Hood Canal is a fjord that was carved by glaciers in the last Ice Age. It forms the westernmost 60 miles of the Puget Sound Basin. The area includes high, rugged mountain ranges, foothills, and fertile flood plains. Climate types vary widely from temperate near the shore to alpine areas on the higher peaks, from rainforests to areas of less than 30” of annual rainfall. The area is characterized by dry summers and winters of moderate to extreme rainfall and snow.

Because of the variety, the area supports a wide array of plant and animal life. The freshwater sources of the Canal include snow and glacier melt from the Olympic Mountains and spring-fed lakes and wetlands of the Kitsap Penninsula.  These are carried to the Canal by many rivers and streams.

Hood Canal is particularly sensitive to environmental influences.  This is in part due to water exchange, which is slowed by a shallow underwater shelf at the entrance and the length and narrowness of the canal itself. The Canal currently suffers from cyclical low oxygen levels thought to be linked with high nitrogen inputs.

This is outlined in a University of Washington study. The scientists participating in this study have remarked that Hood Canal is unique in the world as a fjord.  As a consequence, studies of other fjords will not necessarily apply to conditions found in Hood Canal.

The imbalance of nitrogen in the Canal causes dead zones, largely occurring where the water has the least exchange at the southern tip. The environmental health of the canal is important to residents as well valuable at the regional, State and Federal levels.  Both residents and tourists harvest salmon, shellfish, and other products from the Canal.  Seafood that is sold commercially is an important local industry.