The Possession Sound’s Snohomish River Estuary (PSSRE) provides a prime habitat for a large nesting population of North American osprey (Pandion haliaetus) in the Puget Sound region. The ospreys that nest in the Possession Sound are migratory, arriving between mid-March and mid-April to nest and leaving between late-August and late-September to winter in Southeastern Texas, Mexico, and Central America. Male and female ospreys migrate separately, with males returning first to prepare the nest and females leaving first to travel farther south. Juvenile ospreys do not make the return migration from their southern winter location until their second spring. As of 2016, osprey attendance reached 24 nesting pairs in the PSSRE. As apex predators whose diets are comprised primarily of fish, ospreys are considered sentinel species for studying contaminant levels in marine environments. Therefore, monitoring behavior, breeding success, and contaminant levels of ospreys can provide a census for the health of the local marine ecosystem. This study will take place on the return of the ospreys to the PSSRE in 2018 and will entail visually surveying the estuary to determine the nesting locations, return rates for both males and females, and dietary habits of ospreys. Past nest locations and populations will be compared to 2018 data. Additional research will utilize a remote camera with pan/tilt/zoom capabilities to observe and record three nest sites near the Port of Everett for nesting behaviors, fecundity, and identification of prey targets for potential heavy metal analysis.

The spread of disease can occur through bacterial colonization of shared contact points within a community. Potential platforms for bacterial colonization and subsequent spread have been introduced with the bike share applications across the city of Seattle. The bike handles serve as a shared contact point for each rider with the extent of bacterial colonization of those handles unknown. Using swabs to collect bacteria samples from bikes, we are able to assess the number of colony forming units present on each handle. Our ongoing research is examining the levels of bacteria found on the bikes in different parts of the city at different times. This analysis will show the extent of bacterial colonization, whether there is a time or location dependence, and provide a basis for further study into the risk this new shared contact point may pose.