Salish Sea Currents magazine

Three common words and their legal interpretation a half-century ago helped set the stage for a cultural revival among Native Americans while propelling an environmental movement that still resonates today. Environmental reporter Christopher Dunagan revisits the legal reasoning behind the famous Boldt decision that upheld tribal fishing rights in the state of Washington.

For years now, scientists have been braving the cold winter waters of Puget Sound to study one of the region's most enigmatic seabirds, the marbled murrelet. Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in Washington, Oregon, and California, marbled murrelets nest in old-growth forests but find their food at sea. Much research on the birds has centered around the spring and summer breeding season, but less is known about what the murrelets do in winter. That puzzle prompted a team of scientists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to head out on the water last January. Writer and biologist Eric Wagner joined the expedition and brought back these notes from the field.

Longfellow Creek near West Seattle's industrial district still draws spawning salmon despite a century of city development and an onslaught of toxic chemicals. A current exhibit by photographer Tom Reese explores this often-overlooked gem of urban nature.

A new strain of avian flu has been sweeping the globe since 2020, leaving thousands of dead seabirds in its wake. This past summer, it arrived at a colony of Caspian terns at Rat Island in the Salish Sea, with catastrophic results.

Salmon restoration groups are learning how to work with beavers to create better salmon habitat. The process hinges on reducing human-beaver conflicts while taking a natural approach to ecosystem recovery. The beavers are happy to help. 

The search goes on for a set of definitions and thresholds to represent low-oxygen concentrations that threaten various aquatic creatures. Over the years, ecologists have relocated, reshaped and revised the word “hypoxia” to describe these conditions. In part four of our series "Oxygen for life" we look at how scientists determine whether oxygen levels are low enough to be considered harmful to sea life.