School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
December 12, 2024
Surveys show full scale of massive die-off of common murres following the ‘warm blob’ in the Pacific Ocean
Colony surveys of common murres, an Alaskan seabird, show the full effects of the 2014-16 marine heat wave known as “the blob.” Analysis of 13 colonies surveyed between 2008 and 2022 finds that colony size in the Gulf of Alaska dropped by half after the marine heat wave. In colonies along the eastern Bering Sea, west of the peninsula, the decline was even steeper, at 75% loss. No recovery has yet been seen.
October 30, 2024
UW researcher reveals ‘everything you (n)ever wanted to know’ about parasites in new children’s book
Chelsea Wood, a University of Washington associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, has an upcoming children’s book titled “Power to the Parasites! Everything You (N)ever Wanted to Know About the Creepy Crawlies Hidden in Your Home, Your Food, Your Pets – and Maybe Even in You!” The book introduces kids to the world of parasitism.
October 22, 2024
Paws of polar bears sustaining ice-related injuries in a warming Arctic
Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet. The changes appear to be an unexpected consequence of climate change, related to changing conditions in a warming Arctic.
September 19, 2024
What’s for dinner? Scientists unearth key clues to cuisine of resident killer whales
Scientists have discovered the cuisine preferences of two resident killer whale populations, also known as orcas: the Alaska residents and the southern residents, which reside primarily in the Salish Sea and off the coast of Washington, British Columbia, Oregon and northern California. The two populations show broad preference for salmon, particularly Chinook, chum and coho. But they differ in when they switch to hunting and eating different salmon species, as well as the other fish species they pursue to supplement their diets. This information could aid conservation efforts for southern resident killer whales, which remain critically endangered due to pollution, loss of salmon habitat and other human-caused factors that disrupt their hunting and reproductive capabilities.
May 9, 2024
Navy Growler jet noise over Whidbey Island could impact 74,000 people’s health
As often as four days a week, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island fly loops overhead as pilots practice touch-and-go landings. The noise is immense. New research from the University of Washington shows that the noise isn’t just disruptive — it presents a substantial risk to public health.
April 4, 2024
What four decades of canned salmon reveal about marine food webs
University of Washington researchers have shown that levels of anisakid worms — a common marine parasite — rose in two salmon species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay over a 42-year period. The team discovered this by studying salmon caught, killed and canned from 1979 to 2021. Since anisakid worms have a complex life cycle involving multiple types of hosts, the researchers interpret their rising numbers as a potential sign of ecosystem recovery, possibly driven by rising numbers of marine mammals thanks to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.
March 6, 2024
Scientists CT-scanned thousands of natural history specimens, which you can access for free
Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility — one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home can access valuable museum specimens to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of openVertebrate, or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. The team behind this endeavor, which includes scientists at the University of Washington and its Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, published a summary of the project March 6 in the journal BioScience, offering a glimpse of how the data can be used to ask new questions and spur the development of innovative technology.
December 11, 2023
Beluga whales’ calls may get drowned out by shipping noise in Alaska’s Cook Inlet
Around Anchorage, communications among the critically endangered population of Cook Inlet beluga whales may be masked by ship noise in their core critical habitat, accordingly to the first repertoire of their calls.
November 15, 2023
WhaleVis turns more than a century of whaling data into an interactive map
A team at the University of Washington has created an interactive dashboard called WhaleVis, which lets users map data on global whale catches and whaling routes from 1880 to 1986. Scientists can compare this historical data and its trends with current information to better understand whale populations over time.
July 6, 2023
Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show
New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.
April 19, 2023
Q&A: Two ways UW researchers are studying marine microplastics
Two University of Washington researchers are using very different methods to investigate the issue of marine microplastics. For Earth Day, UW News asked them to discuss their research.
March 22, 2023
Faculty/staff honors: Legal education innovation award, stellar astronomical writing and more
Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes the Bloomberg Law 2022 Law School Innovation Program “Top Legal Education Program” for the UW Tech Policy Lab, 2023 Seattle Aquarium Conservation Research Award for Vera Trainer and 2023 Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for Emily Levesque.
November 2, 2022
Study reveals how ancient fish colonized the deep sea
A new University of Washington-led study reports that throughout Earth’s ancient history, there were several periods of time when many fish actually favored the cold, dark, barren waters of the deep sea instead of shallow ocean waters that are warm and full of resources.
September 26, 2022
Heat-related mortality risk is widespread across Washington state, study shows
Heat-related deaths occur across Washington state, even in regions with typically milder climates. This is the most extensive study yet of heat-related mortality in Washington state, and the first to look beyond the major population to and include rural areas. Researchers used statistical methods to uncover “hidden” deaths that may have listed something else, like illness or a chronic disease, as the primary cause.
August 23, 2022
Beach trash accumulates in predictable patterns on Washington and Oregon shores
Volunteers spent thousands of hours recording trash on beaches in Washington and Oregon to show that certain beaches, and certain areas of a single beach, are “sticky zones” that accumulate litter. Finding patterns for where litter lands could help to better prevent and remove trash in the marine environment.
June 29, 2022
‘Safety in numbers’ tactic keeps Pacific salmon safe from predators
A new University of Washington study that leverages historical data has found unique support for a “safety in numbers” hypothesis by showing that Pacific salmon in larger groups have lower risk of being eaten by predators. But for some salmon species, schooling comes at the cost of competition for food, and those fish may trade safety for a meal.
June 21, 2022
New study: 2021 heat wave created ‘perfect storm’ for shellfish die-off
A team led by the UW has produced the first comprehensive report of the impacts of the 2021 heat wave on shellfish.
June 16, 2022
Newly documented population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland sheds light on the species’ future in a warming Arctic
A new population of polar bears documented on the southeast coast of Greenland use glacier ice to survive despite limited access to sea ice. This small, genetically distinct group of polar bears could be important to the future of the species in a warming world.
May 6, 2022
Model finds COVID-19 deaths among elderly may be due to genetic limit on cell division
Your immune system’s ability to combat COVID-19, like any infection, largely depends on its ability to replicate the immune cells effective at destroying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease. These cloned immune cells cannot be infinitely created, and a key hypothesis of a new University of Washington study is that the body’s ability to…
April 13, 2022
Two UW faculty named fellows of Ecological Society of America
Two University of Washington professors have been honored by the Ecological Society of America for their knowledge and contributions to the field of ecology.
February 15, 2022
eDNA a useful tool for early detection of invasive green crab
As the green crab invasion in the state worsens, a new analysis method developed by University of Washington and Washington Sea Grant scientists could help contain future invasions and prevent new outbreaks using water testing and genetic analysis. The results show that the DNA-based technique works as well in detecting the presence of green crabs as setting traps to catch the live animals, which is a more laborious process. Results suggest these two methods could complement each other as approaches to learn where the species’ range is expanding.
February 9, 2022
New Center for Environmental Forensic Science aims to disrupt and dismantle international illegal wildlife trade
Across the globe, endangered species are at risk for illegal poaching. African elephants are sought out for their ivory, rhinoceros for their singular horns, and armadillo-like pangolins for their protective, brittle scales. Add to that list valuable and environmentally sensitive trees illegally harvested throughout the world where entire ecosystems are being deforested and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that is devastating oceans. These illicit markets, estimated at $1 trillion annually, cause enormous environmental impacts and have the potential to unleash new, deadly pathogens.
January 17, 2022
Shifting ocean closures best way to protect animals from accidental catch
Many nations are calling for protection of 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 from some or all types of exploitation, including fishing. Building off this proposal, a new analysis led by the University of Washington looks at how effective fishing closures are at reducing accidental catch. Researchers found that permanent marine protected areas are a relatively inefficient way to protect marine biodiversity that is accidentally caught in fisheries. Dynamic ocean management — changing the pattern of closures as accidental catch hotspots shift — is much more effective.
July 1, 2021
Last ice-covered parts of summertime Arctic Ocean vulnerable to climate change
The region north of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic has been termed the Last Ice Area, where sea ice will remain the longest in summertime, providing a refuge for ice-dependent Arctic species. But conditions last summer show that parts of this region are already experiencing less summer ice due to climate change.
March 18, 2021
‘By-the-wind sailor’ jellies wash ashore in massive numbers after warmer winters
Thanks to 20 years of observations from thousands of citizen scientists, University of Washington researchers have discovered distinct patterns in the mass strandings of by-the-wind sailor jellies. Specifically, large strandings happened simultaneously from the northwest tip of Washington south to the Mendocino coast in California, and in years when winters were warmer than usual.
February 23, 2021
Logging change in Puget Sound: Researchers use UW vessel logbooks to reconstruct historical groundfish populations
To understand how Puget Sound has changed, we first must understand how it used to be. But unlike most major estuaries in the U.S., long-term monitoring of Puget Sound fish populations did not exist until 1990. Now researchers have discovered an unconventional method to help fill in gaps in the data: old vessel logbooks.
January 27, 2021
In Brazil, many smaller dams disrupt fish more than large hydropower projects
A new University of Washington paper quantifies the tradeoffs between hydroelectric generation capacity and the impacts on river connectivity for thousands of current and projected future dams across Brazil. The findings confirm that small hydropower plants are far more responsible for river fragmentation than their larger counterparts due to their prevalence and distribution.
January 11, 2021
More management measures lead to healthier fish populations
Fish populations tend to do better in places where rigorous fisheries management practices are used, and the more measures employed, the better for fish populations and food production, according to a new paper published Jan. 11 in Nature Sustainability.
December 18, 2020
Coral recovery during a prolonged heatwave offers new hope
The pressing concerns of climate change have placed the long-term health of the world’s coral reefs in jeopardy. However, new research inspires hope as some corals managed to survive a recent and globally unprecedented heatwave.
December 7, 2020
Military flights biggest cause of noise pollution on Olympic Peninsula
A new University of Washington study provides the first look at how much noise pollution is impacting the Olympic Peninsula. The paper found that aircraft were audible across a large swath of the peninsula at least 20% of weekday hours, or for about one hour during a six-hour period. About 88% of all audible aircraft in the pre-pandemic study were military planes.
December 2, 2020
Scientists organize to tackle crisis of coral bleaching
At the current rate of global warming, mass coral bleaching is expected to become more frequent and severe worldwide. An international consortium of scientists, including a coral researcher from the University of Washington, has created the first-ever common framework for increasing comparability of research findings on coral bleaching.
November 23, 2020
US seafood industry flounders due to COVID-19
The global pandemic is hurting the seafood industry, and American fishmongers may flounder without more government aid, according to the largest study of COVID-19’s impacts on U.S. fisheries.
October 19, 2020
Early-arriving endangered Chinook salmon take the brunt of sea lion predation on the Columbia
A new University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries study found that sea lions have the largest negative effect on early-arriving endangered Chinook salmon in the lower Columbia River. The results of this study will publish Oct. 18 in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
September 29, 2020
Aquatic hitchhikers: Using mobile technology to predict invasive species transmission
A new University of Washington study uses passive data from a fishing technology company to model the movement of anglers and predict where aquatic invasive species may be spreading.
September 23, 2020
Some polar bears in far north are getting short-term benefit from thinning ice
The small subpopulation of polar bears in Kane Basin were doing better, on average, in recent years than in the 1990s. The bears are experiencing short-term benefits from thinning and shrinking multiyear sea ice that allows more sunlight to reach the ocean surface, which makes the system more ecologically productive.
August 3, 2020
New studies show how to save parasites and why it’s important
An international group of scientists has laid out an ambitious global conservation plan for parasites. A related paper led by the University of Washington found that responses of parasites to environmental change are likely to be complex, and that a changing world probably will see both outbreaks of some parasites and a total loss of other parasite species.
July 30, 2020
Deep-sea anglerfishes have evolved a new type of immune system
Deep-sea anglerfishes employ an incredible reproductive strategy. Tiny dwarfed males become permanently attached to relatively gigantic females, fuse their tissues and then establish a common blood circulation. Now scientists have figured out why female anglerfishes so readily accept their male mates. Their findings are published July 30 in Science.
July 16, 2020
Faculty/staff honors: ‘Architect’ magazine award, national society president-elect, library research honor — and runner-up for a national award for young scientists
Recent honors to University of Washington faculty and staff have come from Architect magazine, the Center for Research Libraries, member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the American Society of Human Genetics.
May 21, 2020
NOAA selects UW to host new, regional institute for climate, ocean and ecosystem research
A 5-year, up to $300 million grant from NOAA establishes the new Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies, a UW-based institute with partners at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Oregon State University. The institute will lead collaborative, multidisciplinary research and education activities around oceans and climate.
May 11, 2020
EarthLab announces Innovation Grant recipients for 2020
Research projects funded for 2020 by EarthLab’s Innovation Grants Program will study how vegetation might reduce pollution, help an Alaskan village achieve safety and resilience amid climate change, organize a California river’s restoration with tribal involvement, compare practices in self-managed indigenous immigrant communities and more.
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