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Blooms of the harmful alga Alexandrium catenella produce potent neurotoxins that accumulate in shellfish, and cause gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms if contaminated shellfish are consumed by humans. The limited predictive capacity for A. catenella blooms poses a significant problem for local managers and shellfish growers and threatens the vitality of the $108 million shellfish industry in Washington State. Shellfish closures due to A. catenella blooms in Puget Sound have increased in frequency, duration, and geographic scope since the 1950s. The short-term goals of this project are to determine the dormancy requirements and germination characteristics of the benthic cyst life stage of A. catenella, and evaluate the effectiveness of traditional cyst mapping as a tool for early warning of bloom events in Puget Sound. The long-term goal is to incorporate this critical information on A. catenella life history characteristics into a model that will provide an unprecedented, powerful risk assessment of toxic blooms in Puget Sound now and in a future warmer climate. This dataset describes the viability of cysts (i.e. their ability to germinate given optimal conditions in the laboratory) from approx 40 locations throughout Puget Sound. This information will be used to modify traditional cyst mapping to better understand how this risk factor is related to bloom potential.