean waters.
Cornet Bay was targeted by the Island County Marine Resources Committee as a site of high priority to showcase a major shoreline renovation and in 2006 started talks with Deception Pass State Park about the feasibility of such a project within the park.
The Northwest Straits Foundation got onboard to help raise funds and manage the $500,000 project.
The first phase was paid for largely by money from the state’s Salmon Funding Recovery Board, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and state Department of Natural Resources, according to Joan Drinkwin, programs director for the Northwest Straits Foundation.
Heavy equipment was brought in the fall of 2012 to start taking out wooden, creosote pilings and begin transforming the landscape.
“The whole beach was sort of a construction zone for a while,” Drinkwin said.
“The nervous piece at the very beginning was pulling out the creosote pilings. We really didn’t know how long those things were.
“They ended up coming out really easily.”
After taking apart the wall, recreating the former habitat involved importing sand and gravel and building a more naturally sloping beach, then planting native vegetation.
Hartt said he’s seen many encouraging signs of marine life returning to its former natural state before the bulkhead was installed four decades ago.
He heard about the crab larvae discovery reported by Camano Island resident and Washington State University Beach Watcher Barbara Brock.
“It’s very alive compared to what it used to be,” Hartt said.
“We’re also seeing that people are enjoying it as a beach now. Kids are making sandcastles and it’s become what we all think of when we think of the beach.
“That’s exciting.”
