Front Page Featured Items Archive | Puget Sound Institute

July 17, 2025

Annual orca count grows by one, as the Puget Sound whales stay on the hunt for food

Although an official census report is not due until October, it appears that the population of our southern resident killer whales has increased by one over the past year. That slight increase is the net result of four births and three deaths, according to the Center for Whale Research, which is responsible for the annual […]

Blog Post

July 7, 2025

A photographic tour of the entire Puget Sound shoreline by watercraft and aircraft

Kayaker-scientist Brian Footen is back on the waters of Puget Sound this summer, paddling through inlets and circling islands on a 2,700-mile journey to photograph the shoreline and document natural and human-caused changes to the habitat. This state-funded project is Brian’s second photographic trip along the sinuous shoreline throughout the entirety of the Sound, from […]

Blog Post

July 3, 2025

August 4: Kelp & eelgrass risk assessment results workshop

Monday, August 4 from 1:00 – 2:30 pm PT UW Puget Sound Institute and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife are leading a spatially explicit risk assessment of the current and future threats to eelgrass and floating kelp habitats in Puget Sound that can be used to evaluate the distribution of burdens associated with […]

Events

June 23, 2025

The debate over oxygen in Puget Sound

A draft nutrient reduction plan from the Washington Department of Ecology is out for public review. Now, many new developments — technical, scientific and legal — are reaching a critical stage and setting up a framework to make some major decisions. This four-part series in Our Water Ways looks back on how we have reached our present condition, including a consideration of possible solutions.

Blog Post

June 9, 2025

Sea lions resting on docks at a marina with sailboats and yachts in the background under a cloudy sky.

Follow the herring: Why sea lions have been calling Shilshole Marina home

For the past three springs, Shilshole Bay Marina has been contending with droves of California visitors occupying their guest boater moorages––California sea lions that is. To Shelby Allman, Port of Seattle Harbor Operations Supervisor, it seemed like the furry visitors arrived almost overnight. By mid-May nearly 120 animals had hauled themselves onto five “finger” docks […]

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June 6, 2025

July 8 roundtable will dig into assessing effects of multiple climate change stressors on marine invertebrates and developing mitigation techniques to minimize impacts

Co-hosted with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Climate change is leading to increasingly warmer oceans that are also more acidic, less oxygenated, and with lower salinity (among other changes). The resultant impacts on marine organisms will depend on the rate, level, and variability of change of individual stressors and how effectively the animals can deal […]

Events

May 12, 2025

June 3 roundtable will explore innovation in ecotoxicology: integrating next-generation chemical and biological tools

Co-hosted with the University of Saskatchewan The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, June 3 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Dr. Markus Brinkmann will explore advanced methods in ecotoxicology, specifically high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and integrated chemical and biological analyses. He will demonstrate how HRMS technology helps scientists characterize the diversity of […]

Events

April 29, 2025

New law requires sewage spills to be revealed to the public through a new statewide website

Mindy Roberts of Washington Conservation Action said someone asked her a few years ago about the frequent sewage spills occurring in Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway. “My answer was, ‘What sewage spills?’” Mindy recalled, quickly realizing that if she didn’t know about sewage spills in her own city, then hardly anybody else was likely to know […]

Blog Post

April 15, 2025

The winner of Grand Uncertainties Madness!

After five rounds of voting, the winner of the Grand Uncertainties Madness tournament bracket is: What type of protection and restoration actions have the largest and most lasting impact on floodplain function and which types of actions are cost effective? This research need (from the rivers group) won in a close but decisive victory over […]

Blog Post

April 10, 2025

May 13 roundtable will delve into transboundary threats from European green crab in the Salish Sea

Co-hosted with the University of Washington, Fisheries & Oceans Canada, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The Salish Sea Science Roundtable online speaker series continues on Tuesday, May 13 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Drs. P. Sean McDonald (University of Washington) and Thomas Therriault (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) bring nearly 50 years of combined expertise in the […]

Events

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