A second research cruise to study the winter travels of salmon in the Pacific Ocean got underway today, when 12 scientists from three countries left Victoria, B.C., aboard the trawler Pacific Legacy. Researchers say they have learned a great deal from the first salmon cruise a year ago, when 21 scientists from five countries ventured […]
March 9, 2020
Virus related to measles could push Puget Sound orcas to extinction, study says
Researchers studying the killer whales that frequent Puget Sound are growing increasingly concerned that a dangerous virus or other disease-causing organism could spread through the population and hasten extinction of these critically endangered southern resident orcas. Without dramatic changes to their environment, extinction is already considered the likely future for the southern residents, as they […]
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
New technique casts a wide net for concerning chemicals
By Sarah McQuate, UW News Scientists are working to identify which of the thousands of chemicals that flow into Puget Sound are most harmful to the environment. Researchers know that runoff from land in the urbanized areas of Puget Sound often contains harmful chemicals such as PCBs, but many other potentially dangerous compounds have gone […]
January 21, 2020
PSI is hiring a postdoc for a water quality modeling project
The Puget Sound Institute (PSI) is looking for an early-career research scientist or engineer to contribute to a collaborative project modeling the sources, movements, and fates of toxic chemicals in the Salish Sea. In this position you will be responsible for aggregating, evaluating, and interpreting large monitoring data sets to support the development of a […]
January 13, 2020
Sharing info, as changes in ocean chemistry affect Northwest waters at alarming pace
It was fairly alarming, even to scientists, to hear the latest research regarding ocean acidification — a powerful change in ocean chemistry that results from excess carbon dioxide passing from the atmosphere into the oceans of the world. One of the most alarming reports came from Richard Feely, senior scientist at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental […]
November 7, 2019
PSI in the news: ‘Salmon on Prozac’ and more
PSI’s Andy James is collaborating with scientists at NOAA and Washington State University to understand how wastewater affects juvenile salmon in Puget Sound. The study is led by Jim Meador of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Sciences Center and focuses on discharge from three major sewage treatment plants in King County. Wastewater will be analyzed at the […]
July 23, 2019
Ancient harvests: A history of Salish Sea herring
If you were to ask a group of experts to make a list of culturally important foods in the Pacific Northwest, it would not be a surprise if salmon rose to the top. But researchers say Pacific herring may have at times rivaled salmon in importance in the Salish Sea. Scientists believe that herring have […]
April 16, 2019
The herring defenders
Herring numbers have been declining in Puget Sound since surveys for them began in the 1970s, but it is unclear what is causing those declines, even in the face of widespread fisheries closures. Less clear still is whether anything else can be done to stop or reverse them, and bring herring back. Our reporter Eric […]