Why are so many Coho salmon dying? The answer might be in your tires

By Camila DomonoskeJessica Yung, Rebecca Ramirez
November 20, 2024

For decades, Coho salmon were turning up dead in urban streams the Pacific Northwest. The salmon would stop swimming straight, and then die before they had a chance to spawn. Researchers worried that unless they figured out the cause, the species would eventually go extinct.

Enter a formidable crew of biologists, modelers, community scientists, environmental chemists. After eventually ruling out the obvious suspects — things like temperature, oxygen levels and known toxins — researchers eventually zeroed in on a prime suspect: chemicals in tires. But the question remained: Which one?

Link to article and Podcast:

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/20/1214145117/salmon-death-pnw-tire-emissions