Blog Posts

How Saving Southern California’s Steelhead Trout Could Also Help the State’s Watersheds

8/10/2018

The Relevator-

A coalition of public and private entities hopes to revive both fish and water supplies in a hotter, drier climate.

Can saving an endangered fish help heal some of California’s regional water woes? Masses of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) once migrated freely between the sea and river headwaters along the California coast. That began to change about a century ago as dams, stream realignments, bridges, invasive species and degraded estuaries all took their toll on steelhead, putting this intriguing member of the salmon family on a path toward near-extinction.

Does the moon hold the key to the earth’s energy needs?

7/12/2018

The Guardian-

Tidal power is the only renewable source derived from the moon. Now an extraordinary array of devices promise to unlock this vital energy potential. Using giant kites, blades and paddles, and mimicking pogo sticks, blowholes and even the human heart, groups around the world are on the cusp of harnessing the colossal power of the oceans.

Opening the black box: What’s killing Puget Sound’s salmon and steelhead?

6/29/2018

University of Washington-

An intensive research program in the U.S. and Canada is studying why so few salmon in the Salish Sea are returning home to spawn. They are uncovering a complex web of problems involving predators, prey and other factors that put salmon at risk as they migrate to the ocean. We begin a four-part series on the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, including new findings presented at the 2018 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference last spring in Seattle.

Supreme Court tie favors Indian tribes in Washington state culvert fight

6/11/2018

Seattle Times-

At issue is whether Washington state must fix or replace hundreds of culverts, large pipes that allow streams to pass beneath roads but can block migrating salmon if they become clogged or if they're too steep to navigate.

Arctic Sea Ice Is Getting Younger. Here Is Why That Is a Problem.

5/30/2018

Scientific American-

Young, thin sea ice melts faster, putting Arctic ecosystems in danger. When it comes to sea ice, old age can be a good thing. So it’s troubling to researchers that older layers of Arctic sea ice—which have persisted for multiple years in a row—are increasingly melting away.

Extinction could be a hot summer away for the little red fish of Lake Sammamish

5/15/2018

KUOW-

A little red fish that calls Lake Sammamish home is swimming desperately close to extinction. Officials are embarking on emergency measures to keep the fish known as kokanee from disappearing from the lake, and King County, forever

U.S. and Canadian Delegates Enter Discussions on Transboundary Pollution

5/1/2018

Flathead Beacon-

Montana’s endangered Kootenai River listed as top item at this week’s bilateral meeting

The ongoing flow of mining contaminants from British Columbia into a prized Montana watershed was a top discussion item during a bilateral meeting April 26 in Washington, D.C., where delegates from both countries convened to discuss the most urgent diplomatic issues facing their nations.

The fishy problem of underwater noise pollution

4/18/2018

The Conversation-

When the famous explorer Jacques Cousteau released The Silent World, a documentary of his underwater adventures in 1953, he inspired generations of scientists to study the world’s oceans. We now know that the underwater world is anything but silent. In fact, today’s researchers are concerned that underwater noise produced by humans is distracting, confusing — and even killing — aquatic animals.

Boats banned from dumping sewage in Puget Sound

4/12/2018

King 5-

The Washington Department of Ecology is creating the Northwest's first no discharge zone, spanning 2,300 square miles.

New Tsunami Maps For Southwest Washington Coast Have 'Shocking' Flooding

3/29/2018

KUOW -

The worst case scenario for flooding from a tsunami along the Pacific Northwest coast just got even worse. Washington's Department of Natural Resources with help from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration re-mapped the maximum tsunami threat from Grays Harbor down to the Columbia River mouth.

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