1/13 Snow!, otters, voluntary stewards, Swinomish dredging, Kitsap steams, boat tax, toxic fish, Mima Mounds, pay for whales, smallest frog

Oak Tangle (Laurie MacBride)

“I waited to write this blog until I could ‘see the whites of their eyes’ and this case white is the right color.” That’s Cliff Mass: The Upcoming Snow  

New blog by Our Lady of the North: A Forest of a Different Kind: Garry Oak

Eye candy, tummy tempting: Photos: Winning Chinese Restaurant Awards dishes

If you like to watch: A North American river otter has moved into the new habitat being created along the shores of the Duwamish River, at Slip 4, as part of the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund cleanup. Otters make themselves at home on Duwamish

Milo died Wednesday, and the aquarium says he was the first otter to be diagnosed with lymphoma and also the first to be treated with chemotherapy.  Much-loved sea otter dies at Vancouver Aquarium

Thurston County commissioners voted to try a new, voluntary approach to protect fish and wildlife habitat and water quality on agricultural lands. By joining the state’s Voluntary Stewardship Program, county emphasis will be on an incentive-based program that relies less on its critical-areas ordinance to achieve environmental protection on active agricultural lands. Thurston County commission OKs voluntary plan for critical areas

Port of Skagit, city of La Conner, Skagit County, the Port of Anacortes, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe and Swinomish Indian Tribe have agreed to work together to help pay for the $1.2 million it costs to dredge the Swinomish Channel every three years.  Keeping the Swinomish Channel flowing

Kitsap County’s annual water quality report shows improving trends in 14 county streams and worsening trends in six other streams. Battle against pollution continues in Kitsap's streams

According to a study by Hebert Research, boating generates $3.9 billion a year in economic activity in Washington, and reducing some of Washington’s high boating-related taxes could generate millions more in revenue for state coffers by making it more attractive for people to keep and maintain a boat here. Deborah Bach reports, Millions at stake with new boat tax proposal
“Fish exposed to low levels of common flame retardants called PBDEs for most of their lives pass the chemicals – and more surprisingly, the associated toxic effects – along to their progeny. While parents' health effects were minimal, the exposures reduced hatch rates and altered the thyroid hormone system of the next generation.” Toxic legacy: Fish pass flame retardants, impaired health to offspring

Bellamy Pailthorp at KPLU ponders what professor Paul Butler calls “one of the most poorly understood phenomena in earth science.” That’s a large swath of native prairie southwest of Olympia that’s very strange looking. So strange, in fact, that some have even said it was created by aliens. This week we marvel at the mysterious Mima Mounds  

Putting a price on nature: Three academics propose the world should put a price on killing whales, and allow conservationists and whalers alike to bid on the right to take them. The idea of a market-based trading system for commercial whaling is not unprecedented; a Canadian natural-resources professor mentioned it in 1982, and a Virginia economist offered a more detailed scenario a decade ago.  Researchers propose price on whaling

And, for your end-of-the-week sense of wonder: A frog species, Paedophryne amauensis, that appears to be the world's smallest at 7mm (0.27 inches) long has been discovered in Papua New Guinea. World's smallest frog discovered

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST FRI JAN 13 2012
TODAY
SE WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING S 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 1 TO 4 FT AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 13 SECONDS. RAIN.
SAT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 13 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN LIKELY AND A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 11 FT.
SUN
W SWELL 10 FT. W WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.

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