The Salish Sea is home to two unique populations of orcas: the northern and southern residents. While the northern population has slowly rebounded to over 300 individuals, the southern residents remain critically endangered, with their numbers stuck at around seventy-five.

The reasons behind the southern orcas' struggle to recover have been well-documented—reduced salmon runs, pollution, and past capture for entertainment purposes. Now, new research suggests another key culprit: human-made underwater noise.

During ten days of fieldwork in 2022 and 2023, the researchers caught ten sharks from the broadnose sevengill and the endangered soupfin species.

The Salish Sea separates northwest Washington from British Columbia's Vancouver Island. The 6,500-square-mile body of water stretches into Washington as Puget Sound, and the sharks were caught close to Olympia near the sound's southernmost point.

The SS Pacific was on its way from Puget Sound and Victoria to San Francisco when it collided with a big sailing ship in the dark off Cape Flattery on November 4, 1875 and sank in less than an hour. The Pacific had an estimated 275 passengers and crew aboard of which only two survived, making the sinking the most deadly maritime disaster in Northwest history. 

Only a handful of details of what happened came to light afterwards because there were only two survivors—one who floated around on debris for 40 hours, and another for 80 hours.

You may not have ever heard of WSA, but you may have walked down stairs they helped build, dove underwater parks they helped clean up or to some degree maintain, or you may have gained access to dive sites that WSA helped ensure would retain open access to all.

WSA does this strictly as dedicated volunteers and the money used for their various projects are from membership donations as well as outside public and private sources. They also work closely with government agencies such as the Department of Fish and Wild Life, Washington State Parks, and NOAA to make them happen.