EFFECTS OF PULP MILL POLLUTION ON OYSTERS 
173 
Table 10. — Census of oyster beds in Totten Inlet ( Oyster Bay) 
The total population of adult oysters in a few areas in Oakland Bay was greater 
than on any bed in the other bays. In Swindel Cove two beds averaged more than 
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HEIGHT (INCHES) 
Figure 46.— The height of the oyster beds in Oakland Bay, Swindel Cove, and Oyster Bay in 
relation to the proportion of dead oysters 
400 adult oysters per square yard, and numerous small areas outside of the dikes 
were as densely populated. 
Further comparisons might be made with improved beds in other bays, but the 
conditions which now exist in Oakland Bay are peculiar to that locality, and unique 
in the history of oyster culture of Puget Sound. No similar set of conditions has ever 
been known in the vicinity. Various reports have been investigated regarding ab- 
normal losses of oysters in a limited locality, but investigation showed they were in 
no way parallel cases with the one now under consideration. Where abnormal death 
rate has occurred in the past, it has invariably been when the oysters were outwardly 
in good condition. In a small section of Skookum Inlet the oysters died very rapidly 
for a short time. At the beginning of the time of high death rate, the oysters were in 
excellent condition and the growers were receiving a special bonus above the regular 
price for their catch. In no other case has the oyster appeared to remain closed, 
become thin, and ceased to grow before dying. Nor has any condition been so pro- 
longed as that existing now in Oakland Bay. 
