Puget Sound

188 Stories

Environment

A different kind of winter fun: tidepooling at night on Puget Sound

On a drizzly February night, dozens of people walked with headlamps and flashlights at water’s edge near the Edmonds, Washington, fishing pier. They weren’t there to catch fish or squid: They came to see the wonders that come out when the tide goes out.
John Ryan
Environment

Does that orca have a baby bump? Drones can tell from the air

Orcas, like humans, get baby bumps in the early months of pregnancy and grow larger as the pregnancy advances. Researchers say they can now spot those underwater baby bumps from the air and keep better tabs on the maternal health of whales.
John Ryan
Environment

Grieving orca mom carries dead calf on her nose for fifth day

An endangered orca mother has been carrying her dead newborn calf on her snout for nearly a week around Washington’s Puget Sound.
John Ryan
Environment

Famous orca mom carries another dead calf around Puget Sound

Two newborn calves joined the Northwest's endangered orcas in December. By New Year’s Eve, one of them was dead — and being carried around on its mother’s nose.
John Ryan
Environment

Endangered orcas’ circle of life: one baby dies, another is born

A baby orca at first believed to be J61, which hadn't been seen for nearly a week, turned out to be a brand-new baby instead. Researchers now presume J61 is dead.
John Ryan
Environment

Newborn orca brings holiday cheer — and fear — to Seattle whale watchers

What might be the world’s most famous orca has given birth again.
John Ryan
Animals

'Sometimes you only get one shot.' Restoring salmon habitat and rejuvenating a South Seattle beach

Logs are being adjusted and plans are in place for floating gardens to be deployed into the cove of Be’er Sheva Park in South Seattle. The goal is to bolster fish habitat as part of a larger project to rejuvenate a Lake Washington beach that serves historically Black and diverse neighborhoods.
Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez
Environment

Too much cyanide in Puget Sound? EPA to review state regulations

Federal officials have agreed to take another look at how Washington state regulates a deadly poison — cyanide.
John Ryan
Environment

Endangered Northwest orca population drops as 3 males die

Three members of the Northwest’s population of endangered orcas died over the past year.
John Ryan
Environment

Sister seas on opposite shores face same foe: polluted runoff

“Why do we think it takes 40 or 50 years to fix an estuary, a series of rivers, or even a bay? If you stop putting shit in these rivers, they get better fast."
John Ryan

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