The Thatcher Bay Nearshore Restoration Project is located on the southwest shoreline of Blakely Island a sparsely populated island in the San Juan Archipelago . The primary goal of the Thatcher Bay Nearshore Restoration project is to improve natural processes and habitat function of the nearshore habitat in Thatcher Bay through the removal of nearly 12,000 cubic yards of wood waste covering 1.8 acres of valuable nearshore habitat. The objectives of the project were to 1) eliminate toxic sulfide contamination by removing wood waste, 2) restore the forage fish spawning habitat on the beach, and 3) restore intertidal areas to improve benthic flora and fauna habitat. Thatcher Bay was the site of a wood milling operation from 1879 to 1942. Mill waste in the form of sawdust and wood chips was disposed of in the intertidal area surrounding the mill. Wood chips in the upper intertidal area had completely buried substrates suitable for forage fish spawning. Lower in the intertidal where soft sediments exist the wood waste was releasing sulfide, a natural byproduct of wood decomposition. The sulfide contamination had been documented at levels that were toxic to benthic flora and fauna. In November and December 2014, the restoration of the area included removing 11,667 cy of wood waste and contaminated sediments and refilling the excavated area with clean sediments common to the surrounding areas. The project's goal is to restore habitat suitable for forage fish spawning on the beach and for invertebrate production and aquatic flora in the lower nearshore area. On June 2015 when SFEG visited the site, surf smelt eggs were documented in the new sediment.