Puget Sound Institute senior writer Christopher Dunagan discusses the challenges of protecting Puget Sound and all things water-related. As the very first environmental reporter for the Kitsap Sun, he has been a respected voice in the region for more than 25 years. He has been covering science-related stories for the Puget Sound Institute since 2015.
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April 7, 2025
" alt="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 […]
December 16, 2024
" alt="Protecting the health of people who eat fish: The long battle over water quality standards"> Culminating more than a decade of fierce debate, Washington state officials formally adopted new water-quality standards for toxic chemicals to protect the health of people who eat fish from our local waterways. On its face, this action appears inconsequential, considering that these numerical criteria were already in place, having been imposed two years ago by […]
November 18, 2024
" alt="Mysterious sharks gain recognition as scientists explore their contributions to Puget Sound"> This past summer, two science papers documented, for the first time, the presence of two species of sharks not known to exist in Puget Sound. These species are commonly called sevengill and soupfin sharks. I am sorry to say that I did not know much about sharks in Puget Sound, and I had never written […]
November 7, 2024
" alt="Some orcas extend their stay in Puget Sound; others visit capture site for first time in years"> Southern Resident killer whales have been hanging out in Puget Sound much longer than normal this fall, probably because of an unusually large run of chum salmon coming into Central and South Puget Sound, experts say. As of today, J pod has remained in Puget Sound for 19 straight days with the exception of a […]
October 4, 2024
" alt="Orca census shows declining population; researchers discuss risk of extinction"> UPDATE, Oct. 11, 2024 Although the newest calf in L pod has not yet been declared missing or deceased by the Center for Whale Research, it is hard to imagine a good outcome from the description by CWR’s field biologist Mark Malleson, who observed K and L pods on Oct. 5 at Swiftsure Bank near […]
July 5, 2024
" alt="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 […]
June 28, 2024
" alt="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 […]
June 26, 2024
" alt="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 […]
May 31, 2024
" alt="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 […]
May 3, 2024
" alt="Construction fees support local program that protects and restores rare habitats in Hood Canal"> Big construction projects often trigger big conservation projects, because federal and state laws require mitigation for environmental damage. For the past 12 years, Hood Canal Coordinating Council has been working quietly to protect and restore shorelines, wetlands and freshwater habitats in Hood Canal by using funds spun off from construction by the U.S. Navy and […]
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