Noaa

President Donald Trump's proposal would defund the 11-region Integrated Ocean Observing System — cutting off the buoys, drones and radar that feed Oregon, Washington state and other coasts the real-time wave, wind and current data vital for safe shipping, tsunami routes and storm forecasts.

Investigators are searching for a person of interest in the stabbing of an elephant seal pup earlier this year along the Oregon Coast.

NOAA’s Marine Operations Center in Newport harbors two research ships which help the Pacific fleet protect marine life, manage commercial fisheries, study climate change, and make nautical charts for safe navigation. 

An internal document from the Office of Management and Budget, reviewed by KUOW, calls for eliminating NOAA’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, as well as national grant programs for species recovery, interjurisdictional fisheries, and habitat conservation and restoration.

Above-average Oregon rainfall will last through at least mid-April.

Like many federal agencies, employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were laid off in recent weeks. Former staff members are speaking out before there are more cuts.

Hanna Miller was a natural resource specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 2023, Miller was awarded employee of the year for NOAA Fisheries in the western United States.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the latest U.S. government agency to face layoffs as the Trump administration continues slashing the federal workforce. Some of the cuts are in Newport, Oregon.

The Pacific Ocean is finally starting to cool down after several years of unusually warm water parked off Washington, Oregon and California.

The ocean is going to be unusually warm this year off of Oregon and Washington, which could spell trouble for salmon and other marine life.