Filucy Bay Ecosystem

Embayments

884 protected lagoons, embayments, estuaries and inlets were historically mapped in Puget Sound

Salish Sea References

• Ecology Shoreline Photography Viewer
• The Encyclopedia of Puget Sound provides a peer reviewed version of the wiki
• PRISM Project Search
• Washington Coastal Atlas
• UW River History Project

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Filucy Bay is a complex of two small beach systems and three coastal inlets (drowned stream valleys) on the southeast shore of the Key Peninsula near the village of Longbranch in South Puget Sound, and includes three Inlet Process Units in the south (IPU 64), west (IPU 70}, and north of the bay (IPU 74).

• NOAA Chart of Filucy Bay in the Coastal Atlas
• Filucy Bay in the Nearshore Portal (HWS)

Notes

• The Drayton, Balch and Pitt Passage area was identified by Cereghino et al 2012 as one of a few areas in South Puget Sound with a relatively high concentration of lightly degraded shoreline, possibly serving as a nearshore habitat 'island'.

Inlet Process Unit 74

Inlet Process Unit 74 is the northern arm of Filucy Bay, located in South Puget Sound.

Notes

• Shorelines in this system are a conservation target by the Great Peninsula Conservancy
• Cereghino et al 2012 identified this nearshore area of South Puget Sound as one of two relatively undeveloped areas.

Nearshore Strategies Data Report

Cereghino et al 2012 describes a sound-wide analysis to identify and describe coastal inlet sites in Puget Sounds as part of a nearshore ecosystem restoration strategy (using remote sensing data c. 2000-2006). The following narrative was developed to support distribution and use of analysis results:

Coastal Inlet Site 74 is one of 144 coastal inlets identified in the South Sound Sub-basin. This embayment had a historic length of 1617 meters, with 0 acres of vegetated wetland, receiving flows from a 3.4 square km watershed. Based on these metrics, it ranks 70 out of 144 in its subbasin, and scores 43 out of 100 point in terms of size and complexity among all Puget Sound Coastal Inlets. The PSNERP Strategy Analysis assigned this site to group P4, a large group of 68 sites of average length embayments, but with smaller than average watersheds and wetlands.

Over five generations of coastal inlet development, mapping suggests this embayment may have lost 26% of its historical embayment shoreline length, and none of current shoreline has evidence of tidal flow degradation. An estimated 9% of the nearshore zone, and 4% of the contributing watershed has impervious surfaces greater than 10%. Based on these metrics, this site ranks 115 out of 144 in its sub-basin, and scores 14 out of 100 points among all Puget Sound coastal inlets, in terms of the intensity and complexity of degradation. The PSNERP Strategy Analysis assigned this site to group D1, a very large and variable group of 162 sites with low potential for lost length, and not particularly high levels of shoreline modification, or development in the nearshore and watershed. Based on this assignement, the site is recommended for a management approach focussed on protection of ecosystem processes to prevent degradation of ecosystem services in the future.