We are looking for all types of watercraft for our 2023 Watercraft Inspector Training to be held at Bloedel Donovan on April 6th. Volunteers will provide their boats for new and returning staff to get familiar with boat parts and inspection and decontamination procedures. We need a variety of boats including pleasure, fishing, PWCs, and ski or wakeboard boats. In exchange for volunteering your vessel, we will provide you with a $10 volunteer discount that can be used in addition to the discount earned by taking the AIS awareness course on your 2023 Annual Permit!

Please contact the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program at (360) 778-7975 or email kblange@cob.org if you are interested in volunteering your boat.

During the pandemic, the City of Bellingham offered financial relief for the Whatcom Boat Inspection program by automatically applying a $10 discount to the price of annual Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) boating permits required to launch on Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. With the end of the Washington State COVID-19 emergency orders, annual permit costs are reverting to the pre-pandemic price structure. But the AIS boating permit discount is still available. Take the AIS Awareness Course and complete the test to earn your “AIS Awareness Course Certificate” and a $10 online discount code for your 2023 permit purchase. Thank you for being a responsible steward of our local lakes and preventing the spread of invasive species! We look forward to seeing you on the water in 2023.

September 30^th marked the end of the 2022 summer boating season for the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program. Aquatic invasive species inspectors conducted over 14,000 inspections in 2022 in an effort to protect our local waterways.

Inspections will be available intermittently at Bloedel Donovan through the month of October, weather permitting. Call the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program at (360) 778-7975 to confirm hours or to schedule an on-site appointment.

Thank you to all our boaters for a great season! Please remember to clean, drain, and dry your boats and gear to protect our local lakes!

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

In 2021, inspectors conducted a total of 14,415 watercraft inspections at Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. The inspected watercraft came from a total of 318 different water bodies in 29 different states or provinces prior to launching at Lake Whatcom or Lake Samish in 2020, including 11 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 lakes.

The 2021 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 ten boats that had recently been in mussel-infested waters and found 136 boats with vegetation and 1,146 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 2021 boating season can be found in the Whatcom Boat Inspections 2021 Annual Report and by viewing our interactive Story Map.

September 30^th marked the end of the 2021 summer boating season for the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program. Aquatic invasive species inspectors conducted over 14,000 inspections in 2021 in an effort to protect our local waterways.

Inspections will be available intermittently at Bloedel Donovan through the month of October, weather permitting. Call the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program at (360) 778-7975 to confirm hours or to schedule an on-site appointment.

Thank you to all our boaters for a great season! Please remember to clean, drain, and dry your boats and gear to protect our local lakes!

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

New safety and inspection protocols were implemented in 2020 to minimize the spread of COVID-19. Despite a delayed start and the closure of the Canadian border, inspectors conducted a total of 14,777 watercraft inspections at Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish—a 14 percent increase when compared to the 2019 season. The inspected watercraft came from a total of 293 different water bodies in 29 different states or provinces prior to launching at Lake Whatcom or Lake Samish in 2020, 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 lakes.

The 2020 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 six boats that had recently been in mussel-infested waters and found 231 boats with vegetation and 970 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 2020 boating season can be found in the Whatcom Boat Inspections 2020 Annual Report and by viewing our interactive Story Map.

September 30^th marks the end of the 2020 summer boating season for the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program. Aquatic invasive species inspectors conducted over 14,000 inspections in 2020 in an effort to protect our local waterways.

Inspections will be available intermittently at Bloedel Donovan and Lake Samish through the month of October, weather permitting. Call the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program at (360) 778-7975 to confirm hours or to schedule an on-site appointment.

Thank you to all our boaters for a great season! Please remember to clean, drain, and dry your boats and gear to protect our local lakes!

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

In 2019, we conducted a total of 12,923 watercraft inspections at Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. The inspected watercraft came from a total of 289 different water bodies in 20 different states or provinces prior to launching at Lake Whatcom or Lake Samish in 2019, including 9 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 2019 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 six boats that had recently been in mussel-infested waters and found 169 boats with vegetation and 486 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 2019 boating season can be found in the Whatcom Boat Inspections 2019 Annual Report and by viewing our interactive Story Map.

We are looking for all types of watercraft for our 2020 Watercraft Inspector Training to be held at Bloedel Donovan on April 15 and 16. Volunteers will provide their boats for new and returning staff to get familiar with boat parts and inspection and decontamination procedures. We need a variety of boats including pleasure, fishing, PWCs, and ski or wakeboard boats. In exchange for volunteering your vessel, we will provide you with a $10 discount on your 2020 Annual Permit.

Please contact the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program at (360) 778-7975 or email ais@cob.org if you are interested in volunteering your boat.

Note: 2020 inspector training has been postponed to comply with the WA Executive Order for COVID-19. Please call for more information.

September 30th marks the end of the 2019 summer boating season for the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program. Aquatic invasive species inspectors conducted over 12,500 inspections in 2019 in an effort to protect our local waterways.

If you need to get your vessel inspected and permitted OR if your vessel is returning from out of the area and needs to be re-inspected, please call the Whatcom Boat Inspection Program at (360) 778-7975 to schedule an on-site appointment.

Thank you to all our boaters for a great season! Please remember to clean, drain, and dry your boats and gear to protect our local lakes!