3/6 WA fish farms, offshore oil drill, rising tides, Chesapeake seagrass, fighting fake news

Clear December day [PHOTO: Laurie MacBride]

A Rare December Day
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "On a clear winter day the view can be spectacular, looking across the Strait of Georgia to Mount Garibaldi and its neighbouring peaks in the Coast Range. Below them are the islands of Howe Sound: Keats, Gambier, Anvil (aptly named with its sharp, conical peak) and Bowen. Mountains, snow, islands and sea – a beautiful blue/white tapestry rolling out on BC’s south coast. I took this photo from our boat, just off Gabriola Island, on the single occasion that we managed to get out on the water this winter…."

Fish farm ban 'the right move' Indigenous leader says
The vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs praised Washington state's move to ban fish farms Monday — saying "a perfect mechanism" for this province to follow suit is just a few months away. On Friday, Washington state's senate finalized legislation to end Atlantic salmon farming in net pens off its coast by 2025…. Bob Chamberlin, vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said the B.C. government committed earlier this year to giving First Nations a say on whether to renew tenures for 18 fish farms that expire in June 2018. (CBC)

At 'People’s Hearing,' Opponents Vow to Fight Offshore Drilling Plan 
Elected officials in Washington state say they’ll fight the Trump administration’s proposal to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. The plan could open up waters off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. At a rally in Olympia Monday, Attorney General Bob Ferguson called the plan “BS” and warned the state would sue if it moves forward. Commissioner of Public Lands Hillary Franz said the plan would put the state’s shoreline at risk for oil spills. Deborah Wang reports. (KUOW) See also: Plan to open drilling off Pacific Northwest draws opponents in hazmat suits  Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press) And also:  Offshore Drilling Plan Inspires 'Citizens Forum' Alongside Federal Hearing In Olympia  Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

New Report Predicts Rising Tides, More Flooding https://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-new-report-predicts-rising-tides-more-flooding/
Some of the worst flooding during this weekend’s East Coast storm happened during high tides. Shoreline tides are getting progressively higher. A soon-to-be-published report obtained by NPR predicts a future where flooding will be a weekly event in some coastal parts of the country. Christopher Joyce reports. (NPR)

Grass Is Back In The Chesapeake, And Crabs Will Follow
For scientists who monitor the health of the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary, simply watching grass grow underwater can be very, very exciting. The floor of the Chesapeake Bay off Solomon’s Island “had no grass since 1972,” says Robert Orth, a marine scientist at the College of William & Mary, and there’s a undertone of amazement in his voice. “It was just last year, for the first time, we saw small patches of grass appear in front of the lab. Truly remarkable.” …. This week, Orth and a dozen other scientists published results from years of monitoring seagrass in the Chesapeake. And the news is good. The area covered by beds of seagrass has expanded dramatically over the past 30 years. Dan Charles reports. (NPR)

Brill and Crovitz Announce Launch of NewsGuard to Fight Fake News
Longtime journalists and media entrepreneurs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz today announced that they have raised $6 million to launch NewsGuard, which will address the fake news crisis by hiring dozens of trained journalists as analysts to review the 7,500 news and information websites most accessed and shared in the United States, in time for the mid-term elections in November. These sites account for 98% of the news articles read and shared in the English language online in the United States. These reliability ratings, along with “nutrition label” write-ups of each of the 7,500 news sources, will be licensed to social media platforms and online search companies, as well as provided to interested consumers directly. The ratings –- Green, Yellow, or Red –- will be derived in a process that will be completely transparent and accountable. NewsGuard will launch in the U.S. and then expand to other countries. (NewsGuard Technologies)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  229 AM PST Tue Mar 6 2018  
TODAY  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft  at 12 seconds.
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  3 ft at 11 seconds.

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