page_title: South Puget Sound
section_title: Mudflats
hierarchical_section_title: South Puget Sound / Geography / Mudflats
caption_attribution_description: English: Oyster Bay at the end of Totten Inlet, Washington State, looking north from Thurston County into Mason County
context_page_description: South Puget Sound is the southern reaches of Puget Sound in Southwest Washington, in the United States' Pacific Northwest. It is one of five major basins encompassing the entire Sound, and the shallowest basin, with a mean depth of 37 meters. Exact definitions of the region vary: the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife counts all of Puget Sound south of the Tacoma Narrows for fishing regulatory purposes. The same agency counts Mason, Jefferson, Kitsap, Pierce and Thurston Counties for wildlife management. The state's Department of Ecology defines a similar area south of Colvos Passage.
  The term "South Sound Region" or just "South Sound" is used to apply to the communities surrounding the water. The South Sound contains the Olympia-Tumwater Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Shelton Micropolitan Statistical Area. The terms appear in names of local institutions and commercial entities such as South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia and South Sound Center in Lacey.
context_section_description: Great tidal variation gives rise to extensive mudflats in the inlets of the South Sound. Tidal variation increases with distance from the entrance to Puget Sound and is greatest at 15+ feet in the South Sound, versus only 11 in Seattle (compare 5 in Los Angeles). Mudflats include the Mud Bay region at the southern end of Eld Inlet and Oyster Bay at the southern end of Totten Inlet. The entirety of Oyster Bay is exposed mud at low tide.
caption: Oyster Bay mudflats
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