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  On a wing and a prairie: Puget Sound butterfly avoids extinction with human help

  They're surprisingly fuzzy. Each wing looks like a mini-masterpiece of stained-glass art, in orange, black, and white.

  • John Ryan
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  A record-size run of pink salmon may be headed toward Washington state

  Biologists expect a record number of pink salmon to return to Puget Sound and Washington rivers and streams this year. And while that may seem like a good signal about salmon habitat, it's also raising some concerns.

  • Kim Malcolm
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  Another baby orca spotted with Northwest's endangered J Pod

  It is the fourth calf born to the southern resident orcas since December. Two of the four have died already.

  • John Ryan
• 

  A different kind of winter fun: tidepooling at night on Puget Sound

  On a drizzly February night, dozens of people walked with headlamps and flashlights at water’s edge near the Edmonds, Washington, fishing pier. They weren’t there to catch fish or squid: They came to see the wonders that come out when the tide goes out.

  • John Ryan
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  Does that orca have a baby bump? Drones can tell from the air

  Orcas, like humans, get baby bumps in the early months of pregnancy and grow larger as the pregnancy advances. Researchers say they can now spot those underwater baby bumps from the air and keep better tabs on the maternal health of whales.

  • John Ryan
• 

  Grieving orca mom carries dead calf on her nose for fifth day

  An endangered orca mother has been carrying her dead newborn calf on her snout for nearly a week around Washington’s Puget Sound.

  • John Ryan
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  Famous orca mom carries another dead calf around Puget Sound

  Two newborn calves joined the Northwest's endangered orcas in December. By New Year’s Eve, one of them was dead — and being carried around on its mother’s nose.

  • John Ryan
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  Endangered orcas’ circle of life: one baby dies, another is born

  A baby orca at first believed to be J61, which hadn't been seen for nearly a week, turned out to be a brand-new baby instead. Researchers now presume J61 is dead.

  • John Ryan
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  Newborn orca brings holiday cheer — and fear — to Seattle whale watchers

  What might be the world’s most famous orca has given birth again.

  • John Ryan
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  'Sometimes you only get one shot.' Restoring salmon habitat and rejuvenating a South Seattle beach

  Logs are being adjusted and plans are in place for floating gardens to be deployed into the cove of Be’er Sheva Park in South Seattle. The goal is to bolster fish habitat as part of a larger project to rejuvenate a Lake Washington beach that serves historically Black and diverse neighborhoods.

  • Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez

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