SAVE THE DATE: The next Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference is scheduled for April 13-15, 2016 in Vancouver, B.C. For additional information visit the conference website, and watch this blog for updates as they become available.
How does one of the West’s busiest airports deal with extreme stormwater, and what does that mean for water quality standards in the rest of the state? Read the latest article from Salish Sea Currents in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.
Pollution from stormwater has been called one of the greatest threats to Puget Sound. How much will it cost to hold back the rain? A new EPA-funded study says the price could reach billions per year, a figure that dwarfs current state and federal allocations. Read the article in Salish Sea Currents.
Every year, winter rains bring the threat of millions of dollars in property damage, or even the loss of life, from floods. Rivers have historically been channeled and tamed to protect towns and farms in low-lying floodplains, but research shows that this approach may actually be making flooding worse while at the same time threatening Puget Sound’s salmon. At Hansen Creek in the Skagit Valley, scientists say nature is the best engineer. Read Eric Wagner’s story in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound’s Salish Sea Currents series.
The decaying seawall along Seattle’s waterfront is providing scientists with an opportunity to improve long-lost habitat for migrating salmon. It could also show the way for habitat enhancements to crumbling infrastructure worldwide. One University of Washington researcher describes the project. Read more about the Seattle seawall in Salish Sea Currents.
The latest issue of Salish Sea Currents reports that some of the greatest dangers to Puget Sound come from our common, everyday activities. These pervasive sources of pollution are so woven into our lives that they are almost invisible to us, but it’s becoming impossible to ignore their effects. Read the article in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.
Traditionally, salmon restoration has focused heavily on spawning habitat in streams and rivers, but scientists say that may no longer be enough. New research presented at the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference suggests that conserving and increasing high-quality habitat for juvenile salmon could be just as vital. Read the article by Emily Davis in the Salish Sea Currents series.
Scientists say Puget Sound’s salmon are dying young and point to low growth rates in the marine environment as a possible cause. A new article in the Salish Sea Currents series examines threats facing young salmon in the open waters of Puget Sound. Read the article by Megsie Siple.
One of the goals set by the state’s Puget Sound Action Agenda is to add 20 percent more eelgrass to the region by 2020. But three years into the effort, there’s been little or no progress, and growing perplexity. Studies show that some eelgrass beds are increasing while others are in decline. Scientists met at the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference to share new research and possible new directions for recovery efforts. Read the article by Katie Harrington in the new Salish Sea Currents series.
Salish Sea Currents is a new online series featuring the latest science from the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. Join us as we report on some of the key issues driving Puget Sound recovery. The magazine-style series is housed on the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound and is developed in collaboration with the Puget Sound Partnership with funding from the EPA. Eric Wagner kicks things off with a story on the region’s declining seabird populations. Close to a third of the birds in the Salish Sea are classified as species of concern, […]
The Salish Sea’s premier science conference concluded last month in Seattle, and judging strictly by the numbers, it was one of the most successful in conference history. The 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference, or #SSEC14 as it came to be known in various social media, featured several significant firsts. It was the largest in its history, with more than 1200 attendees. Overall, there were 450 science talks, 150 posters, eight discussion panels and numerous featured speakers, proving that the region’s scientists aren’t shy or standing idle. It was also the […]
Now that the chairs and tables are stacked and the organizing committee has long since cued the music, the work of the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference is just starting for us. Over the next year, the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound will be reporting some of the stories, highlights and important takeaways from the conference. Even with 11 writers on the ground, we couldn’t see every presentation or poster, but that wasn’t our goal. The conference will prepare a complete proceeding of abstracts and summaries, but we will tell some of […]
