Blog

You may have seen the sad news. It was recently reported that three more orcas are presumed to have been lost from our endangered southern resident population. The Center for Whale Research maintains the official population records for J, K and L pods and issued a statement on Aug. 6 announcing that the southern resident population had fallen to 73 whales.

In May, the United Nations released a research report forecasting the extinction of nearly 1 million animal and plant species due to climate change and human impacts to the environment.Things took a turn for the worse today as the Trump Administration released revised regulations for implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Last June, five biologists from the Seattle Aquarium participated in the Washington sea otter survey, organized and run annually by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with fellow participants from the Washington State Department of Wildlife (WDFW), the Seattle Aquarium, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and Quinault Indian Nation.

Voting and conservation are two things that we are passionate about here at the Aquarium—and it’s the time of year when you should be on the lookout for your Primary Election ballot in the mail! This election we are proud to be supporting the renewal of the King County Parks Levy that will appear on King County ballots as Proposition 1.

If Puget Sound were a grumpy old man, it would rightly say, “Get off my lawn!” But what lawn? What kind of grass grows in the water? If you guessed eelgrass, you’d be right.

Summer is here, which means you should keep your eyes peeled for a variety of whale species that have been visiting Puget Sound. There have been many sightings of gray whales, humpbacks and orcas throughout the Salish Sea, and we encourage you to come down the Aquarium to learn more about these amazing creatures!

Curator of Conservation Research Shawn Larson of the Seattle Aquarium traveled to the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve in China for a four-day conference in April about worldwide otter conservation. Come along as she describes her trip. 

How we manage our greenspaces is important to the overall health of our environment. It is because of this link that the Aquarium is proud to support the renewal of the King County Parks levy that will be appearing on your election ballot this August. 

June is Orca Action Month and conservation organizations across the region have been helping to raise awareness about the challenges facing our southern resident orcas. The challenges are many, but one of the biggest is the decline in Chinook salmon, the orcas’ primary food source.

Last week was Capitol Hill Ocean Week! Thousands of people gathered in DC to talk about solutions to pressing ocean challenges. The Seattle Aquarium participated for the first time, represented by Erin Meyer and Nora Nickum from our Conservation Programs and Partnerships department.

Last September, the Seattle Aquarium and Woodland Park Zoo co-hosted the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ annual conference. The Aquarium hosted the conference’s big kickoff social, the icebreaker—and, in a first for these events, it was carbon neutral!

We would like to extend a big heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in the Survive the Sound challenge. If you picked the Aquarium’s fish Pierre 59 we have some great news—you won! Pierre 59 was a strong swimmer and crossed the finish line ranked in first place! Pierre 59 was able to successfully migrate out of the Salish Sea, but the fact is not every fish made it. Migrating salmon face many obstacles as they travel through our local waters, and this challenge showed us that a small fraction of the fish who undertake the journey make it out to the open ocean.