11/14 'Shrooms, ocean acid, B'ham Bay plan, Water Act, Vic sewer, Goldstream R., flasher wrasse

PHOTO: Laurie MacBride

If you like to watch: Fall Feast – for Others
Laurie MacBride in Eye On Environment writes: "I’ve found what I think may be a cluster of Chanterelles – though lacking mushroom expertise, I’m not about to taste them. But others around our place seem to have no hesitation in turning the fungal bounty into a feast..."

Can Mushrooms Help Fight Stormwater Pollution?  
Ah, the Garden Giant. He’s a jolly fellow who roams around your garden at night tossing mulch as he merrily skips along, helping your veggies grow lush and tall. Not quite. The Garden Giant is actually a species of mushroom, scientifically known as Stropharia rugosoannulata, that may hold a key to filtering harmful pollutants from stormwater runoff. Although this mushroom can be rather “giant” as the name implies, growing up to eight inches tall and a foot wide at its cap, it is not the mushroom itself that does the work. It is something hidden underground -- a fungal root-like material called mycelium. Mycelium is a microscopic, cobwebby, fungal thread that, when mixed with woody debris, decomposes bacteria. Sarah Strunin reports.

Scientists warn of hot, sour, breathless oceans
Greenhouse gases are making the world's oceans hot, sour and breathless, and the way those changes work together is creating a grimmer outlook for global waters, according to a new report Wednesday from 540 international scientists. The world's oceans are getting more acidic at an unprecedented rate, faster than at any time in the past 300 million years, the report said. But it's how this interacts with other global warming impacts to waters that scientists say is getting them even more worried. Seth Borenstein reports.

Waterfront planning process raises more questions than answers  
Stephan Michaels writes: "Like many Whatcom County residents, I cannot profess being sufficiently educated about the specifics of Bellingham’s complicated waterfront plan to dissect it in detail. Yet one thing is patently clear: the public process conducted over the preceding ten years has been tossed aside in order to fast track the development of our long neglected shoreline. In the desire to get “something done” sooner than later, the current plan provides potential developers with a sweet incentives and locked-in environmental standards. And in the long term, taxpayers will not be getting what they wanted: a vibrant, multi-use waterfront, properly cleaned-up from the toxic mess left by the Georgia Pacific paper mill..."

B.C. Oil and Gas Commission accused of violating Water Act
Three environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission and natural gas company Encana over the use of water from B.C.'s lakes and rivers. The suit, filed Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court, claims the commission has granted repeated short-term water licences, in violation of the provincial Water Act. The environmental groups say as Encana proceeded with the fracking process to extract natural gas from underground reserves, it drew 880 Olympic swimming pools worth of water over three years from the Kiskatinaw River, which supplies drinking water to the city of Dawson Creek.

Deal to build sewage plant in Esquimalt falls apart
A tentative deal for a sewage treatment plant in Esquimalt fell apart Wednesday as Greater Victoria politicians refused to endorse a plan to barge construction materials to McLoughlin Point. The unknown costs of building a dock and running barges to and from the site raised alarm bells for almost everyone on the Capital Regional District’s sewage committee, except Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins. Politicians refused to support the idea, and after much debate punted the entire issue to a future meeting while staff gather more information. Rob Shaw reports.

Chum salmon ‘wiped out’ by 2011 fuel spill in Goldstream River
An entire batch of chum salmon hit by a 2011 fuel spill in Goldstream Provincial Park have been “wiped out” and failed to return to spawn this year, a local hatchery says. Three-year-old chum, which were directly affected as juveniles by the tanker truck crash and spill into Goldstream River, have not returned to the park this year to spawn because they likely died when the spill occurred, said Peter McCully of the Goldstream Hatchery. Rob Shaw reports.

New flasher wrasse species discovered in Indonesia
A new fish of the flasher wrasse species with striking orange color and rounded fins has been found in Indonesia's coral reefs, a conservation group announced Wednesday. Scientists from Conservation International and the Indonesian Biodiversity Research Centre discovered the species in East Nusa Tenggara province, said a statement from Conservation International. The discovery was published in the latest Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology. (Check out the photo: very cool looking fish)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST THU NOV 14 2013
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS...THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN AFTER
 MIDNIGHT.
--
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