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A researcher in red clothing aboard a "CETACEAN RESEARCH & RESPONSE" boat monitoring an orca swimming nearby in sparkling blue waters with forested coastline in the background.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful new tool for whale identification. New software can be adapted and used to identify any animal with a dorsal fin on its back.

: A beaver emerges from a wire trap cage surrounded by tall reeds and wetland vegetation.

Beavers are typically associated with freshwater environments, but scientists have learned that they also survive and thrive in the shoreline marshes of the Salish Sea. New research is shedding light on the vital connection between tidal beavers and salmon.

Aerial view of an algal bloom in Puget Sound.

Oxygen is indisputably essential to aquatic life, but conflicts are brewing over water quality standards mandated in state regulations. This article is part of a series of reports funded by King County about the quest to define healthy oxygen levels in Puget Sound. By some estimates, those definitions could affect billions of dollars in state and

Underwater view of many fish swimming in one direction.

Pink salmon now comprise nearly 80 percent of all adult salmon in the North Pacific. This record abundance is coming at a cost to other salmon species such as threatened Chinook, which compete with pinks for spawning territory. A new study shows that the ecological toll may extend all the way to endangered southern resident killer whales.

River otters on a dock in Puget Sound

While not true marine mammals, river otters do use and rely on marine resources. The expansion of their populations since the early 1900s is a true conservation success story. Ecosystem recovery efforts and river otter reintroductions restored otter populations to much of their historic range. River otters often live in small social groups that

The image shows an orca swimming near a sailboat. The whale's black and white coloration and large dorsal fin are visible as it surfaces from the water. In the background, a sailboat with passengers can be seen.

Just last year, scientists published the first direct evidence that noise interferes with orca feeding behavior. Officials hope a new law establishing a larger buffer zone between boats and endangered southern resident orcas will mean quieter seas and healthier whales.