We’ve just released our annual report highlighting results from our seventh season of watercraft inspections to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species to Whatcom County waters.

In 2018, we conducted a total of 12,444 watercraft inspections at Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. The inspected watercraft came from a total of 267 different water bodies in 29 different states or provinces prior to launching at Lake Whatcom or Lake Samish in 2018, including 14 mussel infested waters. As watercraft continue to arrive from high-risk waters, the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program remains an important defense in the protection of our local waters.

The 2018 inspection results can be viewed using an interactive online Story Map that shows the last water body visited by boats entering Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. We decontaminated four boats that had recently been in mussel-infested waters and found 150 boats with vegetation and 193 boats with standing water on board that required some additional attention. Our inspectors used these situations as an opportunity to educate boaters about the importance of cleaning, draining, and drying their boats between every use.

More detailed results from the 2018 boating season can be found in the Whatcom Boat Inspections 2018 Annual Report and by viewing our interactive Story Map.