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Welcome to the Indian Island Marine Health Observatory, located in Fishing Bay on the Eastsound waterfront, Orcas Island, Washington.  
Read our 16th Annual Report: Indian Island Annual Report 2024

IIMHO is an ongoing interactive research program involving marine scientists, local volunteers, and Orcas schools. 
 We work with local community, providing outreach and education while surveying marine life in the eelgrass meadows, beaches, and rocky intertidal areas of Indian Island and Fishing Bay.
Indian Island at high tide
Fishing Bay, which surrounds Indian Island, supports a wide diversity of marine life.
Project Goals
  • To inspire appreciation of the amazing marine biodiversity in our own front yard.
  • To inventory local marine diversity and share this knowledge with islanders, visitors, and other researchers.
  • To teach responsible marine stewardship and foster respect for marine animals and plants.
  • To improve our understanding of human activities that affect local marine life so that as a community we can work to reduce our environmental impact.
  • To involve island schools in meaningful research and discoveries.
  • To keep Indian Island and Fishing Bay clean and healthy.  Indian Island is Eastsound's window on the sea: a legacy making our community unique.
      
flat-topped porcelain crab                                                       oystercatcher
Get Involved
Make a donation (through Kwiáht) for supplies and school activities  
Invite us to speak at your event
Proudly display our logo at your business
 Ask us about less-toxic alternatives to household and garden products 
Founding Partners
Kwiáht  
The Indian Island Marine Health Observatory 
is part of Kwiaht's San Juan Islands Marine Monitoring Network - www.kwiaht.org
Kwiaht has been approved as one of only 91 nonprofit organizations nationwide (two in Washington State) in the first tier of a new federally funded youth conservation program.  IIMHO and Kwiaht share the goal to create more hands-on conservation career training for local high school and college students, tribal youth, and young veterans. 
WSU Beach Watchers
U.S Bureau of Land Management 
Participating Organizations
San Juan County Land Bank | San Juan County Parks 
Orcas Island School District | Orcas Christian School
P8170584 by Kwiaht.
false ochre star