Netarts Bay
[5] Little to no vertical variations in temperature and salinity prevent density-driven current velocities, indicating that Netarts Bay is a well-mixed estuary.
[4] Sediment cores obtained from within the bay have provided geological evidence for the existence of large, regularly occurring megathrust earthquakes throughout northwestern Oregon and the larger Cascadia Subduction Zone.
[10] Sharp sand-layer contacts in the sediment record (deposited by earthquake-generated tsunami waves) indicate post-quake sinking of the marsh.
[11] This phenomenon, known as coseismic subsidence, provides strong geological evidence for the regular occurrence of major earthquakes occurring within the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
[12] Remnants of fire hearths from Native American settlements along nearby Nehalem and Salmon Rivers provide additional evidence of land subsidence (1–2 meters) resultant from subduction-zone earthquakes.
The establishment of a commercial fishery in the 1860s[14] confirms a historical population within Netarts bay, with evidence of harvesting along the West Coast of North America by humans going back 4000 years.
[14] Potential factors preventing population recovery post fishery collapse include: habitat degradation, sedimentation by increased motorized boat use, suffocation by burrowing shrimp, pollution, predation by invasive Japanese oyster drill and parasitism by non-native flat worm[18] After their 1992 survey, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife began a large scale restoration attempt in Netarts, setting out 9 million spat between 1993-1998.
[19][14] Anecdotal observations from residents also suggest small pockets of naturally occurring oysters subsist in the southwest corner of the bay.
[24] Japanese eelgrass (Zostera japonica) is an introduced species found in bays and estuaries ranging from Oregon to British Columbia, Canada.
[27] Cape Lookout State Park contains 13 suspected archaeological sites, including 6 on Netarts sand spit representing at least one and perhaps up to three major villages.
[28] Numerous stone artifacts were also found at the site, including: projectile points, blades, scrapers, gravers, core choppers, modified flakes, double pitted cobbles, hammerstones, and whetstones.
[28] The most recent occupation layer also contained trade goods including: rusted iron (perhaps knife blades), a copper pendant, and many sherds of Chinese porcelain.
[35][36][37][38] Water samples from Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery tested positive for a bacterium, Vibrio tubiashii, and this pathogen was suspected to be the cause of the mortality.
[34] Researchers from Oregon State University and Hatchery employees were able to work together to make the connection between early larval mortality and upwelling conditions that negatively impacted the entire west coast shellfish industry.
[39][40] Using Hatchery records of larval performance and monitoring of incoming tidal water from Netarts Bay, low aragonite saturation states at the time of spawning were correlated with the high levels of larval mortality that heavily reduced hatchery production and negatively impacted the west coast oyster industry[39] Further research from OSU, supported by Whiskey Creek, helped to identify the first 48 hours of larval life, in which the initial shell is built, as a window of vulnerability to ocean acidification due to the rapid rate of calcification and limited energetic budget.
[41] Experiments decoupling PCO2, pH demonstrated that aragonite saturation has the greatest impact on shell development of early bivalve larvae.
[42] These conclusions supported buffering of incoming water and chemical monitoring approach used by Whiskey Creek Hatchery to improve survival of larval oysters.
[40] Real-time water quality monitoring systems now exist to help shellfish farmers, scientists, and others invested in oyster aquaculture track changes in aragonite saturation state, pCO2 and pH.
[46] Water quality data are provided by analytical gas monitoring systems known as "burkolators," named for the OSU researcher who invented them, Dr. Burke Hales.
[47] Initially implemented as a scientific tool, burkolators are now used at 5 shellfish hatcheries along the U.S. West Coast to monitor incoming water quality.
Spatial and temporal variations in ocean chemistry require continual adaptation,[39] and shellfish growers are subject to greater uncertainty in the face of climate change.
