As sunlight glistens off the Strait of Juan de Fuca and seals pop their heads above the salt water surface, two boats are making their way along Clallam County’s northern coast this weekend in search of what lies beneath.
The crews are scouring the ocean floor for lost or forgotten crab pots, fish nets and other fishing gear that linger dozens of feet below the surface and trap unassuming sea life, long after the fishermen claimed their catch and returned home.
And two days into the study — the first of its kind for the county — coordinators say they haven’t found nearly as much derelict gear as they anticipated.
“That’s good news,” said Jeff June, of Seattle-based Natural Resources Consultants, who is leading the operation.
“That’s one of the things we needed to learn by doing this study.”
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The rest of the story appears as the Sunday Showcase in the Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.