By Ilene Anderson

Special to the Journal

A blast of dynamite sent a plume of water 100 feet in the air last Saturday when 700 pounds of explosives were detonated in the middle of Friday Harbor.

It was the biggest in a series of explosions aimed at leveling a shoal in Friday Harbor. The shoal has posed a navigation hazard for ferries. The top of the rock was originally 15 feet 5 inches,” said diver Mike Wheatley of C. & M. Diving Co. of Seattle, who was in charge of detonation.

The divers off the Washington State Labs were seen at the last minute and warned to get out of the water. Percy Washington, fishery biologist to the Port of Friday Harbor said he was surprised at the length of the blast. He will recommend to the State Department of Fisheries that they never allow it to happen again.

“It was devastating,” said Washington who estimated 70 percent of the herring in the water and some of the shiner perch died in the blast. The height of the water blown into the air indicates to me that most of the energy went through the water and not through the rocks. I think the fish suffered from it,” he said.

Washington said the exact figures will not be released for several days, but that an estimated 3,500 pounds of fish were killed in the three blasts. Most were herring.

“Five minutes after the blast there was a line of herring so thick you could reach down and grab hands full, he said.

Whatever, Washington said nothing is going to be wasted.

“Sixty to 80 percent of herring between “0” and one year old die naturally. It just happened earlier than it would have under normal conditions,” he said.

The ling cod and the seagulls and even some killer whales were in the harbor feasting on the remains.

One of the charter sports-fishing captains went out after the blast and scooped up a good portion of the herring that floated up, to use as bait.

“They came back to life in the bait tank. I think a good portion was just stunned and that those the birds didn’t kill right away recovered and swam away,” he said.

He said he didn’t see any sizeable kill as a result of the blasting, just enough for the birds to have a field day.

“There was more herring killed on Saturday than in any of the previous blasts due to the size of the shot, but no salmon, no ling cod and no seals,” said Wheatley, who dove in the area afterward.

“It doesn’t look like a barren, flat piece of rock anymore. The rock is broken up from pea-gravel to two foot chunks,” he said.

Now that the area is all broken up it will make a better habitat for marine life, Wheatley said.

“In the next year sports-fishing will pick up 200 percent, predicted Wheatley.

It’s going to produce a better habitat, agreed Washington, who says the size of the rocks is important. It will make homes for the rockfish and the lings will live on the reef feeding off the rockfish.

“We have to see what will happen,” said Washington.“But we have noticed fish moving back into the area right away.”