4/30 Dale Ireland, tanker risks, Swinomish shores, Fisher Slough, Hoko salmon, Dyes Inlet, Vancouver Aquarium, North Creek, low-tide explorers, Nooksack dredging, sharks, bag ban

Dr. Dale Ireland's Ichiro Snow-Meter

Thanks, Doc:  Family and friends – as well as weather enthusiasts around the Puget Sound area - are mourning the loss of amateur meteorologist and astronomer, Dr. Dale Ireland. Silverdale dentist known for his weather and space photos dies

Twelve years ago BP built a second dock at its Cherry Point refinery north of Bellingham, Wash. But it didn’t do an assessment of what that added dock capacity would mean for tanker traffic in Washington waters. Now the Army Corps of Engineers has released a long-awaited study that found that when BP built the second dock at Cherry Point it actually lowered the risk of a spill.... But here’s the catch: the study found that if traffic increases things look different. Ashley Ahearn at EarthFix reports. New Study Details Oil Tanker Spill Risk In Puget Sound  

The Swinomish Planning Commission expects to make a recommendation to the tribal Senate in the next 30 days on whether it should consider an ordinance that would reassert the tribe’s authority over public use of its tidelands. The proposal has provoked the ire of non-tribal residents of the area who don’t want the tribe to infringe on their ability to enjoy the beaches.  Tidelands ordinance recommendation expected within 30 days  


In late summer last year, a small but enthusiastic crowd gathered in northwest Washington to witness the rebirth of a waterway -- the result of years of negotiation, compromise and patience. Those present heard about the project's importance, not only for Pacific salmon, but also for the local community's livelihood.  It sounds a lot like the breaching of the century-old Elwha Dam on the Olympic Peninsula last fall. But this little group was about 100 miles away, near the town of Mount Vernon, at a place called Fisher Slough in the Skagit River Delta. What they were celebrating was less dramatic in appearance than the Elwha, but it was also biologically significant, and just as thorny politically. Eric Wagner in High Country News reports. Balancing fish and farms on a Washington estuary  

The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and Rayonier have proposed a partnership to restore salmon habitat on the Hoko River in the North Olympic Peninsula. The project would add nearly 2 miles of salmon habitat to the river, in conjunction with the Elwha River restoration project that is expected to add 70 miles of salmon habitat. The 25-mile-long Hoko River empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the Hoko River State Park, 4 miles west of Sekiu.  Hoko River salmon restoration proposed

Dyes Inlet between Bremerton and Silverdale continues on a path toward cleaner waters, as shown this week when state health authorities released their annual list of "threatened" shellfish-growing areas. Dyes Inlet was no longer on the "threatened" list.... In Kitsap County, the only other water body listed as "threatened" list is Burley Lagoon. Other waterways on the "threatened" list this year are Port Townsend Bay in Jefferson County, Hood Canal 6 (near Alderbrook Inn) in Mason County, Filucy Bay in Pierce County, Grays Harbor and Pacific Ocean beaches in Grays Harbor County, Naselle River in Pacific County, Port Susan in Snohomish County and Portage Bay in Whatcom County. Dyes Inlet shellfish areas escape 'threatened' listing

The Vancouver Aquarium has received $12.5 million — its largest ever donation — from mining company Teck to fund construction of a new entrance gallery, as well as conservation and education programs, the aquarium announced Friday. The contribution includes $10 million to redesign the entrance gallery and expand it by 47,000 square feet. The space will be renamed the Teck Connections Gallery, the aquarium said in a statement. It is expected to open in May 2014. Vancouver Aquarium receives $12.5-million donation from Teck  

The water in a south Everett stream inundated by raw sewage earlier this month is just about back to normal, according to water quality tests. The city is tallying up what the spill cost. The best guess by the public works director: $250,000.  An estimated one million gallons of sewage flowed into North Creek after a pipe ruptured April 12 near the 11800 block of Silver Way.  Water in Everett stream passes quality tests http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120430/NEWS01/704309952/-1/NEWS01#Water-in-Everett-stream-passes-quality-tests%0A

“I remember the first time my wife and I took our two children to the beach to poke among the rocks during a low tide. They were 4- and 2-years old at the time. It was such a fun way to introduce them to the creatures that call Puget Sound home.” Jeff Mayor at The News Tribune reminisces.  Low-tide explorers can uncover cool critters, life-long memories  

Whatcom County leaders have approved paying consultants an additional $103,800 to pursue a project to dredge the Lower Nooksack River to keep flooding from worsening. But before crews get to the point of digging gravel from the river, the county likely will face significant costs studying the possible environmental impacts, County Executive Jack Louws warned the council. Pierce County wants to do the same thing, and it's looking at spending up to $1 million for the required environmental studies, he said.  Whatcom council OK's $104K for study, design of project to dredge Nooksack River


Humans and sharks are a bad mix - especially for the sharks, a study co-authored by a University of Victoria biology professor has found. "On the reefs where there are people, there are no sharks," said Julia Baum, who wrote the paper, published this week in the journal Conservation Biology, with a team of international scientists. Baum crunched the numbers from more than 1,600 diver surveys and found that, like larger sharks around the world, the number of the smaller reef sharks is plummeting.  Sharks suffer where there are humans, study finds  

Honolulu is the only county in the state not to regulate plastic shopping bags, but now the city council has approved the plan to ban plastic shopping bags and some paper bags as well. The plastic shopping bags you get from super markets, convenience stores and restaurants will not be allowed.  Paper bags will be allowed but only if they are made of at least 40 percent recycled material and have a recyclable logo on it. Plastic bags sacked on Oahu  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON APR 30 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 5 AM PDT EARLY THIS MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING
TODAY
S WIND 10 TO 15 KT BECOMING W 20 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT BUILDING TO 3 OR 4 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS BUILDING TO 8 FT AT 7 SECONDS. SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SHOWERS.

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