Salish Sea Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Second year of funding to the arts sees more recipients throughout Washington

By Lauren Gallup May 21, 2024

Heather Jefferson, Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation, part of "The Aunties: Women of the Salish Sea" at Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham, Washington, on Nov. 11, 2023. (Credit: Mark Caicedo / Indigenous Performance Productions, ArtsFund)

Catherine McKinney is a sister of a person with developmental delays. She knows firsthand the joys and challenges families face when seeking opportunity and community for their loved ones. At Clallam Mosaic, where she is the program and communications director, McKinney helps families like hers find community through recreational programs that range from martial arts to Read More

New Washington Whale-Watching Boat Rules To Help Struggling Orcas Take Effect In 2021

By NWPB News December 26, 2020

An endangered female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget Sound west of Seattle. The orca is from one of three groups of southern resident killer whales that frequent the inland waters of Washington. CREDIT: ELAINE THOMPSON/AP

According to the rules approved by the commission last week, from July through September, commercial whale watching companies can view endangered Southern Resident orcas during two, two-hour periods daily, The Skagit Valley Herald reported.Read More

Pandemic Gives Pacific Northwest Whales A Respite From Din Of Underwater Noise

By Tom Banse May 13, 2020

Underwater noise impacts on endangered orcas were already under study before the coronavirus pandemic opened the door for a natural experiment.

American and Canadian marine scientists -- and one talented dog -- are seizing an unexpected opportunity presented by the coronavirus pandemic. They are trying to establish whether Pacifc Northwest whales benefit from the current drop in boat traffic and underwater noise.Read More

Federal Managers Propose Northwest Habitat Protections For Orcas And Humpback Whales

By Jes Burns November 11, 2019

Aerial photograph of adult female Southern Resident killer whale J16 with her calf J50 in 2015, when the calf was in its first year of life. CREDIT: JOHN DURBAN (NOAA FISHERIES), HOLLY FEARNBACH (SR3) AND LANCE BARRETT-LENNARD (VANCOUVER AQUARIUM), TAKEN BY AN UNMANNED HEXACOPTER DURING RESEARCH AUTHORIZED UNDER NMFS PERMIT #16163

One of the habitat designations is specifically for Southern Resident Killer Whales, which spend about half the year in the Salish Sea north of Seattle. They feed on salmon. There are fewer than 80 of these orcas remaining. Read More

‘Humpback Comeback’ Delights Whale Watchers As Rescuers Study Surge And Warn Of Risks

By Tom Banse August 14, 2019

A humpback whale breaches in the Salish Sea. CREDIT: ISLAND ADVENTURES WHALE WATCHING

Humpback whales are resurfacing in big numbers in the Salish Sea, the Columbia River mouth and the Northwest coast. Along with excitement over the humpbacks' return comes concern about ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.Read More

Puget Sound Whale Watchers Accused Of Loving Endangered Orcas To Death

By NPR News June 18, 2019

The question of whether boat-based watching tours are really harmless has become more urgent in Washington state, where Southern Resident killer whales have been declining since the 1990s.Read More

Canadian Regulators OK Trans Mountain Pipeline, With Impacts On Traffic Through Washington Waters

By Paige Browning February 25, 2019

A protester holds a sign stating during a Kinder Morgan (Trans Mountain) Pipeline rally on Sept. 9, 2017 in Vancouver, Canada. CREDIT: WILLIAM CHEN/WIKIMEDIA/CREATIVE COMMONS

On Friday, Canadian regulators endorsed the long-fought oil pipeline, which would bring more oil vessels through Washington state waters. The Canadian government proposal would lengthen the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which would allow the country to ship more oil overseas and bring in higher prices. Now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is widely expected to approve it.Read More

Whale Researchers Rejoice: New Calf Born To Endangered Puget Sound Orcas, But Odds Are Tough

By NWPB News January 12, 2019

Baby orca L124 was spotted Jan. 11, 2019 with its mother, L77. CREDIT: CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH

Researchers say there's a new calf among the population of critically endangered killer whales that live in the waters between Washington and Canada.Read More

Another Endangered Puget Sound Orca Suffering From ‘Peanut Head’

By John Ryan January 3, 2019

Orca J17 in Haro Strait on Dec. 31, 2018. CREDIT: MELISSA PINNOW/CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH

A southern resident orca appears to be emaciated, suffering from the disfiguring condition called “peanut head.” Whale researchers encountered the southern resident orcas' J-pod on New Year's Eve as they swam in Haro Strait.Read More

Washington Tribes Oppose Canadian Pipeline, More Oil Tankers In Salish Sea

By John Ryan December 1, 2018

Representatives of Washington tribes perform a "paddle song" at the start of a hearing in Victoria, B.C., on the Trans Mountain Pipeline. CREDIT: NATIONAL ENERGY BOARD

Tribal leaders and members from Washington state crossed the Salish Sea to oppose a pipeline that could bring more oil tankers to waters on both sides of U.S.-Canada border. The Canadian government wants to expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline and triple the flow of oil from Alberta to the Pacific coast.Read More

Another Puget Sound Orca Struggles, But 3 Others Are Pregnant

By John Ryan September 30, 2018

Drone photography reveals the bulging midriffs of pregnant orcas in 2015 and 2018. NOAA/SWFSC

The lean profile of the whale known as K25 is yet another sign of trouble for the region’s endangered orcas. Since last November, three members of the long-endangered population have died, most recently an emaciated young female known as J50.Read More

Efforts Continue To Save ‘Critically Endangered’ J-50 Orca, But It May Be Too Late

By John Ryan September 13, 2018

Southern Resident killer whale J50 and her mother, J16, off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew, B.C., on August 7. CREDIT: BRIAN GISBORNE, FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA

Officials in Canada and the U.S. are hatching a plan to temporarily capture and treat an emaciated orca. The young whale known as J-50 hasn't been spotted in nearly a week and could already be dead.Read More

After Dramatic Weekend For Orca Biologists, New Attempts To Help J-50

By Paige Browning September 5, 2018

Veterinarians are again trying to help the emaciated young orca named J-50, after a dramatic turn of events over Labor Day weekend.Read More

Veterinarians Grapple With How To Save Puget Sound Orca: Salmon Laced With Meds Or Syringe?

By Tom Banse August 6, 2018

An emaciated orca from the Pacific Northwest’s critically-endangered resident killer whale population could get a pole injection of medicine under the latest preferred option of an emergency response team. Officials with the lead federal agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, described the changing situation Monday morning.Read More

Study: In Warming Arctic, Increased Sea Vessel Traffic Puts Many Marine Mammals At Risk

By Bellamy Pailthorp July 5, 2018

Melting sea ice frames migrating beluga whales in the Arctic CREDIT: KRISTIN LAIDRE / VIA PNAS

New trade routes have opened up in the Arctic as melting sea ice makes those waters passable. Because it’s just starting, relatively little data exists about the impacts of the increased shipping traffic on marine mammals.Read More

Tracking Whales In Puget Sound Is As Easy As Following Genetic ‘Bread Crumbs’ Left Behind

By Jes Burns April 22, 2018

Members of Puget Sound's south resident orca population. CREDIT: NOAA

Researchers at Oregon State University have worked out a way to detect and identify whales long after they move on — just by sampling the water.Read More

Investigation Finds Negligence Caused Atlantic Salmon Escape From Net Pens

By Bellamy Pailthorp January 30, 2018

A failure to clean and maintain its nets led to the collapse at Cook Aquaculture’s Cypress Island facility this summer -- and the escape of 100,000 more Atlantic salmon than originally reported. That’s the conclusion of an investigation by three Washington state agencies.Read More