Climate change

The year 2025 has been fairly mystifying to experts who make their living studying natural systems in the Puget Sound region.

Unusual observations this year include record-low dissolved oxygen levels, unexpected gray whale visitations, and the sudden arrival of an astounding number of short-tailed shearwaters — a seabird almost never seen in Puget Sound.

Cold waters rising from the deep along the West Coast helped to rescue Puget Sound from an oceanic heat wave bringing warm-water troubles to other parts of the Pacific Ocean. But our inland waterway has had its own problems, and the reasons have been a challenge

Scientists at the Washington Department of Ecology along with many other researchers have spent years studying and debating the problem of low oxygen in Puget Sound. Now, many new developments — technical, scientific and legal — are reaching a critical stage and setting up a framework to make some major decisions. This is part four of a four-part series originally published in the Puget Sound Institute blog.

About 83% of the water in Puget Sound comes from the ocean. That brings with it all kinds of benefits, including an ocean-size amount of life-giving nutrients that feed the creatures that live here. But it has one potential drawback. That ocean water is notoriously low in oxygen. Why is that and what does it mean for the future of Puget Sound?

A summary report on perceptions of environmental and climate change based on the 2022 human wellbeing Vital Sign survey. This research was funded by the Puget Sound Partnership and led by members in Oregon State University’s Human Dimensions Lab.

An estimated 80% of all the salmon in the North Pacific are pink salmon. Scientists say the extreme abundance of pinks could be causing a "trophic cascade" that is harming species across the food web.

The 2023 State of the Sound is the Puget Sound Partnership’s eighth biennial report to the Legislature on progress toward the recovery of Puget Sound. 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.