8/19 Saving Sam, Jewell James, saving bees, toxic shellfish, mill site cleanup, rising seas, CA sea urchins

Sam (PHOTO: Vancouver Aquarium)

Sam, a juvenile whale stranded for three weeks in Weetam Bay on B.C.'s central coast, had been plaintively calling for his mother right up until he was rescued Thursday. And it appears his cries were heard: as soon as he popped out of the bay’s narrow entrance, the transient killer whale hooked with another pod and was on his way home, said Lance Barrett-Lennard, a killer-whale scientist at Vancouver Aquarium. Kelly Sinoski reports. Young killer whale stranded on B.C.’s central coast rescued, on his way home  

Lummi master carver Jewell James is taking another ceremonial totem pole on a long trip, but this time it won’t be going as a healing pole — like those he carved for the three 9-11 sites — this pole is a political and cultural statement aimed at the export of coal from ports in the Pacific Northwest. The pole is taking shape only a few miles from the proposed site of the largest coal terminal in the region, at Cherry Point north of Bellingham on Georgia Strait. It’s a site that James and other Lummis regard as sacred; their ancestors lived, fished and died at Cherry Point through the centuries before white men discovered the area, imposed treaties on the natives and pushed them onto reservations. Floyd McKay reports. Coal port faces huge obstacle in Lummi opposition  

Northwest beekeepers are applauding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for requiring certain pesticides to carry a clearer warning label. The idea is to prevent home gardeners and farmers from inadvertently harming beneficial pollinators, like bees. The EPA directive applies to widely used bug killers, rose and flower treatments, and grub controls. Future labels will have to carry specific warnings under a picture of a bee.  Tom Banse reports. Controversial Insecticides to Carry Clearer Warnings to Protect Bees

Some oysters and clams recently harvested in two British Columbia inlets may contain paralytic shellfish toxins, and the lots have been voluntarily recalled by shellfish processors. A health hazard alert issued Friday by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the shellfish were sold primarily to restaurants and other institutional-type businesses, but may also have been sold at retail seafood counters. The recall applies to clams and oysters harvested on Tuesday, Aug. 13, from Effingham Inlet and Useless Inlet in B.C., and were packaged or distributed by Albion Fisheries, Pacific Rim Shellfish, or Clear Bay Fisheries Inc. Raw oysters and clams from 2 B.C. inlets recalled  

Kimberly-Clark Corp. wants city planners to waive requirements to cover the site of its demolished waterfront mill with topsoil and grass. Those final steps are spelled out in Everett's demolition permit. The company, however, contends the land is best left blanketed under pulverized concrete -- until somebody builds something new there. Noah Haglund reports. Waiver sought for former K-C mill site

A presidential task force charged with developing a strategy for rebuilding areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy has issued a report recommending 69 policy initiatives, most focused on a simple warning: Plan for future storms in an age of climate change and rising sea levels. The report released Monday by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force says coastal communities should assume floods are going to happen more frequently and realize that spending more now on protective measures could save money later. It calls for development of a more advanced electrical grid less likely to be crippled in a crisis, and the creation of better planning tools and standards for communities rebuilding storm-damaged areas. David Caruso and Meghan Barr report. Task force: Coasts should prepare for rising seas    See also: Climate policy's twin challenges

Below the gently rolling waves off Palos Verdes Peninsula, a spiny purple menace is ravaging what should be a thriving kelp forest. Millions of sea urchins - scrawny, diseased and desperate for food - have overrun a band of the shallow seafloor, devouring kelp and crowding out most all other life at a time the giant green foliage is making a comeback elsewhere along the California coast. In an effort to remedy the situation, scientists and divers will spend the next five years culling the urchins from more than 152 acres of coastal waters degraded years ago by pollution. Once the purple, golf ball-size creatures are under control, young kelp should be able to take hold on the rocky seafloor and grow into the undulating canopies that sustain hundreds of species of marine life. Tony Barboza reports. Off California, purple sea urchins devouring kelp forest

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 245 AM PDT MON AUG 19 2013
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN THIS MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.
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