11/12 Owl vs Hawk, SRKW memorial, Trump's science, island marble butterfly, Snoqualmie tribe, dying Gulf oysters, Japan salmon collapse

Owl vs Hawk [Thomas Patrick Tully]

If you like to watch: Mid-air fight between owl and hawk caught on camera in Skagit County
An owl and hawk became entangled in a mid-air fight in Skagit County -- and the encounter was captured on camera. Photographer Thomas Patrick Tully said a short-eared owl and northern harrier hawk got into a territorial dispute in the sky. Tully said the birds of prey share similar hunting techniques and appetites, and such view each other as competition. The birds took turns striking each other with their wings and talons, but Tully said it appears the owl and hawk finished their fight relatively unscathed. Jennifer King reports. (KING)

Gone, but not forgotten
Islanders paid tribute to three Southern resident orcas, Princess Angeline, J17, Scoter, K25, and Nyssa, L84, who passed away this year, as well as all of the whales that have been lost...The Whale Museum held its eighth annual Story Keeper event on Nov. 1. Members of the public were invited for refreshments, and to share stories and photographs. The Whale Museum staff and attendees read biographies of the three orcas. Heather Spalding reports. (San Juan Journal) Also: The National Marine Fisheries Service is holding a scoping meeting Tuesday in Friday Harbor, Washington, on how to protect critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales from boat noise and disturbance in Washington’s inland waters.The meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Brickworks Event Center, 150 Nichols St., Friday Harbor.

E.P.A. to Limit Science Used to Write Public Health Rules
The Trump administration is preparing to significantly limit the scientific and medical research that the government can use to determine public health regulations, overriding protests from scientists and physicians who say the new rule would undermine the scientific underpinnings of government policymaking. A new draft of the Environmental Protection Agency proposal, titled Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, would require that scientists disclose all of their raw data, including confidential medical records, before the agency could consider an academic study’s conclusions. E.P.A. officials called the plan a step toward transparency and said the disclosure of raw data would allow conclusions to be verified independently. Lisa Friedman reports. (NY Times)

Conservation plea to private landowners: skip red tape and help the island marble butterfly
Wildlife officials are appealing to landowners on San Juan and Lopez islands. They’re asking them to set aside patches of habitat for the rare island marble butterfly, before it gets official protection under federal law. It’s been more than a year and a half since this fuzzy green and white insect was proposed for protection as an endangered species. The island marble was thought to have gone extinct a century ago, in 1908. It was rediscovered on San Juan Island in 1998, then seen a few years later on Lopez Island. Both locations provide plenty of prairie grasslands where mustard blossoms grow that the butterflies use for feeding and laying their eggs. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

After reclaiming its sacred falls, the Snoqualmie tribe looks toward the future
The tribe made history Nov. 1 by purchasing a 45-acre area surrounding Snoqualmie Falls for $125 million. Now it hopes to restore onsite representation and waterfall flows. Manola Secaira reports. (Crosscut)

Gulf Oysters Are Dying, Putting a Southern Tradition at Risk
Cheap and plentiful, they’ve long been a menu staple in New Orleans and beyond. But recent months have brought a crisis that worries fishermen and chefs. Brett Anderson reports. (NY Times)

Japan climate change: How climate change is triggering a chain reaction that threatens the heart of the Pacific
....The salmon catch is collapsing off Japan’s northern coast, plummeting by about 70 percent in the past 15 years. The disappearance of the fish coincides with another striking development: the loss of a unique blanket of sea ice that dips far below the Arctic to reach this shore. Simon Denyer and Chris Mooney report. (Washington Post)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  248 AM PST Tue Nov 12 2019   
TODAY  SE wind to 10 kt becoming E in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 10 seconds. Rain in the morning  then showers likely in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  Light wind. Wind waves less than 1 ft. W swell 7 ft at  12 seconds. A slight chance of showers in the evening.



--
"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