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I’ll tell you what’s up. The local saltwater bullfrog population. Back in the 1950s, the University of Washington created the UW Marine Labs in Friday Harbor, with a mandate to use marine science to further local economies.  One of the earliest projects involved an effort to raise bullfrogs for the frogleg market.  Several barrels of bullfrogs were brought from Texas and introduced into a small lake on San Juan Island, which lake is now part of Lakedale Resort.  One scientist also attempted to crossbreed Dungeness crabs and frogs, hoping to get eight frog legs per frog, but the effort was abandoned as it only produced green soft-shelled crabs that tasted like chicken. Anyway, these Texas-size bullfrogs are quite serious predators and voracious eaters, and they found the native species of freshwater creatures on San Juan Island to be quite tasty and easy to catch.  The frogs particularly sought out the cutthroat salmon fingerlings that grew in the streams.  The bullfrogs procreated and diaspora-ed from their original pond to ultimately habitate virtually every freshwater locale on each of the islands in our archipelago.  Which dispersal begs the question of how they got from one island to another, and maybe foreshadowed the current problem.  Anyway, the bullfrogs have now become a very serious threat to every native freshwater species in the San Juan Islands. It is predicted that within the next 5 years, all native freshwater species in the San Juan Islands will be wiped out by these frogs.  Worse, as the food supply diminished, the frogs migrated downstream, and some adapted to the saltwater environment at the foot of the streams.  The saltwater bullfrog has not yet been shown to be a separate species, but DNA testing now underway may bolster that claim.  In any case, these frogs are huge, and can easily overpower and dismember a bull Dungeness. There are currently 4 areas identified in the San Juans with populations of these saltwater bullfrogs, but the largest concentration is in the harbor which contains the Port of Friday Harbor marina.  It is not known why this area hosts so many of the adaptable amphibians, nor what can be done about it.  Steve Percer, who is in charge of Night Security at the Port of Friday Harbor, says that the frogs congregate on the docks at night, create a serious tripping hazard to pedestrians, traumatize small pets, and disrupt citizens’ sleep with their voluminous vocalizating.  Steve recruited volunteer liveaboards from the marina, and formed the group named Recycle Invasive Bullfrogs Into Tasty Treats “RIBITT” and is hopping to the task of ridding the marina of these unwanted invaders.  Since the bullfrogs have no natural predators, they can be easily approached and apprehended, either by hand, or by using modified crab pots baited with cheddar cheese. Then the frogs are deprived of their life essence by euthanasia with carbon dioxide gas via dry ice, cleaned, and then recycled as a feast of protein, utilizing a standard crab cooker and butter.  Steve is considering promoting ecological-service vacations to the San Juan Islands, in which eco-tourists would come to the islands, be outfitted with gear and a volunteer guide, and set out on late evening bullfrog extermination expeditions. Apres frogging, the hunters will enjoy a lovely dinner of the freshest frog legs (or tofu), organic greens, baked goods from Café Demeter, and white wines from the San Juan Islands Winery. Bon appetit.  For more information, call RIBITT’s booking agent, Friday Harbor Marine/Friday Harbor Yachts, at 360-378-4047, or email mike@fridayharbormarine.com