Rivers Draining into Puget Sound
The following rivers drain to the Puget Sound and act as a spawning grounds for chinook salmon (also known as king salmon). Below are current estimates for the number of salmon born in each river system each year.
Salmon Estimates
Nooksack River – 40,000
Samish River – 35,000
Skagit River – 60,000
Stillaguamish River – 45,000
Snohomish River – 4,500
Cedar River – no estimates, small river
Green/Duwamish River – 3,000
Puyallup River – 500-1,000
Nisqually River – 14,000
Deschutes River – 800-1,000
Skykomish River – 5,500
Dosewallips River – 1,200
Dungeness River – 5,000
Elwha River 7,000-10,000
Number of Salmon – 2015
A recent study of chinook salmon caught in Puget Sound yielded the following results:
Fisheries in the northern sound caught over 5,000 fish during the study with an average mass of 13.7 kg.
Private fishing boats from the Seattle area reported catching 342 chinook with an average size of 18.9 kg.
Scientists studying salmon populations on the Olympic Peninsula caught and released 470 chinook with an average size of 8.7 kg in a sheltered river outlet. They also caught and released 83 chinook in deeper waters with an average size of 17.4 kg.
3 Pods of orcas
Three are three pods of orca whales that live in Puget Sound. Researchers call them J, K, and L pods. The main food source for these resident pods in chinook salmon.
J pod – 25 whales
K pod – 19 whales
L pod – 39 whales
average mass of orca
The average mass of an orca in Puget Sound is estimated at 4,170 kg based on recent size measurements.
