Science

A bittersweet addition for the southern resident orca as J35, Tahlequah gives birth to new calf, J57. The orcas were spotted just off of the San Juan Islands this weekend, not far from their pod.

One dead Asian giant hornet has been captured in a trap near Birch Bay, and another was spotted by local diners at a nearby restaurant, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

The first male Asian giant hornet in Washington state and the first in the U.S. has been captured, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

The first astronauts launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company departed the International Space Station on Saturday night for the final and most important part of their test flight: returning to Earth with a rare splashdown.

The Asian giant hornet is the world’s largest hornet and a predator of honey bees and other insects. A small group of Asian giant hornets can kill an entire honey bee hive in a matter of hours.

The planned military exercises include testing torpedoes, firing projectiles at seven times the speed of sound, piloting mine-detecting undersea drones, deploying underwater sonar and exploding bombs up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) in waters from northern California to Alaska.

This year, the typically frequent visits from the southern resident orca pods have been scarce in the Puget Sound, leading some researchers to reach the tragic conclusion that our southern resident orcas are residents no more. 

Summer is synonymous with seeing whales in the Pacific Northwest, but visits from the locally-beloved southern resident orcas are becoming few and far between. Experts say the dramatic absence is likely directly tied to tanking salmon returns in the Fraser River, which were historically abundant. 

The state traps are being placed around Blaine, Custer and Bellingham, the only places in the U.S. that the giant hornet has ever been found.