7/29 Seal pup, Strait swim, BC crisis time, oil trains, Burns Bog, oil spill threat, pumpin' CO2, Keystone jobs

Nursing seals (Tony Overman/The Olympian)

A harbor seal pup that appeared to be abandoned in Henderson Inlet has found comfort from an adoptive mother. The 4-week-old pup was seen Friday afternoon nursing with a mother seal who was also nursing her 1- to 2-week-old infant.... While the situation has changed for the young seal pup, the stance of the National Marine Fisheries Service has not. The organization’s spokesman on Friday directed would-be rescuers to leave the seal alone. Even if it were a nursing pup stranded in the haul-out site, it would have been left to nature’s outcome. Tony Overman reports. Seal pup finds a mother's love

With about 1 mile left to go, Andrew Malinak, a 26-year-old civil engineer from Seattle, quit his attempt to swim from the southern tip of Vancouver Island to U.S. shores at either Freshwater Bay or Crescent Beach west of Port Angeles today (Sunday). "The last few miles have been slow," his tweet at about 2:50 said.  And at 3:30 p.m., the tweet said: "Andrew aborted swim. 6 hours and 10 minutes. He had about 1 mile left but progress was slow. Water ranged from 46-50 deg, air in 50s. Cold." He was trying to make the 12-mile crossing of the Strait of Juan de Fuca without wearing a wetsuit. Swimmer cuts short attempt to swim Strait to Port Angeles  

Two of B.C.’s major environmental organizations are launching a Save-the-Salish-Sea campaign because of looming threats to the delicate ecosystem. The groups are concerned about possible expanded coal and oil exports, which would increase the number of tankers and coal ships travelling from Vancouver, through the Gulf Islands and Juan de Fuca Strait, as well as existing problems, such as pollution and overuse. Georgia Strait Alliance and the Wilderness Committee are asking B.C. residents to demonstrate support for the water that surrounds them by pledging to become “caring kayakers, bright birders and savvy shoreline users.” Judith Lavoie reports. ‘Crisis time’ for B.C. waters, environmental groups say  

Hundreds of people came to the (Vancouver, WA) waterfront Saturday for a sun-baked demonstration against the fossil fuel industry and its projects in the Northwest. The climate change advocates 350.org organized a national day of action around a broad range of fossil fuels. But the Port of Vancouver’s recent decision approving a train-to-tanker-ship oil terminal for West Coast refineries added grist for protestors like Pat Douglass of Vancouver. She’s not happy about the oil terminal project, and wants to stop encouraging fossil fuel industries. April Baer reports. Oil Terminal Fuels Vancouver Protest  

With a growing population in the Lower Mainland, developers are looking at odd-shaped tracts of land, former industrial sites and agricultural zones as potential space for new neighbourhoods. Often, those developers’ visions clash with area residents’ concerns about loss of green space. That is especially the case when proposed development would occur next to Burns Bog. The bog, between the south arm of the Fraser River and Boundary Bay, is a haven for migratory birds, a flood-absorbing sponge and one of the biggest urban wilderness sites in North America. In 2004, four levels of government – Ottawa, the province, Metro Vancouver and the Corporation of Delta – paid $73-million to acquire 2,000 hectares of the 3,000-hectare bog to run as an Ecological Conservancy Area. Wendy Stueck reports. Eliza Olson: protecting Burns Bog from developers  

Richmond residents have renewed their call for a pipeline to deliver fuel to Vancouver airport, in the wake of the spill that dumped 35,000 litres of jet fuel into Lemon Creek in B.C.'s Slocan Valley. "When I heard and saw the spill on TV my heart just sank," says Carol Day, chair of Vapor BC, a group calling for a safe route to transport aviation fuel to Vancouver airport from the Cherry Point refinery in Washington. Currently, some 40 trucks run along Richmond streets everyday delivering fuel. Jet fuel worries resurface in Richmond  See also: B.C. man finds dead fish downstream from jet fuel spill; Water restrictions remain for Lemon Creek, Slocan River and Kootenay River  

Opinion: Our waters’ long journey to health  

Scientists start pumping CO2 into basalt deposits to test the idea that greenhouse gases could be locked up underground — but with no emission caps, industry is unlikely to adopt the technology. Sandi Doughton reports.  Is there a fix for global warming under our feet?  

TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) insists that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline will create about 20,000 jobs, despite suggestions by U.S. president Barack Obama that those estimates might be unrealistic. In an interview with The New York Times this weekend, Obama said that based on "the most realistic estimates" the project might create "maybe 2,000 jobs" during the construction of the pipeline. "...and then after that we're talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people," he said. But a spokesman for Trans-Canada noted that Obama's comments were aimed at his Republican opponents, who have used the economic benefits as one of their major arguments for the project. TransCanada sticks by its numbers after Obama challenges Keystone job estimates  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 900 PM PDT SUN JUL 28 2013
MON
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 7 SECONDS. PATCHY MORNING DRIZZLE.
MON NIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 7 SECONDS. PATCHY DRIZZLE.
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