Lake Stevens

Three adult harbor seals in Puget Sound have tested positive for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 strain, marking the first incidence of HPAI in marine mammals on the West Coast, and officials are urging beachgoers to avoid contact with wildlife.

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife said the fish are yellow perch, which are common in the lake.

As the driest summer in Seattle’s record books ended, trees across the city were sounding silent alarms. It was the latest in a string of Seattle summers in the last decade, including a record-breaking heat dome in 2021, to feature drier conditions and hotter temperatures that have left many trees with premature brown leaves and needles, bald branches and excessive seeding –- all signs of stress.

If upwelling starts a month earlier than usual, the amount of oxygen, already low, has to last until the fall when storms promote mixing which adds oxygen back into the system. As of late September this year, upwelling is still occurring and low levels of oxygen are still persisting.

For the first time in Seattle’s history, temperatures spiked above 100 degrees two days in a row, with residents scrambling to find relief — and flocking to beaches, parks and...

Moss balls imported from Ukraine to pet shops in the United States have been found to house the invasive Zebra mussel. Once in bodies of water, this mussel reproduces rapidly and wreaks havoc on ecosystems.

Some 22,950 sockeye were counted at Ballard’s Hiram Chittenden Locks in 2020, but only about 3,000 made it to the mouth of the Cedar. Another 40 to 50% of those fish typically die on the spawning grounds before they can reproduce.A vortex of climate change, urbanization and predators endangers a beloved species.

Southern resident orcas are on the brink of extinction, while killer whales to the north are growing in numbers. The contrast exposes what’s killing Puget Sound’s orcas.

The population of endangered killer whales has hit a 30-year-low, numbering only 75 this year.

The biggest challenges for whales is the buildup of toxic chemicals in their bodies and the shrinking runs of Chinook salmon, their primary prey.

Environmental reporter Christopher Dunagan discusses the challenges of protecting Puget Sound and all things water-related. Weather extremes now surpassing the realm of natural possibilities

After a bat was found near Seattle with deadly White Nose Syndrome, a conservation group has teamed up with cave explorers to find out if B.C.'s bats are also affected. The White Nose fungus can kill 99 or even 100 percent of a population it infects.

Not in Alaska yet - Help with Surveillance Requested.

Washington State's historic drought is pushing Lakes Washington and Union below the normal annual 20-foot mark for the first time in 28 years, and officials anticipate another foot drop.

Scientists, concerned hikers and residents have observed more stressed and dying bigleaf maple across urban and suburban neighborhoods as well as in forested areas. While forest pathologists have ruled out several specific diseases, the overall cause of the tree’s decline has stumped experts for years.

Entomologists believe the invasive insect is an “old hornet from a previous season that wasn’t discovered until now” because it was “very dried out."

The peer-reviewed research published this week in the Public Library of Science suggests that 99% of the orcas studied had photographic evidence of skin lesions. Researchers evaluated photos from nearly 20,000 orca sightings from 2004 to 2016, finding that lesions — often gray patches and gray targets on the orcas' skin — generally became more prevalent over time.