12/12 Elwha, storm, Rhapsody necropsy, lake vs. estuary, bad oyster, BC pipe, vessel demolition

(Edmonds Beacon)

An artist’s voice for salmon

The illusion of light illuminating the waters of the Puget Sound has been captured by a local artist who created a fabric installation to alter the space of Edmonds’ shorelines and bring awareness to the plight of salmon. “I’ve lived in Edmonds my whole life,” artist Marni Muir said, “and am deeply committed to the Edmonds way of life”…. Muir, 64, temporarily displayed the 5-yard untitled “altered space fabric piece” along the Edmonds waterfront, and draped it over a section of Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks and the tall, billowing grasses of the Edmonds Marsh. She said current waterfront developments have created blocked pathways for salmon, making it impossible for them to complete their spawning cycle. Laura Daniali reports. (Edmonds Beacon)

If you like to watch: Elwha River at flood stage 12/9 and 12/10
John Gussman treats us to a short clip of some of the flooding on the river this week.

BC Hydro power outages affect thousands after wind storm  (CBC) Storm is over, but thousands still without power  (KING)

Orca necropsy shows fetus died first: report
A 19-year-old orca whose body was found last week off Courtenay had a near full-term fetus disintegrating in her uterus, says a preliminary necropsy report from the Center for Whale Research. It appears the fetus died some time before the mother, said Kenneth Balcomb, executive director and principal investigator at the centre in Friday Harbor, Washington. The mother’s death was probably caused by difficulties trying to expel the fetus, he said…..During the necropsy, Balcomb observed that the whale’s blubber layer was relatively thin and dry of oil, indicating that J-32 existed on an inadequate diet for an extended period. He noted that her spleen was enlarged and there was an enlarged lymph node adjacent to the uterus, which suggests something had been wrong for a while. Louise Dickson reports. (Times Colonist)

Lake-estuary impasse will be tough to break
Capitol Lake sits at the center of a years-long debate over a complex public policy issue in Olympia: Should it remain a lake, or be restored as an estuary? A new report says collaboration among key players is the best way to find a solution for managing the 260-acre man-made reservoir. However, collaboration will be difficult at best with the estuary camp wanting the Fifth Avenue Dam removed and the lake supporters wanting it to stay, the report went on to say. The two groups’ dueling science and financial cost estimates for the lake-estuary options are other barriers to collaboration. Andy Hobbs reports. (Olympian)

Raw oysters sicken 12, prompt shellfish harvest closure and recall
Washington state health officials have ordered an emergency harvest closure and a multistate recall of all shellfish from a portion of Mason County’s Hammersley Inlet after at least a dozen people who ate raw oysters became ill. Norovirus is suspected in the illnesses reported last month; laboratory tests confirmed the infection in two people, health officials said. The recall announced Thursday includes nearly 4,000 dozen oysters and nearly 3,000 pounds of Manila clams from the area processed from Nov. 10 to Dec. 5. The shellfish was sent to a dozen states including Oregon, Nevada, Florida, Minnesota, Illinois, California, New York, Maine, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. JoNel Aleccia reports. (Seattle Times)

Pipeline expansion proposal in B.C. has Washington groups worried, too
Kinder Morgan’s plans to boost the export of Alberta tar sands oil to Asia through its British Columbia pipeline picked up more opposition south of the border Tuesday when Seattle-based Sightline Institute released research critical of the company’s safety and environmental record. The report adds to aggressive efforts by the U.S.-based nonprofit Forest Ethics and environmental groups in the San Juan Islands to stop Kinder Morgan from expanding its Trans Mountain pipeline in southern British Columbia. Floyd McKay reports. (Crosscut)

San Juan tops in state demolition 'turn-in' program; five dismantled in two days time
Tearing apart a boat that’s past its prime is nothing new for Michael Durland. In fact, it’s more akin to business as usual at Orcas Island’s Deer Harbor Boatworks, where, over the course of two days, Nov. 13-14, Durland and crew demolished five boats whose owners had surrendered various vessels they could no longer maintain or dispose of themselves to the grindstone of the state-funded voluntary turn-in program coordinated by San Juan County’s derelict vessel removal program. Scott Rasmussen reports. (San Juan Journal)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 301 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM PST THIS MORNING
TODAY
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE MORNING. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 10
 FT AT 14 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 15 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
SAT
S WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING SE 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SUN
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 16 SECONDS.
--
"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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told