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Cover of the Pacific Whale Watch Association 2025 Sightings and Sentinel Actions report, featuring a photograph of a breaching killer whale.

Pacific Whale Watch Association 2025 Sightings and Sentinel Actions

The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) is a community of ecotourism professionals with a shared commitment to education, conservation, and responsible wildlife viewing in Washington state and British Columbia. The 2025 PWWA annual report summarizes wildlife sightings and sentinel actions logged by members throughout the year. Sentinel actions are protective measures taken by professional whale
Cover of the Pacific Whale Watch Association 2021 Sightings and Sentinel Actions report, featuring a photograph of two whales surfacing one in the foreground and one in the distance.

Pacific Whale Watch Association 2021 Sightings and Sentinel Actions

The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) is a community of ecotourism professionals with a shared commitment to education, conservation, and responsible wildlife viewing in Washington state and British Columbia. The 2021 PWWA annual report summarizes wildlife sightings and sentinel actions logged by members throughout the year. Sentinel actions are protective measures taken by professional whale
over of the Pacific Whale Watch Association 2023 Sightings and Sentinel Actions report, featuring a photograph of a whale watching tour boat.

Pacific Whale Watch Association 2022 Sightings and Sentinel Actions

The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) is a community of ecotourism professionals with a shared commitment to education, conservation, and responsible wildlife viewing in Washington state and British Columbia. The 2022 PWWA annual report summarizes wildlife sightings and sentinel actions logged by members throughout the year. Sentinel actions are protective measures taken by professional whale
Cover of the Pacific Whale Watch Association 2023 Sightings and Sentinel Actions report, featuring a photograph of an orca whale breaching with a boat in the distance.

Pacific Whale Watch Association 2023 Sightings and Sentinel Actions

The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) is a community of ecotourism professionals with a shared commitment to education, conservation, and responsible wildlife viewing in Washington state and British Columbia. The 2023 PWWA annual report summarizes wildlife sightings and sentinel actions logged by members throughout the year. Sentinel actions are protective measures taken by professional whale
Cover of the Pacific Whale Watch Association 2025 Sightings and Sentinel Actions report, featuring a photograph of a breaching humpback whale.

Pacific Whale Watch Association 2024 Sightings and Sentinel Actions

The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) is a community of ecotourism professionals with a shared commitment to education, conservation, and responsible wildlife viewing in Washington state and British Columbia. The 2024 PWWA annual report summarizes wildlife sightings and sentinel actions logged by members throughout the year. Sentinel actions are protective measures taken by professional whale
A pod of orcas swimming in Puget Sound with the Seattle skyline in the background.

Nature assessment describes both peril and promise, as humans relate to the natural world

The past, present and future of natural conditions in the United States are described in a new report, which has traveled a bumpy road to its current draft form, now out for public review and comment.

“The Nature Record,” originally titled the “National Nature Assessment,” was launched in 2022 as a government project — the first of its kind. The effort involved more than 160 leading scientists from

Gray whale surfacing with land in the distance.

Gray whales of the Salish Sea

Overview

Gray whales are among the more commonly sighted large whale species in the Salish Sea and along the coast of the Pacific Northwest, but a clearer understanding of the multiple ways they use our waters has only come into focus in recent years. Gray whales were historically mostly known for their annual migrations past the Washington Coast including the entrance to the Salish Sea: southbound

Circular wastewater clarifier with mechanical equipment under cloudy sky at sunset

State adjusts strategy to address low-oxygen levels in Puget Sound

The Washington State Department of Ecology is responding to new legal rulings and public concerns with changes in planning and potentially future enforcement. We continue our occasional series on water quality and wastewater management in Puget Sound. Funding for the series is provided in part by King County.
A large indoor facility containing a wide expanse of dark, thick, biosolids spread across the floor beneath a roof structure.

Concerns over "forever chemicals" pose biosolids challenge for treatment plants

Increasing concerns surround PFAS in products from wastewater treatment plants. How great a risk do they pose, and are there feasible approaches to removing them? We continue our occasional series on water quality and wastewater management in Puget Sound. Funding for the series is provided in part by King County.
A large salmon sculpture on trailer advertising Skagit River Salmon Festival in Mount Vernon with trees in background

How salmon shape regional identity and conservation in Puget Sound

A 2026 paper in the journal Environmental Management explores how salmon contribute to "sense of place" and regional identity among Puget Sound residents. The paper was produced by researchers at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.