Last
update:
1-jan-07
The
island is surrounded by three bays: Samish Bay to the East
and North, Padilla Bay to the West and South, and Alice
Bay, a small bay off Samish Bay, on the Southeast side of
the Island.
Samish
Bay is the site of several oyster growing operations: Blau
Oyster, Taylor Shellfish farms along Chuckanut Drive, and
several small oyster growers along the shorelines. Crabs
and bottom fish, as well as salmon inhabit our waters, and
provide residents and commercial fishers with in-season
catch. Eel grass along the muddy bottom forms excellent
habitat for our marine population. Seals visit all year
long on the hunt club island. The resident blue heron colony
and our year-round eagle and hawk population is a joy for
bird-watchers.
According
to Samish oral history, island folklore, and early
maps, Samish Island was separated from the mainland
by a slough and tidal marsh until it was diked a century
ago. Samish Indians living at Scotts Point netted ducks
in the marsh and maintained large oyster beds on both sides
of Scotts Point. Closing the slough may be responsible for
increasing erosion on the Padilla Bay side of the island,
and increasing silting of the Alice-Samish Bay side. It
also probably cut off juvenile Samish River salmon from
feeding in Padilla Bay before they headed out to sea each
spring.
