Prior to European settlement, dense assemblages of Olympia oysters covered as many as 20,000 acres, or 26.7% of Puget Sound’s intertidal zone. Today they occupy about 5% of their original range, prompting a slew of state and federally-funded restoration efforts.
Sarah DeWeerdt reports on the comeback of Puget Sound’s only native oyster for our magazine Salish Sea Currents.