A team of scientists studying last year’s eruption of Axial Seamount now says that the undersea volcano some 250 miles off the Oregon coast gave off clear signals hours before the eruption.  The findings, plus those from scientists who mapped the lava flow, are published this week in three separate articles in the journal Nature Geoscience.  To read more about this research, click here. 

Warmer water and reduced river flows in the United States and Europe in recent years have led to reduced production, or temporary shutdown, of several thermoelectric power plants.  A study by European and University of Washington scientists published today in Nature Climate Change projects that in the next 50 years warmer water and lower flows will lead to more such power disruptions.  

Washington Sea Grant and the Gig Harbor BoatShop at the Eddon Boatyard are holding a first-aid at sea course for recreational boaters and commercial fishermen. Topics to be covered during the Coast Guard-approved course include cardiopulmonary resuscitation, patient assessment, hypothermia, shock, trauma, burns, fractures, choking and first-aid kits. 

The Cascadia fault is expected to release a giant earthquake — it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.  That’s why research and preparedness activities are crucial. Operation Pinecone, a major emergency operations scenario, is currently taking place all over Western Washington to help teams prepare for “the big one.” Hundreds of emergency workers in six counties, state agencies, private businesses, FEMA and even officials from British Colombia are taking part in the biggest disaster drill of its kind. 

Not having enough Chinook salmon to eat stresses out southern resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest more than having boatloads of whale watchers nearby, according to hormone levels of whales summering in the Salish Sea.  Read more about this study here, which was published today in PLoS ONE.