Salish Sea News Week in Review September 26 2025

Aloha koala Friday!
Save the Koala Day is observed on the last Friday in September to raises awareness for the plight of the koala and the importance of conserving the koala’s natural habitat. Even though it’s called a koala bear, the koala isn’t actually a bear. Instead, the koala is a marsupial. This means that the koala is a mammal that carries its young in a pouch. In the late 18th century, English-speaking settlers in Australia called the animal a bear. These settlers thought the koala looked and behaved like a bear. Since then, many people call these animals, koala bears. Australia provides the only natural habitat in the world for the koala. Known as tree-hugging mammals, koalas live in eucalyptus trees. They grow up to 3 feet tall and weigh anywhere from 9 to 30 pounds.

Newborn orca spotted with Northwest's endangered J Pod
The newborn orca has been born to the J pod, and SeaDoc says it appears the mother is 18-year-old J42, also known as "Echo." 

Invasive green crabs continue to spread
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that about 174,000 green crabs were removed this spring and summer, an increase from about 130,000 in 2024, but a decrease from 485,000 in 2023. This summer, 1,413 were found in North Puget Sound. 

Nations ratify the world’s first treaty to protect international waters
The High Seas Treaty is the first legal framework aimed at protecting biodiversity in international waters, those that lie beyond the jurisdiction of any single country.

Defense Department Delays Cleanup of ‘Forever Chemicals’ Nationwide 
The new timeline could slow cleanup in some communities by nearly a decade. The chemicals, widely used in the military, are linked to cancers and other health risks.

With local orcas ‘in desperate condition,’ Snuneywuxw is monitoring ships’ noises
The First Nation is collecting sound data, hoping to protect at-risk southern resident killer whales from ‘acoustic smog’ of increased maritime traffic. 

'Green scam': At UN, watched by drowning nations' leaders, Trump assails the ethos of climate change
In his address at the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump excoriated renewable energy, international climate diplomacy, the science of global warming and other environmental issues. 

LNG Expansion Brings New Health Risks to Kitimat 
The project’s fast-tracked second phase would push a key pollutant far above current limits, documents reveal. 

Totem pole reaches Elwha after 1,700-mile journey
After a 1,700-mile journey around the Pacific Northwest to bring attention to the potential harms posed by the Trump administration’s plan to repeal the Roadless Rule, a totem pole has reached its final destination. 

At Global Climate Summit This Week, U.S. Isolation Was on Full Display
On Wednesday in New York, countries lined up to say they would accelerate their efforts to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. In staying away, the U.S. was all but alone.

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to msato(at)salishseacom.com .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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