The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project has mobilized dozens of organizations in the U.S. and Canada to find an answer to one of the region’s greatest mysteries. What is killing so many young salmon before they can return home to spawn? A series of talks at the 2016 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference brought together some of the latest […]
June 28, 2016
Advances in technology help researchers evaluate threatened Puget Sound steelhead
New, smaller acoustic tags will allow scientists to track steelhead migrations in Puget Sound in ways that were once impossible. Will this new technology provide answers to the mysterious decline of these now-threatened fish? Read the article in Salish Sea Currents.
June 17, 2016
Contaminants higher in resident blackmouth Chinook
Many of Puget Sound’s chinook salmon spend their entire lives in local waters and don’t migrate to the open ocean. These fish tend to collect more contaminants in their bodies because of the sound’s relatively high levels of pollution. Read the article in Salish Sea Currents.
June 3, 2016
Salish Sea ‘slime’ vital for shorebirds
It turns out that a gooey substance known as biofilm is a big deal for Salish Sea shorebirds, providing critical food for some species. But could a proposed port expansion in Vancouver threaten this slimy resource? Read the latest article in Salish Sea Currents.
May 20, 2016
New theory rethinks spread of PCBs and other toxics in Puget Sound
Last month, more than 1100 scientists and researchers converged on Vancouver, B.C. to attend the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. The biennial conference is the region’s largest gathering on the state of the ecosystem, and we sent a group of reporters to bring back some of the highlights. Over the next several months, we’ll be collecting those highlights into […]
April 22, 2016
PSI armoring report featured on KUOW
KUOW interviewed PSI’s Aimee Kinney today about the impacts of shoreline armoring on the Puget Sound ecosystem. Kinney was the lead author of an analysis report of recent nearshore studies funded by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. New studies reveal that shoreline armoring degrades beach ecology and hurts Puget Sound species like forage fish and salmon. […]
April 12, 2016
Gearing up for the 2016 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Watch for updates and stories from the 2016 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound this week. We are sending ten science writers to Vancouver to cover important findings from the conference that will be published throughout the year as part of our Salish Sea Currents series. If you want a sense of what […]
April 8, 2016
Sources of sand: maps show crucial ‘feeder bluffs’
For more than a hundred years, property owners have seen shoreline erosion as the enemy. They have battled it with startling amounts of concrete and have lashed together so many protective beach structures that about a third of Puget Sound’s shoreline is now classified as armored. It’s a fitting term for this longstanding battle against […]
March 29, 2016
Studies show high amounts of illegal shoreline armoring
Our series on shoreline armoring continues today with two new stories. Studies show that a significant number of shoreline structures are being built illegally without required permits. We also report on efforts to educate shoreline property owners about alternatives to environmentally-damaging concrete bulkheads. Read these stories and others from the series in the Encyclopedia of […]
March 22, 2016
Series looks at shoreline armoring
Our online magazine Salish Sea Currents launches a six-story series today focusing on shoreline armoring in the Puget Sound region. Close to a third of Puget Sound’s shoreline is classified as armored with bulkheads and other structures meant to hold back storm surge and erosion. But new studies reveal the often significant toll this is taking […]