Experts warn that an offshore quake powerful enough to kill thousands and discharge a tsunami could hit the West Coast anytime.

Northwest disaster officials and communities propose new structures for people to get to safety when a killer tsunami wave is on the way, not by trying to outrun the wave, but by trying to out-climb it.

When listening for orca whales underwater, researchers distinguish their sounds from other noises such as boats, ships, and other sea animals with hydrophones. Learn how these instruments work.

We explore how scientists use hydrophones to track noise from ships and boats to discover what effect noise pollution really has on orcas.

It’s clear that in the wild, orcas seem to have a pretty universal rule: don’t attack humans. The reason would appear to be both biological and cultural.

Even though different groups of orcas in the Pacific Northwest often share the same waters, they don’t interact outside of their group and demonstrate unique behaviors.

Scientists are looking for clues in killer whales' aquatic droppings as they try to determine why their numbers remain so low in Puget Sound.

Researchers have learned that calf survival rates are incredibly low, especially for the orca’s first born. The mother’s young calf often dies because of something the mother passes on to her offspring—PCBs.

Kenneth Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research Friday Harbor, Washington, explains the connection between the Southern Resident killer whales (orcas) and chinook salmon.