Puget Sound Marine Waters 2017 Report

Chinook Salmon | credit USFWS

A new report finds that Puget Sound’s unusually warm water temperatures that prevailed throughout the West Coast since 2014 finally returned to normal in 2017. Although water temperatures recovered, life within those waters has not.

In general, biological observations within Puget Sound revealed that the abundance of many marine animals throughout the food web are still lower than usual. In addition, the region experienced both the wettest spring and driest summer ever recorded in 2017.

The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s Marine Waters Work Group, who authored the report, has been tracking the health of Puget Sound since 2011. This work group includes scientists from federal, tribal, state and local agencies, academia, nonprofits, and private and volunteer groups.

The work group looked at a number of environmental indicators, including plankton, water quality, climate, and marine life that when, considered together, provide both a long-term view and current assessment of the Sound’s health.

The Puget Sound Marine Waters 2017 Report can be accessed at: https://pspwa.box.com/shared/static/xzvxtmxv0lpomphceiotcwmr77ul75q7.pdf

The Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) supports the conservation and management of living marine resources and their habitats in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.

source: Northwest Fisheries Science Center

March Ocean Temperatures Hottest on Record

The world’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made last month the warmest March on record, according to NOAA. Taken separately, average ocean temperatures were the warmest for any March and the global land surface was the fourth warmest for any March on record. Additionally, the planet has seen the fourth warmest January – March period on record.


The monthly National Climatic Data Center analysis, which is based on records going back to 1880, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions.

source: NOAA