Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing threats to marine wildlife. It is estimated that more than 700 marine species, from blue whales to small barnacles, have had interactions with plastics in the oceans. Plastics now make up 80% of all marine debris and can be found everywhere, from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
When grizzly bears clamber onto the talus slopes high in Glacier National Park, they’re searching for an abundant, fatty meal: army cutworm moths.
A team of scientists has devised a more accurate way to predict the effects of climate change on plants and animals — and whether some will survive at all.
Fish hatcheries are a critical part of the effort to restore salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. But hatchery fish are less likely than wild ones to return from the ocean to spawn — and one reason may be hatchery noise.
Yukon River Chinook salmon have been declining for decades. These declines have limited salmon harvest and posed hardships for local communities that depend on these fish for their food sovereignty, culture, and livelihoods.
A panel of scientists recently completed their review of a wide-ranging project aimed at restoring much of the degraded habitat along the John Day River in Central Oregon.
A large marine heatwave has bathed parts of the West Coast in very warm ocean waters over the past year, breaking temperature records in the Pacific. NOAA has also announced that El Niño has developed in the tropical Pacific and is predicted to intensify to a moderate or strong level this fall.
Japan’s Okayama University of Science and Murakami City in Niigata Prefecture, have launched a joint research project to cultivate chum salmon in a land-based aquaculture system using The Third Water at the university’s Next-Generation Aquaculture Center. The juvenile salmon delivered from Murakami earlier this year have grown to an average weight of 23 grams and an average length of 13 centimeters and are now thriving in a 35-ton tank.
Murakami has been known as one of Japan’s leading salmon-producing regions along the Sea of Japan coast since the Heian period (794–1185). In recent years, however, climate change has altered the distribution of marine species, resulting in increased predation on released salmon juveniles by species such as yellowtail and Spanish mackerel that have expanded northward into the region. Consequently, the number of salmon returning to local rivers has declined dramatically.
Water managers in the Columbia Basin are expecting a slightly below average runoff in the months leading to September, but so far it has been gradual, mostly due to cooler temperatures.
Biologists led by the University of Iowa discovered the presence of the invasive New Zealand mud snail by detecting their DNA in waters they were inhabiting incognito. The researchers employed a technique called environmental DNA to reveal the snails’ existence, showing the method can be used to detect and control new, unknown incursions by the snail and other invasive species.
A new study shows per-area greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s water reservoirs are around 29% higher than suggested by previous studies, but that practical measures could be taken to help reduce that impact.
Artificial intelligence systems that ask users to pause to consider AI’s energy consumption and environmental impacts are likely to reduce unnecessary AI use, new research by Oregon State University suggests.
At least 51 whales have died along the West Coast already this year, according to an analysis of public data and media reports by the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Sin Nombre virus — a hantavirus that can cause a deadly respiratory disease in humans — may be more widespread among rodent populations in parts of the Pacific Northwest than previously recognized.
A new study by University of Victoria and Pacific Salmon Foundation scientists has uncovered what adult Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea are eating—and revealed diet can differ according to region.
The study, led by UVic PhD student Wesley Greentree and published recently in Fisheries Oceanography, analyzed the contents of salmon stomachs to assess salmon diet. Greentree found that year-round, herring are the most important food for adult Chinook salmon throughout the Salish Sea. Anchovy were often found in stomachs collected near Howe Sound and sand lance were important in Victoria and Sidney.
Restoring dry forests in the Pacific Northwest, shaped by frequent low-intensity fire and widely spaced trees, often means thinning dense stands that accumulated after decades of fire suppression. This can make forests healthier and more resilient to wildfire, but it can raise concerns about protecting wildlife that depend on dense tree cover, including the northern spotted owl.
A new system combines decades of fisheries data and statistics to visualize West Coast fisheries and how they have changed over time.
The Pacific Fishing Effort Mapping Project was led by researchers at NOAA, state wildlife departments, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. It consolidates location and catch data from fishing vessels with landings and economic figures into revealing maps and charts of major West Coast fisheries. It then shows how they may be affected by other ocean uses. For instance, the new system turns data on the catch value of groundfish into a landscape of colors depicting the West Coast, where the highest value catch areas stand out boldly.
Salmon are becoming river ‘ghosts’ as brutal droughts and violent floods cause unprecedented losses on their treacherous journey to the Pacific Ocean, scientists say.
A major study 10.1111/gcb.70854 led by the University of Essex, NOAA Fisheries, University of California, Davis, and Cramer Fish Sciences found that young Californian Chinook salmon face a deadly double threat from extreme weather and the destruction of historical wetland habitats they rely on.
Above: Geographic distribution of the revenue for trawl-caught groundfish in 2024 and 2016–2024 along a portion of the U.S. West Coast. This sample image from the Pacific Fishing Effort Mapping tool illustrates how data is visualized. Credit: NOAA Fisheries A new system combines decades of fisheries data and statistics to visualize West Coast fisheries and...
Above photo: SpeciesNet’s AI prediction can be seen on an image of a lynx. Credit: Mammal Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab Artificial intelligence can dramatically speed up the painstaking work of tracking wildlife with remote cameras, cutting analysis time from months or even a year to just days while producing nearly the same scientific conclusions...
A model developed by Washington State University researchers can predict how transmission towers might fail and collapse in extreme wind events. The work, reported in the journal, Engineering Structures, could someday help power companies identify the most vulnerable transmission towers in extreme wind events and determine which should have retrofits to reduce the power outage...
Above photo: TMMC-1-91, also known as ‘Ladybug’, swimming in central San Francisco Bay – pictured with the skyline of the city. This individual later died. Photographer: Josephine Slaathaug © The Marine Mammal Center. Gray whales migrate from Arctic waters full of food to the lagoons of Baja Mexico — but as the climate crisis gathers...
Summer weather is arriving earlier, lasting longer and packing more heat than it used to—and it’s happening faster than scientists had previously measured.
New evidence suggests that a disease-causing tapeworm that has been spreading across the United States and Canada has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The tapeworm, called Echinococcus multilocularis, lives as a parasite in coyotes, foxes and other canid species and can cause severe disease if passed to domestic dogs or humans.
Alaska’s glaciers respond to climate change by melting for three additional weeks with every 1 degree Celsius increase in the average summer temperature, data from satellite-mounted radars show.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
