When Palm Trees Thrived in the Pacific Northwest

A 12,000-year-old pine cone, a fossilized ginkgo leaf — Knute Berger dives into the Burke Museum’s paleobotany collection to find out what Washington use to look like and to contemplate which of the state’s former, and considerably warmer, climates would be the most suitable dwelling for a modern-day Mossback. These specimens might help scientists understand, and prepare for, climate change.

Seattle’s Complicated History With Orcas

Amid recent news of an orca mother carrying her dead calf and the reaction it garnered from humans around the world, Knute Berger reflects on our local connection with orcas. Namu, the first live, captive orca was displayed on the Seattle waterfront in 1965. Knute Berger charts the rise and fall of the whale that would come to define our relationship with orcas.