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February 20, 2020

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New fishing rules increase limits on warm-water fish to indirectly help orcas

In an effort to protect young salmon from predation, new fishing rules will allow anglers to double their catch of some warm-water predatory fish found in 77 lakes across Washington state. Reducing the population of salmon-eating bass, catfish and walleye is one of many ideas promoted by the governor’s Southern Resident Orca Task Force, which […]

February 6, 2020

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New report describes anticipated climate-change effects in Washington state

Early effects of a warming Earth have reached Washington state, as we can see from actual measurements. Annual snowpack is declining in the mountains; ancient glaciers are shrinking; sea levels are rising; and coastal waters are becoming less hospitable to sea life. These are some of the changes outlined in a new easy-to-read briefing report […]

January 30, 2020

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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 30, 2020

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Shoreline monitoring toolbox webinar

Re-posted from the Habitat Strategic Initiative blog: Please join the Habitat Strategic Initiative for a webinar on Thursday, February 13th at 12pm Join the [pugetsoundestuary.wa.gov]Habitat Strategic Initiative for a webinar highlighting the results of one of our investments that is advancing progress on the Shoreline Armoring Implementation Strategy, Shoreline Monitoring Toolbox Protocol Implementation and Data […]

January 30, 2020

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PSI is hiring a GIS Specialist

–The position has been filled– The Puget Sound Institute at the University of Washington is seeking a GIS Specialist to work on geospatially explicit tasks relating to the regional strategy to restore and recover valued components of the Puget Sound ecosystem. These include data acquisition, development, maintenance, mapping, and basic geospatial analysis. The position is […]

January 29, 2020

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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

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Partnership explores revised measures of Puget Sound health, as 2020 deadline arrives

It is the year 2020. You could say that the time has run out for restoring Puget Sound to a healthy condition. But time marches on. When the Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership in 2007, lawmakers included this sentence in state law: “It is the goal of the state that the health of Puget […]

January 21, 2020

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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

Infographic showing how carbonate ions are consumed into bicarbonate ions as CO2 increases.">

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 […]