Do we know enough to do anything about all the seals and sea lions in Puget Sound?

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Scientists have known for years that Chinook salmon are important to southern resident orcas, but Chinook are not the only fish the whales eat. At the moment, chum salmon are returning to Puget Sound, and recent orca sightings suggest that the whales may now be feeding on chum. Harbor seals also eat Chinook salmon, but also chum, coho and other fish. They seem fond of smaller fish like herring and juvenile salmon. Oh, what a tangled food web we weave… Can we really say that seals are stealing the lunch […]

Second Pacific salmon expedition gets a chance to see the effects of cooler water

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A second research cruise to study the winter travels of salmon in the Pacific Ocean got underway today, when 12 scientists from three countries left Victoria, B.C., aboard the trawler Pacific Legacy. Researchers say they have learned a great deal from the first salmon cruise a year ago, when 21 scientists from five countries ventured out into the Pacific to take samples of fish and other marine life. The samples are being shared with dozens of biologists trying to piece together the complex food web that supports five species of […]

Recent papers

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Food web dynamics Two recent papers by Puget Sound researchers, including one co-authored by a Puget Sound Institute scientist, highlight some of the tools being used to describe food-web dynamics in marine communities.

PSI welcomes incoming Puget Sound Scholar Tessa Francis

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We are excited to announce that Tessa Francis is the newest member of the Puget Sound Institute team, and begins her appointment as a Research Scientist at the end of this month.