Front Page Featured Items Archive | Puget Sound Institute

September 16, 2024

Eelgrass in Willapa Bay. Photo by Jackson Blalock.

Modeling climate resilience in coastal communities

Puget Sound Institute research scientist Caitlin Magel is Co-PI on a collaboration with Washington Sea Grant to support the Willapa-Grays Harbor Estuary Collaborative (WGHEC). The project receives $599,533 over 3 years (2024-2027) with funding from NOAA’s Climate and Fisheries Adaptation (CAFA) program. Magel will co-develop a qualitative network model to support scenario planning, management strategies, and adaptation pathways […]

Grants

September 9, 2024

October 1 roundtable will explore how genomics are being used to predict Chinook Salmon responses to climate change

Co-hosted with Fisheries & Oceans Canada The Salish Sea Science Roundtable speaker series continues on Tuesday, October 1 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Climate change is considered a leading threat to the future sustainability of salmon populations. Salmon can respond to short term climate events using behavioral or physiological means, but long term adaptation to warming […]

Events

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 […]

Research

July 16, 2024

Waves crashing on to a road in front of houses

September 3 roundtable will share sea level rise resiliency tools

The Salish Sea Science Roundtable speaker series continues on Tuesday, September 3 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Washington Sea Grant works collaboratively with local communities and agency partners to assess and address coastal hazards. WSG staff Ian Miller and Sydney Fishman will share several examples of WSG’s sea level rise resiliency work. Highlighted projects will include […]

Events

July 5, 2024

Southern resident orca numbers decline during census year; Bigg’s orcas continue to expand

Although the official census report won’t be submitted for a couple months, at least two southern resident killer whales have died over the past year, with one of them being a little more than a month old. This unnamed, deceased baby, designated J60, was the only new birth reported among the endangered orca population in […]

Blog Post

June 28, 2024

All killer whales will remain one species — for now, according to marine mammal committee

A formal proposal to designate resident and Bigg’s killer whales as separate species has been rejected by a committee widely recognized as the authority in naming new marine mammal species. The proposal for new orca species, put forth by a team of geneticists and marine mammal biologists, was based on the distinct genetic, physical and […]

Blog Post

June 27, 2024

Headshots of four people. From left to right: Kayla Engelhardt, Mary Flynn, Iris Miller-Sherman, and Isabella Showman

Meet our summer interns

The Puget Sound Institute welcomes four student interns from the University of Washington this summer. The interns will work with Institute scientists and staff on a range of topics including collaborative leadership, dissolved oxygen, temperature thresholds of key species, and estuarine habitat. Three of our interns come to us through the University of Washington EarthLab […]

June 26, 2024

Recreational boaters play an important role in protecting endangered killer whales, officials say

Noise and disturbance from boats can disrupt the normal hunting behaviors of killer whales, according to marine mammal experts. Now, with southern resident orcas facing extinction, every disruption becomes a concern, they say. Such is the thinking behind a new state law designed to better protect the endangered whales by further limiting how close recreational […]

Blog Post

June 4, 2024

Decision time approaches for two new orca species, as other issues bring new questions

Killer whales worldwide are currently identified as a single species, Orcinus orca. But two new species of orca, representing thousands of whales in the North Pacific, could be added to the scientific nomenclature within the next month. Evidence supporting the new species, which I described in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, has been submitted for […]

Blog Post

May 23, 2024

Take our survey, win a book!

We want to hear from you! Help us bring you the best possible science news about Salish Sea ecosystem recovery. The University of Washington Puget Sound Institute invites you to take a survey so we can learn more about your information needs. The survey should take about 3 minutes to complete and your responses will be […]

Blog Post

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