Kelly McAllister wrote:

"Point No Point is alive with fish and lots of birds are appreciative
(The ubiquitous Pacific sandlance is likely the top attractant.
The locals call them "candlefish", apparently a name commonly
applied to different species in different places)."

Kelly,

I do a bit of work this time of year (September) at Apple Cove Point, about 7 miles south of PNP.
The most common bait fish that I've seen there since 1990 has been the Pacific Herring (Clupea
harengus pallasi). Occasionally, I have seen a few anchovy (Engraulis mordax) or sand lance
(Ammodytes haxapterus) there, but these are few and far between.

Back in July, I did note a number of sand lance which appeared to be spawning on the beach
north of Three-Tree Point (Burien area of King County). As a point of interest, There were
reports of large numbers of sardines (pilchards - Sardinops sagax) on the Vancouver Island side
of the Strait of Juan de Fuca this past June, but I'm not aware that there have been any numbers
of these fish inside Puget Sound since the 1930s.

The herring will often form into "bait balls", where a large number of these small fish concentrate
into a fairly small area. This may be a predator-avoidance response (feeding salmon 'herding'
the herring into a small bunch?)? In any event, these concentrations of bait fish really attract the
birds. I've seen hundreds of common murres, rhinoceros auklets, several species of gulls and
terns, and a jaeger or two working over the bait balls, and it can be pretty exciting to watch the
birds in their 'feeding frenzy'.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net