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1989 Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan
The Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan presented to the Washington State Governor and Legislature in November 1988 and adopted October 1989. This document includes information about the proposed creation of the 1991 Water Quality Management Plan.
1987 Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan
The Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan presented to the Washington State Governor and Legislature in January 1987 and adopted in September 1987.
State of the Sound Report 2025
The Puget Sound Partnership, the state agency that leads the region’s collective effort to protect and restore Puget Sound, publishes the State of the Sound report every two years. The document reports on both the status of the Partnership's recovery efforts and a suite of ecosystem indicators referred to as the Puget Sound Vital Signs.
State of Knowledge Report for the Marine Water Quality Implementation Strategy
A 2025 state of the knowledge report provides a technical background to support informed decision making and recovery planning focused on the Marine Water Quality Vital Sign.
Puget Sound Marine Waters 2024 Overview
Since 2011, the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program has released the annual Puget Sound Marine Waters Overview report. The latest report combines a wealth of data from comprehensive monitoring programs and provides a concise summary of what was happening in Puget Sound’s marine waters during 2024. The report represents the collective effort of contributors from federal, tribal, state, and
Field notes: Sightings of marbled murrelets in Commencement Bay
Marbled murrelets are a rare sight in Puget Sound. The threatened birds have declined severely in California, Oregon, and Washington, and biologists are intrigued by their summer presence in Commencement Bay.
With one mystery solved, researchers examine new strategies for sea star recovery
Knowing the cause of sea star wasting disease allows scientists to look for ways to increase resilience among the ravaged sea star population.
2009 Puget Sound Georgia Basin Ecosystem Conference abstracts and biographies
The 2009 Puget Sound Georgia Basin Ecosystem Conference took place February 8–11, 2009 in Seattle, Washington.
Oxygen for life: Understanding how low dissolved oxygen in Puget Sound affects marine ecosystems
A 2025 report from the University of Washington Puget Sound Institute compiles a series of articles and overviews describing the impacts of nutrients on dissolved oxygen in Puget Sound.
Cuvier's beaked whale
Cuvier’s beaked whales are the most commonly stranded beaked whale along the outer coasts of Oregon and Washington. Although typically a creature of deep water, beaked whales have been documented in the Salish Sea at least once in the last fifty years, although which species was swimming in Puget Sound was not clear.