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Return of a native: Olympia oysters are making a comeback
Olympia oysters, Puget Sound’s only native oysters, were nearly wiped out in the 19th century from overharvesting. Now a network of scientists and advocates is working to restore them to their historical and cultural prominence.
KEYWORDS
- Action Agenda
- Adaptive management
- Algae
- Amphibians
- Bald eagles
- Ballard Locks
- Biennial Science Work Plan
- Biofilm
- Birds
- Bivalves
- Circulation
- Climate change
- Contaminants of emerging concern
- Counties
- Disease
- Dungeness crabs
- Ecoregions
- Ecosystem-based management
- Ecosystem services
- Eelgrass
- Estuarine habitat
- Eyes Over Puget Sound
- Fishes
- Floodplains
- Food web
- Forage fish
- Freshwater habitat
- Geography
- Harbor porpoise
- Harbor seals
- Harmful algal blooms
- Healthy human population
- Herring
- History
- Human quality of life
- Hypoxia
- Implementation Strategies
- Invasive species
- Invertebrates
- Jellyfish
- Kelp
- Killer whales
- Mammals
- Marine birds
- Marine habitat
- Marine Protected Areas
- Marine Waters Overview
- Modeling
- Monitoring
- National Estuary Program
- Nearshore habitat
- Noise
- Nutrient pollution
- Ocean acidification
- Oil spills
- Persistent contaminants
- Physical environment
- Plants
- Puget Sound boundaries
- Puget Sound Fact Book
- Puget Sound Pressures Assessment
- Puget Sound Update
- Reptiles
- Rockfish
- Salish Sea
- Salish Sea Currents magazine
- Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
- Salmonids
- Sea-star wasting disease
- Sea level rise
- Sewage and fecal pollution
- Shellfish
- Shoreline armoring
- Social science
- Species and food webs
- Species of concern
- State of the Sound
- Stormwater
- Terrestrial habitat
- Tidal energy
- Toxic contaminants
- Traditional ecological knowledge
- Tribes
- Water quality
- Water quantity
- Zooplankton
RECENT ARTICLES

Vaccines now used to reduce the risk of extinction in Hawaiian monk seals
For critically endangered animal populations, experts worry that a highly infectious disease could be the final nail in the coffin, forcing the species into extinction. That’s one reason why federal authorities approved the development and deployment of a new vaccine to ward off the deadly morbillivirus among Hawaiian monk seals. The vaccination program raises the possibility of using vaccines to prevent disease among Puget Sound's southern resident killer whales, but no specific steps have been taken so far.

Wildlife rescues may inform orca strategies
As the plight of Puget Sound’s southern resident orcas becomes increasingly desperate, with the population dropping from 98 to 75 in just 22 years, scientists are weighing the options of medical intervention. In part two of our two-part series The Orca Docs we look at how veterinarians have intervened with other animals in the wild, and how this might apply to the situation here in Puget Sound. [Part one, "When should medical experts intervene to save a killer whale?" is also available.]

When should medical experts intervene to save a killer whale?
The death of a young female orca in September has sparked a discussion of how and whether scientists should step in with medical care for distressed animals in the wild. Medical intervention has become routine for some endangered mammals, but scientists say Puget Sound’s resident orcas present a series of unique challenges and ethical questions. In part one of our two-part series The Orca Docs we look at how scientists are preparing to treat endangered southern resident orcas that face starvation and risks of disease.

Responding to oil spills in Puget Sound: A guide for volunteers
This 2017 guide from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife provides information for volunteers in the event of an oil spill in Puget Sound. It was produced by the University of Washington Puget Sound Institute with support from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Tidal forests offer hope for salmon
Can scientists bring back the lost tidal forests of Puget Sound? It could take generations, but restoring this rare habitat will pay big dividends for Puget Sound’s salmon.

Eyes Over Puget Sound: 2018 Year in Review
In 2018, water temperatures were slightly warmer than normal. Aerial photos revealed many spawning herring and baitfish as well as algal blooms. We also saw abundant macro-algae, a persistent Noctiluca bloom, and countless red blooms. Were these observations related to the cool, wet spring followed by a warm, dry, and sunny summer? Or did the neutral boundary conditions in the Pacific Ocean also play a role? A full summary is available in the report.

Shoreline Armoring Implementation Strategy: Reducing armor impacts on Puget Sound shorelines
A 2018 report published by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural Resources describes a regional strategy to reduce shoreline armoring in the Puget Sound region.

Ecoregion data from the Washington State Department of Ecology
Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components.

The 2018/2022 Action Agenda for Puget Sound
The Puget Sound Action Agenda is a shared plan for Puget Sound recovery resulting from a collaboration by state and federal agencies, tribal governments, local governments, business and environmental groups, and others.

2017 Puget Sound Marine Waters Overview
The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program has released its seventh annual Marine Waters Overview. The report provides an assessment of marine conditions for the year 2017 and includes updates on water quality as well as status reports for select plankton, seabirds and fish.

Assessment and management of Salish Sea herring
A 2018 report published by the University of Washington Puget Sound Institute and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife brings together an assessment of key science and other knowledge related to herring recovery in the Salish Sea. The report was produced with support from the SeaDoc Society and received input from a cross-border team from state and federal agencies, universities and area tribes.

Ten things to understand about the Clean Water Act
The federal Clean Water Act of 1972 was designed as a logical step-by-step approach to clean up the nation's waterways. Most people acknowledge that the law has been effective in reducing pollution, but industrial and environment groups tend to be on opposite sides when discussing whether regulations and permits adequately protect water quality. These 10 elements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) focus on how the law applies to Puget Sound.

Respecting the rockfish of the Salish Sea
Puget Sound's rockfish have declined by 70% over the past few decades, prompting state and federal protection efforts. We look at some of the ways that scientists are working to reverse the fish's downward trend.

Eyes Over Puget Sound: Surface Conditions Report - November 6, 2018
This fall, elevated air temperatures, lower precipitation, and lower river flows generally persisted; this aligned with fall and winter climate predictions. Following a warm summer, October water temperatures dropped back to optimal ranges for many fish. Puget Sound water has cleared and visibility has increased as the productive season ends making it easier to document jellyfish and schools of fish in the inlets of South Sound. While these flights generate a lot of attention, the majority of our monitoring in Puget Sound is now done via boat!

Puget Sound tides
This article provides a general overview of tidal patterns in Puget Sound.

LiveOcean: Pacific Northwest ocean and estuary forecasts
LiveOcean is a computer model simulating ocean water properties in Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest. It is produced by the University of Washington Ocean Modeling Group and makes three-day forecasts of currents, temperature, salinity and many biogeochemical fields including harmful algal blooms.

Environmental justice
Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Projected sea level rise for Washington State
A 2018 report from the Washington Coastal Resilience Project provides an updated assessment of projected sea level change for coastal Washington State and its relationship to coastal hazards such as flooding and erosion.

Puget Sound River History Project
The Puget Sound River History Project at the University of Washington features historical topographic data for Puget Sound's river systems.

Eyes Under Puget Sound: Critter of the month – the skeleton shrimp
There are more than a half dozen species of skeleton shrimp in Puget Sound. The Washington State Department of Ecology profiles this unusual crustacean in its Eyes Under Puget Sound series.

Harbor porpoises become increasing players in the Puget Sound food web
With a population growth of about 10 percent per year in inland waters, harbor porpoises are having an undetermined but growing effect on food dynamics in Puget Sound.

Sightings of southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea 1976−2014: the importance of a long-term opportunistic dataset
A 2018 paper in the journal Endangered Species Research analyzes southern resident killer whale sightings in the Salish Sea between 1976 and 2014.

Orca captures for aquariums
Between 1962 and 1973, at least 263 killer whales were caught or killed in the waters of British Columbia and Washington (Bigg and Wolman 1975). Twelve of these died during capture and fifty were kept for display in aquariums. The remainder of the captured animals escaped or were released. Twenty-seven of the whales kept as captive were taken from the population now designated as endangered southern-resident killer whales (Balcomb 2018). All but one of those, nicknamed Lolita, have since died. Lolita remains in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium.
Balcomb, Ken. (2018). Center for Whale Research. Personal correspondence.

The mosaic of deltas and other estuarine ecosystems in Puget Sound
The diversity and complexity of estuarine ecosystems is vital to the overall health of Puget Sound. This summary fact sheet focuses on the current state of estuarine ecosystems in Puget Sound—large river deltas, embayments, their interconnecting beaches, and rocky coasts—and the historical changes that have occurred since the development of the Puget Sound coastline. Additional emphasis is placed on the historical losses of tidal wetlands within these estuaries.

Eyes Over Puget Sound: Surface Conditions Report - September 17, 2018
Air temperatures have remained high with precipitation and river flows below normal, extending the summer’s unusual conditions. Water temperatures were warmer in August, perhaps too warm for bull kelp and some salmon species in South Sound. In contrast, Hood Canal, North Sound, and the San Juan Islands provide optimal growth temperatures for herring and salmon. Many terminal inlets of Puget Sound are experiencing extensive red-brown blooms. Jellyfish patches are developing in South Sound finger Inlets and remnants of floating macroalgae occur in the nearshore areas of South Sound and in Useless Bay. At times floating organic material we see from the air ends up on the shoreline were our BEACH team documents it.

Pacific herring distribution in Puget Sound
Pacific herring are a pelagic fish species found from northern Baja California to northern Honshu Island, Japan. They are found throughout the Puget Sound basin and are a mix of “resident” and “migratory” stocks.

Climate change and ocean acidification may affect herring development
New research shows that warmer and more acidic oceans could lead to shorter embryos and higher respiration in Pacific herring.

Managing the Salish Sea’s ‘Herring 401 K’
Scientists argue that herring managers should take a tip from stock market investors and diversify the population’s “portfolio.”

Studies show challenges for eelgrass restoration
As critically important eelgrass declines in some parts of Puget Sound, scientists are trying to plant more of it. The health of the ecosystem may be riding on their efforts, but what they are finding is something that farmers have known for thousands of years: Getting something to grow may be harder than you think.

Policy pivot in Puget Sound: Lessons learned from marine protected areas and tribally-led estuarine restoration
A 2018 paper in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management examines and compares planning approaches used to develop marine protected areas and estuary restoration projects in Puget Sound. It finds that management policies can benefit from increasingly collaborative planning with a focus on multiple benefits such as flood control, salmon recovery, recreation and resilience to climate change.