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August 14, 2024

Photo of a harbor seal swimming in a kelp forest.">

Gauging threats to kelp and eelgrass

The Puget Sound Institute and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are leading a spatially explicit risk assessment of the current and future threats to eelgrass and floating kelp habitats in Puget Sound. The findings can be used to evaluate the distribution of burdens associated with habitat risk and inform management actions. As part […]

March 28, 2024

Test tube labeled 'estrogen.'">

Ask a scientist: Are human-derived hormones like estrogen harming fish in Puget Sound?

Hormones such as estrogens that humans create in their own bodies are entering Puget Sound through wastewater, raising concerns about their effects on fish and other wildlife. We spoke with Puget Sound Institute scientist Maya Faber about how environmental exposure to human-derived estrogen can alter the reproductive cycles of male and female fish. The effects […]

December 14, 2023

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Survey looks at public knowledge of estuaries

“An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean.” – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Think of it as Puget Sound’s secret recipe. Fill a large glacier-carved basin with salt water from the ocean. Add fresh water from some adjoining rivers. Stir vigorously. […]

November 8, 2023

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Puget Sound ecosystem holding on, but recovery remains uncertain, says latest status report

Efforts to restore ecological health to Puget Sound have largely failed to meet recovery goals, yet fish and wildlife populations are still hanging on, according to a new report that describes many struggling populations as neither increasing nor decreasing to a significant extent. The latest State of the Sound report, released last week by the […]

October 12, 2023

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A no-death census year for Puget Sound’s orcas, with observations about a recent shift to more female births

For the first time since Census Year 1993, no deaths were reported this year among the Southern Resident killer whales, which frequent Puget Sound, according to the official census report. Two new births were reported among the whales, increasing the population from 73 to 75. I would also like to share some potentially hopeful information […]

September 25, 2023

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Warm ocean waters work their way into Puget Sound

Unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean — now pushing up against the Washington coast — are keeping oceanographers on alert for changes that could reverberate through the food web, potentially affecting fish, birds and marine mammals in coastal waters and in Puget Sound. Rising ocean temperatures may be related to recent sightings of warm-water […]

July 13, 2023

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Salish Sea Model tracks pollution, currents and climate change

This article is the latest in a series about computer models and their uses within the Puget Sound ecosystem. Today, we look at the Salish Sea Model, one of several models in the region helping to predict water circulation, water quality and food-web relationships. Read the full series: Where and how the water moves The […]

June 28, 2023

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Prey and predators create varying life-or-death conditions for salmon, as shown with Atlantis model

This article is the latest in a series about computer models and their uses within the Puget Sound ecosystem. As scientists uncover more and more information about a particular ecosystem, computer modelers are often eager to put that raw data to good use in complex models tuned to local conditions. One highly acclaimed model, called […]

June 15, 2023

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Quantitative models, including Ecopath, take food web studies to a higher level of analysis

As part of a project exploring the technical uncertainties surrounding Puget Sound water quality, we are reviewing how computer models are used to advance our understanding of natural systems. This blog post is part of a series focused on different models and their uses within the Puget Sound ecosystem. The project is jointly sponsored by King […]