"> In Puget Sound, low oxygen levels are a proven threat to marine creatures, from fish to shellfish and even tiny organisms. This threat has long been recognized by scientists — particularly within slow-flushing bays and inlets where low levels of dissolved oxygen can impair sea life and occasionally create deadly conditions in late summer and […]
June 9, 2025
"> 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 […]
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 […]
May 8, 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 […]
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 […]
April 17, 2025
"> Eating fish: Court order may end the battle over toxic standards in Washington state waters
It appears that a decade-long battle to establish allowable levels of toxic chemicals in Washington state’s waterways may finally be over. Strict toxic standards, first imposed on the state in 2016 by the Environmental Protection Agency, seem to have prevailed. Primary chemicals of concern in the long battle over human health criteria include polychlorinated biphenyls, […]
April 14, 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 […]
April 8, 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 […]
April 7, 2025
"> Research and whale watching enhanced with artificial intelligence to identify individual orcas
When out on Puget Sound with killer whale experts, I’m often impressed by how quickly such folks can identify individual whales by name or number, even when a group of orcas is swimming a fair distance away. I can’t begin to do that, because I have never studied the catalogs of dorsal fins and markings […]
April 2, 2025
"> Unpacking uncertainty: How experts recommend improving Puget Sound modeling
An external scientific review by independent experts is a common and valuable practice, particularly when the models have significant management implications. This ethos is why peer review is foundational to science in general. By providing an objective assessment, external reviewers can help ensure the models are robust and appropriate for the management decisions they’re being […]