Advanced Search

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.

More than 70 bird species regularly utilize Puget Sound during some or all stages of their life histories, but only a portion of these are actively being investigated.

This article was originally published by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of its annual report Threatened and Endangered Wildlife in Washington.

A December 2014 report from the University of Washington examines when and where climate change impacts will occur in the Puget Sound watershed.

Volume 1: Family Petromyzontidae (lampreys) through family Syngnathidae (pipefishes). Volume 2: Family Percichthyidae (temperate basses) through family Hexagrammidae (greenlings). Volume 3: Family Cottidae (sculpins) through family Molidae (molas).

Detritus, or dying or decaying matter, is a central component of the nearshore food web in Puget Sound. This article was prepared as part of the Puget Sound Fact Book produced by the University of Washington Puget Sound Institute. 

OverviewHumpback whales have made a remarkable recovery in Puget Sound and throughout the Salish Sea. While their numbers vary through the season, they can be seen in almost any month of the year. In essence, this has been a return to waters they formerly used prior to commercial whaling that wiped out the local population. Humpback whales around the world have made strong recoveries ...

Many types of computer models are helping researchers study the health of Puget Sound. Bayesian network models are used to examine the probabilities that certain actions will take place within the ecosystem.

They rival tropical forests in their richness and diversity, but Puget Sound's kelp beds have declined steeply in recent decades. Scientists are just starting to understand the extent of these losses. What they are finding is bringing kelp to the forefront of Puget Sound's environmental concerns.

This content initiates a description of the social dimensions of the Puget Sound system with a short list of facts about population growth trends, how humans interact with and depend on the Puget Sound ecosystem for their wellbeing (in the broadest sense), and the large-scale policies and individual human activities that have the greatest potential impact on the Puget Sound ecosystem.