In an effort to protect young salmon from predation, new fishing rules will allow anglers to double their catch of some warm-water predatory fish found in 77 lakes across Washington state. Reducing the population of salmon-eating bass, catfish and walleye is one of many ideas promoted by the governor’s Southern Resident Orca Task Force, which […]
January 30, 2020
Missing orca named ‘Mega’ lived a long, productive life, says Ken Balcomb
A 43-year-old male orca named Mega, now missing and presumed dead, was one of the first new calves that researcher Ken Balcomb spotted when he began his extensive census of Southern Resident killer whales back in 1976. Ken didn’t know it at the time, but the baby orca — one of nine born in 1977 […]
January 29, 2020
How air pollution becomes water pollution with long-term effects on Puget Sound
When thinking of air pollution, I used to think only of breathing toxic chemicals into our lungs, with uncertain health effects. That’s bad enough, but air pollution — which is everywhere — is also getting into our waterways and penetrating deep into our food webs. Rivers, lakes and Puget Sound, no body of water escapes […]
January 22, 2020
Partnership explores revised measures of Puget Sound health, as 2020 deadline arrives
It is the year 2020. You could say that the time has run out for restoring Puget Sound to a healthy condition. But time marches on. When the Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership in 2007, lawmakers included this sentence in state law: “It is the goal of the state that the health of Puget […]
January 7, 2020
PSI launches “Our Water Ways” blog
We are pleased to announce that we are launching a new blog from veteran environmental journalist Christopher Dunagan. Chris has been a senior writer at the Puget Sound Institute since 2015 and has written dozens of in-depth stories for our science magazine Salish Sea Currents. That signature reporting will continue, but now Chris will be […]
January 7, 2020
Welcome to ‘Our Water Ways,’ a blog about Puget Sound and all things water-related
Welcome to “Our Water Ways,” a new blog I’m writing for the Puget Sound Institute with a name that will sound familiar to some. For the past 12 years, I’ve been writing a blog called “Watching Our Water Ways” for the Kitsap Sun. Now, my blogging efforts will have a new home. I’ve outlined the […]