10/1 Cattle Point, orca secrets, Straitwatch, lake toxin, smaller fish, plankton, world fisheries, dioxin generations

Camus

Here we are: it’s the first of October, another beautiful day in the Salish Sea and another morning edition of Salish Sea News, now in its 13th month of posting. We have about 200 daily subscribers by email and 2,307 pageviews online last month, for a total of 20,130 views since its launch. Salish Sea Communications, a periodic blog, is a year old this month and received 2,185 pageviews last month and 13,534 views since its launch. Ask others to subscribe (it’s free) to Salish Sea News— and thank you for your readership and support. Mike Sato.

Sue Vernon in San Juan Nature Notebook writes: "This is homage to Cattle Point – a 26-acre parcel of public land at the south end of San Juan Island that is a natural treasure. It has been an important meeting place of islanders and mainlanders for a very long time. Because of its biological diversity, the property has also been vital to wildlife - both flora and fauna - for ages. As Cattle Point’s cultural history has changed over time so, too, has the role and presence of many wildlings that have lived or visited there. Thousands of years ago, the Coast Salish began stopping at Cattle Point each spring to collect blue camas, that most sought after lily and icon of island prairies. The bulbs were a staple of their winter diet. Families gathered at the windswept promontory and fished for sockeye salmon, harvested clams and mussels from the rocky shoreline, and hunted deer, birds and other wildlife before returning to their mainland villages. It was a tradition that continued into modern times...." Cattle Point

Ashley Ahearn of EarthFix describes her trip with scientists who are using suction tags to gain access to the secret underwater lives of Puget Sound’s endangered orcas: "We catch up with the orcas a few minutes after we leave the dock. They’re near Rosario Strait in the San Juan Islands. Their sharp dorsal fins pierce the smooth golden-blue-autumn water around us. Representatives from all the pods: K30 off in the distance. L23 closer in. There rises L84, an imposing 20-year-old male. He surfaces closer to the boat — a Zodiac loaded down with a team of five scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — and exhales a loud misty breath. I gasp, too...." Field Notes: Unlocking The Secrets (And Sounds) Of Orcas Underwater  

As Fisheries and Oceans Canada touts a first-ever conviction under the Species at Risk Act, a Victoria whale-advocacy group wants its federal funding back. The society runs Straitwatch, a program that works to keep B.C. boaters at least 100 metres away from marine animals. But the society pulled its boats out of the water in July because its federal funding wasn't renewed even though Straitwatch is listed as an official monitor for killer whales in the Species at Risk Act.  Victoria whale advocacy group wants funding restored  

The level of a potent nerve toxin in Anderson Lake has soared to more than 100 times the safe level. The skyrocketing level of anatoxin-a in the lake — which will remain closed to all recreational use, though the state park around it remains open through October — is unusual so late in the season. “This is a dangerous level of anatoxin in the lake at this time,” said Michael Dawson, water quality lead with Jefferson County Public Health Department, on Friday after test results were received from samples taken Monday at the lake west of Chimacum.  Leah Leach reports. Anderson Lake toxins jump to 100 times safe limit  

A new study from fisheries researchers at the University of B.C. says that climate change will lead to smaller fish in the world’s oceans. Using computer modelling to study 600 species of fish across the world’s oceans, the scientists found fish sizes could shrink by 14 to 24 per cent from 2000 to 2050, due to warmer temperatures and less oxygen.  Climate change will lead to smaller fish, UBC study says

A study published in Science magazine and co-authored by Bren School Sustainable Fisheries Group (SFG) researchers and their colleagues confirms suspicions that thousands of "data-poor" fisheries, representing some 80 percent of the world's fisheries, are in decline but could recover with proper management. The authors of "Status and Solutions for the World's Unassessed Fisheries" also found that taking quick action to allow depleted stocks to recover to sustainable levels could result in future catches that are 8 to 40 percent larger than are predicted if current unsustainable fishing practices continue.  It's Not Too Late for Troubled Fisheries, Experts Say  

As you take in your next breath of air, you can thank a form of microscopic marine life known as plankton. They are so small as to be invisible, but taken together, actually dwarf massive creatures like whales. Plankton make up 98 percent of the biomass of ocean life. "This invisible forest generates half of the oxygen generated on the planet," Chris Bowler, a marine biologist, tells Guy Raz, host of weekends on All Things Considered. And, as climate change alters the temperature and acidity of our waters, this mysterious ocean world may be in jeopardy.  A tiny ocean world with a mighty important future  

Washington State University researchers have found that the great-grandchildren of pregnant rats exposed to low doses of dioxin develop diseases and reproductive abnormalities — even though they did not have direct exposure. The finding challenges the traditional explanation of how traits are passed from one generation to another. Carol Ostrom reports. Study finds rats passed down harmful effects of dioxin exposure

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON OCT 1 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT LATE. NW SWELL 6 FT AT
 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 5
 FT AT 9 SECONDS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to: msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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