Edmonds Underwater Park (EUP) is a local classic
scuba diving
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...
site in the northern
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of
Edmonds Edmonds may refer to:
* Edmonds (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the surname)
* Edmonds, Washington, a city in Washington, US
** Edmonds station (Washington), a passenger train station in Washington, US
* Edmonds station (SkyTra ...
immediately north of the Edmonds Washington State Ferry terminal on the
Edmonds-Kingston route. EUP is relatively shallow with a maximum depth of about 45 feet. There is a grid network of
anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
ed ropes that lead to a variety of submerged features. The park is built and maintained by a group of volunteers that meet every Saturday and Sunday at 9 am.
Attractions & features
There are several submerged
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
s including the large
tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
Triumph. The site is famous for very large
ling cod, numerous large
cabezon Cabezón is the Spanish word for "stubborn" or "big-headed".
In Chile, cabezon means intelligent.
Cabezon or cabezón may refer to:
Fish species
* Cabezon (fish) (''Scorpaenichthys marmoratus''), a species of fish in the family Cottidae
* '' Cach ...
, occasional
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
, many surf
perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
and
rockfish, and a lot of
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s.
Gray whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bree ...
s have been spotted by divers at this site.
Entrance is via moderate surface swims. There is a restroom with diver dressing areas and an outdoor shower that is functional when the
weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...
is above
freezing
Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid o ...
. Just north of the
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
terminal is a 300-foot (91.4 m) exclusion zone. The site has a good parking area that fills up early. Numerous
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s and
coffee house
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...
s are in the immediate area and a local dive shop is conveniently located south of the park on Railroad Avenue.
Lopez Pontoon
A new feature was sunk on November 4, 2009. The Lopez Pontoon is a large concrete piece that served as a bridge fender. Its dimensions are 100'x 20'x 13' and rest west of the Triumph. It has 5 chambers in which a diver may easily enter. The pontoon will serve well as a habitat for fish, invertebrates, and algae and sea weeds.
Edmonds Underwater Park, Shore Diving
/ref>
References
External links
Map of Edmonds Underwater Park
Edmonds, Washington
Underwater diving sites in the United States
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