1/7 Black rockfish, grieving orca, Biden's monuments, floating class, more blackmouth

 

Black rockfish [Monterey Bay Aquarium]

Black rockfish Sebastes melanops
The black rockfish is also known variously as the black seaperch, black bass, black rock cod, sea bass, black snapper and Pacific Ocean perch. It is sometimes misidentified as the "red snapper." (Wikipedia)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Why count birds?

Grieving orca mom carries dead calf on her nose for fifth day
An endangered orca mother has been carrying her dead newborn calf on her snout for nearly a week around Washington’s Puget Sound. Whale watchers and researchers spotted the whale known as J35, or Tahlequah, and her dead daughter, known as J61, off Whidbey Island on Sunday. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Biden creates 2 new national monuments, setting a conservation record
President Biden is creating two new national monuments in California on Tuesday, preserving the lands from development and setting a record for the most land and waters conserved by any president, the White House said. Deepa Shivaram reports. (NPR)  Monument-Building: Biden Protects 100s of Millions of Acres of Offshore Land on his Way Out Joel Connelly writes. (Post Alley)

Victoria teachers, tour company fight to keep Salish Sea classroom afloat
'It gets them out into that natural world to make that connection and make them feel like they’re part of something bigger' Christine van Reeuwyk reports. (Peninsula News Review)

Blackmouth salmon
Yesterday's feature on blackmouth salmon prompted the following note from David Beatty: "Normally Chinook smolts, whether of natural origin (wild) or of hatchery origin when leaving freshwater in Puget Sound (PS) watersheds, have an instinct to migrate outward into the open North Pacific Ocean. Over 50 years ago, the then Washington Department of Fisheries initiated a program to hold hatchery origin Chinook smolts for a year longer than the normal time of three months. Upon release, the 15 months old smolts would have lost their instinct to migrate out of PS if there was a sufficient PS food chain for them to grow to adulthood. This program could lead to a winter recreational fishery for blackmouth salmon in PS. In 1993, the Washington Legislature established the Puget Sound Recreational Fisheries Enhancement Program within the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild Salmon Policy. Since the program started, the state salmon hatcheries in PS have increased the number of yearling hatchery origin Chinook released to 3 million each year. Additionally, volunteer organizations in PS began holding three month old hatchery origin Chinook smolts in marine net pens for a period of time, imitating the state program, other than these fish are not being held at the hatchery in freshwater for the additional months. These fish were fed and upon release there was the anticipation of them becoming PS resident blackmouth. Earlier evidence indicated that the rearing of smolts in marine net pens prior to release did not necessarily produce PS resident blackmouth. However, the released yearlings when becoming mature adults would likely home back to the area of release during their spawning migration from the North Pacific Ocean. In line with the Wild Salmon Policy, these PS blackmouth Chinook, being of hatchery origin, are to be adipose fin clipped. This WDFW program is funded by recreational fishers through the annual saltwater fishing license."

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  252 AM PST Tue Jan 7 2025    
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON    
TODAY  SE wind 15 to 25 kt, becoming E 15 to 25 kt this  afternoon. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: E 3 ft at 4 seconds and W  6 ft at 15 seconds. A slight chance of rain late.  
TONIGHT  NE wind 10 to 15 kt, easing to 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: S 2 ft at 6 seconds and W  7 ft at 15 seconds. Rain likely in the evening.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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