All Articles
Eelgrass declines pose a mystery
Scientists want to know why eelgrass is on the decline in some areas of Puget Sound and not others. The answer will affect future strategies for protecting one of the ecosystem’s most critical saltwater plants.
Eyes Over Puget Sound: Surface Conditions Report – June 6, 2017
Cooler and wetter conditions early in 2017 have set the stage for a favorable supply of freshwater. River flows are all above normal due to melting of the abundant snowpack from warmer May air temperatures. This is creating significantly fresher conditions in Puget Sound surface waters. Algae blooms are limited to some yellow-green blooms growing in bays near the Kitsap Peninsula and blooms near
Saving the last estuaries
When rivers spill into Puget Sound, they provide some of the most productive habitat in the ecosystem. The ebb and flow of the tides creates a perfect mix of fresh and salt water critical for young salmon. But over the past 100 years, the region’s tidal wetlands have declined by more than 75%. Now a coalition of state and federal agencies has a plan to bring them back.
Urban lifestyles help to protect the Puget Sound ecosystem
The state of Washington estimates that the Puget Sound area will grow by more than 1.5 million residents within the next two decades. That is expected to have profound effects on the environment as more and more people move to undeveloped areas. The race is on to protect this critical rural habitat, but planners say what happens in the cities may be just as important.
2016 Salish Sea toxics monitoring review: A selection of research
A 2017 report from the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program presents an overview of selected recent monitoring and research activities focused on toxic contaminants in the Salish Sea.
- Birds
- Bivalves
- Contaminants of emerging concern
- Dungeness crabs
- Fishes
- Forage fish
- Herring
- Invertebrates
- Killer whales
- Mammals
- Marine birds
- Marine debris
- Marine habitat
- Monitoring
- Other
- Persistent contaminants
- Reports
- Salish Sea
- Salmonids
- Sewage and fecal pollution
- Shellfish
- Species of concern
- Stormwater
- Toxic contaminants
- Water quality
- Estuaries
- Nearshore habitat
- Freshwater habitat
Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program
The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) is an independent program established by state and federal statute to monitor environmental conditions in Puget Sound.
- Algae
- Birds
- Bivalves
- Circulation
- Contaminants of emerging concern
- Eutrophication
- Fishes
- Floodplains
- Forage fish
- Healthy human population
- Human quality of life
- Hypoxia
- Invertebrates
- Jellyfish
- Killer whales
- Mammals
- Marine birds
- Marine habitat
- Modeling
- Monitoring
- Nutrients
- Overviews
- Persistent contaminants
- Plants
- Salmonids
- Shellfish
- Shoreline armoring
- Species and food webs
- Species of concern
- Stormwater
- Toxic contaminants
- Water quality
- Water quantity
- Estuaries
- Nearshore habitat
- Freshwater habitat
- Terrestrial habitat
A key to quieter seas: Half of ship noise comes from 15% of the fleet
A 2017 article in the online journal Authorea reports that a comparatively small portion of ships produce much of the ocean's underwater noise.
Floodplain projects open doors to fewer floods and more salmon
A new approach to flood control is taking hold across Puget Sound. Rivers, scientists say, can be contained by setting them free. Conservationists hope this is good news for salmon recovery.
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) tolerance to vessels under different levels of boat traffic
Vessel traffic is increasing in the Puget Sound region. A 2017 article in the journal Aquatic Mammals looks at the potential impacts that increasing vessel disturbance may have on resident harbor seal populations and how future management decisions may need to look at variable buffer zones related to level of human activity.
Finding a strategy to accelerate Chinook recovery
As threatened Chinook populations in Puget Sound continue to lose ground, the state is looking to new strategies to reverse the trend. In the Skagit watershed, the scientists — and the fish — are among those leading the way.