Puget Sound

Puget Sound, the nation’s second largest marine estuary, faces a number of challenges related to population growth and development, habitat loss, and pollution. We work with local and tribal governments, state and federal agencies, non-profits, and private sector partners to protect and restore the Sound.
Puget Sound, the nation’s second largest marine estuary, faces a number of challenges related to population growth and development, habitat loss, and pollution. We work with local and tribal governments, state and federal agencies, non-profits, and private sector partners to protect and restore the Sound.

Search Blog Posts

186 results.

Cleaning up: Tackling dioxins and PAHs in Budd Inlet
Ecology and the Port of Olympia are amending a legal agreement that requires the port to clean up contamination in sediment — the mud, sand, and silt under the waters of Budd Inlet.
"Everyday chemicals” found at the bottom of Puget Sound
Our Marine Sediment Monitoring Team spent almost a decade sampling the muck under Puget Sound to measure chemical contaminants. Here's what they found.
It’s slime time! The slime tube worm lives in a house of horrors
Sliiiime. Just saying the word conjures up images of monsters from scary movies like The Blob, The Thing, and Ghostbusters. But to the slime tube worm, all this ooze looks like Home Sweet Home.
What's bugging Puget Sound benthos?
Ecology’s Marine Sediment Monitoring Team tracks the health of the sediments and invertebrates at the bottom of Puget Sound. They've been on the decline for decades – what could be contributing?
These worms are boring! ... into oyster shells, that is
Shell-boring worms make their homes in mollusc shells. These parasites are sometimes called mud blister worms, because the burrows that they create inside the shells fill with mud and detritus.
State adds airboat to its oil spill response toolbox
State of Washington's purchases airboat to use in sensitive coastal areas.
Monitoring is essential to Puget Sound

We recently adapted our sediment monitoring program to collect data that will help better understand the effects of climate change and of nutrient pollution flowing into the Sound.

Bad to the bone: The skeleton shrimps are drop-dead cool
If you can put aside their alien appearance, skeleton shrimp are fascinating creatures.
Tackling Toxics: PCB problem requires creative solutions
We stopped using polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 35 years ago, yet it continues to contaminate almost every water body in Washington.
The "unicorn" shrimp is pure magic
Nebalia pugettensis is a tiny crustacean that lives on the sea floor, with a horn-like rostrum and leg-like appendages that function as lungs.