All Articles
Risso’s dolphins in the Salish Sea
Risso’s dolphins are easily recognizable by their light color and extensive scratches and scars on their bodies. This rare visitor to the Salish Sea feeds almost exclusively on cephalopods like octopus and squid and is most commonly found in relatively warm tropical to temperate waters over the outer continental shelf and slope.
Structured decision making for the real world: A qualitative analysis of how governance structures en(dis)able SDM in local watershed planning
A 2025 article in the journal Environmental Management analyzes the use of structured decision making (SDM) with four different watershed groups to understand the governance factors that facilitated the use of SDM as a decision support tool.
Human well-being indicators as a boundary object for social science integration into conservation
A 2025 article in the journal Conservation Biology examines the integration of human well-being indicators into regional conservation efforts.
Researchers zero in on low-oxygen areas of concern in Puget Sound
Low dissolved oxygen levels put aquatic life in Puget Sound at risk – but not everywhere. A combination of careful monitoring efforts and powerful computer models are now enabling scientists to identify which areas of our regional waters are most prone to low oxygen levels, when, and why. This article is part of a series of reports funded by King County about the quest to define healthy oxygen
Research and whale watching enhanced with artificial intelligence to identify individual orcas
Artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful new tool for whale identification. New software can be adapted and used to identify any animal with a dorsal fin on its back.
The secret legacy of tidal beavers
Beavers are typically associated with freshwater environments, but scientists have learned that they also survive and thrive in the shoreline marshes of the Salish Sea. New research is revealing the vital connection between tidal beavers and salmon.
'Natural conditions' are at the center of disputes over dissolved oxygen standards
Oxygen is indisputably essential to aquatic life, but conflicts are brewing over water quality standards mandated in state regulations. This article is part of a series of reports funded by King County about the quest to define healthy oxygen levels in Puget Sound. By some estimates, those definitions could affect billions of dollars in state and local spending. [Editor's note: King County is
Abundance of pink salmon may be harming orcas
Pink salmon now comprise nearly 80 percent of all adult salmon in the North Pacific. This record abundance is coming at a cost to other salmon species such as threatened Chinook, which compete with pinks for spawning territory. A new study shows that the ecological toll may extend all the way to endangered southern resident killer whales.
Marine-foraging river otters in the Salish Sea
While not true marine mammals, river otters do use and rely on marine resources. The expansion of their populations since the early 1900s is a true conservation success story. Ecosystem recovery efforts and river otter reintroductions restored otter populations to much of their historic range. River otters often live in small social groups that include mother and offspring or other unrelated