Encyclopedia of Puget Sound Homepage

The past, present and future of natural conditions in the United States are described in a new report, which has traveled a bumpy road to its current draft form, now out for public review and comment.

“The Nature Record,” originally titled the “National Nature Assessment,” was launched in 2022 as a government project — the first of its kind. The

The Washington State Department of Ecology is responding to new legal rulings and public concerns with changes in planning and potentially future enforcement. We continue our occasional series on water quality and wastewater management in Puget Sound. Funding for the series is provided in part by King County.

Increasing concerns surround PFAS in products from wastewater treatment plants. How great a risk do they pose, and are there feasible approaches to removing them? We continue our occasional series on water quality and wastewater management in Puget Sound. Funding for the series is provided in part by King County.

A 2026 paper in the journal Environmental Management explores how salmon contribute to "sense of place" and regional identity among Puget Sound residents. The paper was produced by researchers at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Overview

The false killer whale is a tropical to warm temperate species of dolphin that is not normally found in the Salish Sea. However, the species does occasionally appear in small numbers in Pacific Northwest waters of Washington and British Columbia, and even sometimes as far north as Alaska. They are highly social animals that typically feed

Overview

Humpback whales have made a remarkable recovery in Puget Sound and throughout the Salish Sea. While their numbers vary through the season, they can be seen in almost any month of the year. In essence, this has been a return to waters they formerly used prior to commercial whaling that wiped out the local population. Humpback whales around