Pickering Passage is a

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

, in the southern end of part of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 o ...

. Entirely within Mason County, the Pickering Passage separates Hartstine Island from the mainland, and connects

Totten Inlet Totten Inlet lies in the southern end of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The inlet extends southwest from the western end of Squaxin Passage, and much of the county line between Mason and Thurston counties runs down the center of ...

with the north end of

Case Inlet Case Inlet, in southern Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington, is an arm of water between Key Peninsula on the east and Hartstine Island on the west. Its northern end, called North Bay, reaches nearly to Hood Canal, creating the defining isth ...

. Pickering Passage flows past the mouths of

Hammersley Inlet Hammersley Inlet, in southwestern Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington, is an arm of water leading to Shelton, Washington and Oakland Bay. Hammersley Inlet is also known as Big Skookum. Description Hammersley Inlet connects the Oakland Bay ...

, and

Eld Inlet Eld Inlet is an inlet located at the southern end of Puget Sound in Thurston County, Washington. It is the second southernmost arm of Puget Sound after neighboring Budd Inlet. Etymology Eld Inlet was given its present name by Charles Wilkes durin ...

. It is a nutrient rich area, producing

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

that grow very quickly.

History

Pickering Passage was named by

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

during the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

of 1838–1842, to honor

Charles Pickering (naturalist) Charles Pickering (November 10, 1805 – March 17, 1878) was an American race scientist and naturalist. Biography Born on Starucca Creek, Upper Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, the grandson of Colonel Timothy Pickering, after the death of his father h ...

, one of the expedition's naturalists. From 1922 to 1969, a

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 ...

owned and operated by

Mason County, Washington Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,726. The county seat and only incorporated city is Shelton. The county was formed out of Thurston County on March 13, 1854. Original ...

crossed Pickering Passage to link Harstine Island to the mainland. The ferry was replaced by a bridge in 1969Findlay, Jean Cammon and Paterson, Robin, ''Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound'', (2008) Arcadia Publishing , at 119.

References

Bodies of water of Mason County, Washington Straits of Washington (state) Landforms of Puget Sound {{MasonCountyWA-geo-stub