Front Page Featured Items Archive | Puget Sound Institute

February 19, 2026

Six container ships are anchored close to each other in the Salish Sea.

March 10 roundtable digs into the impacts of commercial anchoring in British Columbia

The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, March 10 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Anchoring of commercial vessels can have a range of social, cultural, ecological, and physical impacts in coastal marine systems. Using a combination of spatial data, field observations, and vessel activity records, Dr. Fiona Francis (Fisheries and Oceans Canada; […]

Events

January 22, 2026

Testimony in legislative committees focuses on when a toxic tire chemical should be banned

While not exactly a chicken-or-egg debate, when it comes to regulating a deadly tire chemical, Washington state lawmakers are being called upon to decide what comes first in the effort to save salmon. In public hearings this week, speakers were clearly divided in their views on companion bills in the House and Senate to ban […]

Blog Post

January 13, 2026

Washington lawmakers to decide whether to ban a tire chemical shown to be toxic to salmon

A new bill introduced to the Washington Legislature, now in session, would require tire manufacturers to reformulate the rubber in their tires to remove a chemical responsible for killing large numbers of coho salmon and other fish. If approved, the legislation would give tire manufacturers nine years to find a suitable replacement for the compound […]

Blog Post

January 12, 2026

Three people with the Tulalip Beaver Project release a beaver back into the environment.

February 10 roundtable explores beavers as partners in restoration: A look inside the Tulalip Beaver Project

The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, February 10 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Twelve years ago, the Tulalip Beaver Project started with a bold idea: maybe we can partner with beavers — nature’s original engineers — to help restore salmon habitat. Today, the project is known across the country for showing […]

Events

January 9, 2026

Study finds juvenile coho salmon at risk from deadly tire chemical

Untold numbers of hatchery fish may be dying from exposure to tire-contaminated runoff, according to a new study. When it was first identified in 2020, the deadly tire chemical 6PPD-quinone (6PPDQ) was seen mostly as a threat to adult coho salmon. Fish returning in the fall were found disoriented and gasping shortly after entering creeks […]

Findings

December 30, 2025

Cougar in tree. Photo courtesy of National Park Service.

Where mountain lions and people do or do not mix

Today, we look inland at our mountains and forests where top predators like cougars remind us that nature is still wild and — often — unpredictable. PSI staff writer Eric Wagner has this look at a new paper with insights into when, where and why cougars may be more likely to cross paths with humans […]

Blog Post

December 17, 2025

Kayaker on beach with inset photo of seabird in flight over water.

Looking back on a year of Puget Sound surprises: rare birds, gray whales, water

The year 2025 has been fairly mystifying to experts who make their living studying natural systems in the Puget Sound region. Unusual observations this year include record-low dissolved oxygen levels, unexpected gray whale visitations, and the sudden arrival of an astounding number of short-tailed shearwaters — a seabird almost never seen in Puget Sound. Cold […]

Blog Post

November 7, 2025

Scientist conduct water quality sampling from boat.

December 2 roundtable shares the səlilwətaɬ / Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Fisheries & Oceans Canada collaborations in Burrard Inlet

The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, December 2 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Signed in 2021, the Burrard Inlet Environmental Science and Stewardship Agreement (BIESSA) is a Nation-to-Nation Reconciliation agreement between Canada and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation; TWN) aiming to strengthen coordination and collaboration of science and stewardship activities in Burrard Inlet, […]

Events

October 27, 2025

Experts expect the recent arrival of chum salmon to bring orcas back to Puget Sound

UPDATE: Monday, Nov. 3 Whales return to Central Puget Sound without youngest calf All three pods of southern resident killer whales traveled into Central Puget Sound Sunday, making it as far south as the southern end of Vashon Island, if not farther. The past few days, various whales have been spotted in the San Juan […]

Blog Post

October 1, 2025

What is driving ongoing contamination in Commencement Bay?

Despite more than four decades of a Superfund cleanup along Tacoma’s industrial Tideflats, research suggests that large amounts of toxic chemicals like PCBs and PBDEs may still be entering the waterway. Our affiliates at the Center for Urban Waters are co-leading a new project to identify contaminant hotspots. When it was first designated in 1983, […]

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