4/16 Spotted skunk, pinto abalone, Mount Polley dam, BC Ferries, come to California, Spokesman-Review, butterfly migration colossal squid, first 100 days

 

Western spotted skunk [NPS]

Western spotted skunk Spilogale gracilis
Western spotted skunks are associated with habitats that have dense ground cover, dense understory vegetation, burrows of other species, rocky outcrops, and woody structures, such as logs, snags, stumps, log and brush piles. These features are important as resting, denning and foraging sites and are found in a variety of land cover types including conifer forests, riparian areas, thickets and brushy habitats, and farmlands.

Today's top story in Salish Current: Local law enforcement faces staffing, recruiting issues

State recommends keeping pinto abalone on endangered species list
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday that it recommends keeping the state’s only native abalone on its endangered species list. “While pinto abalone recovery efforts are progressing well, the species’ population trend over the past 10 years is not increasing and key criteria for downlisting to threatened have not been met,” Katie Sowul, Fish and Wildlife’s lead abalone biologist, said in a news release. Emma Fletcher-Frazer reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

First Nation challenges B.C.'s approval to raise Mount Polley mine tailings dam
The Xatsull First Nation in B.C. has filed a legal challenge over the plan to allow the Mount Polley mine to raise its tailings dam a decade after a similar storage site at the mine gave way, creating one of the province's largest environmental disasters. (Canadian Press)

B.C. Ferries’ new major vessels will not be made in Canada
The four major vessels B.C. Ferries hopes to have built and in service by 2029 will not be built in Canada because no Canadian shipyards submitted proposals to build the vessels. Andrew A. Duffy reports. (Times Colonist)

California governor urges Canadians to ignore Trump, come back for sand, sun and wine
Gavin Newsom released video urging Canadians to tour state again, amid sharp downturn in U.S.-bound travel. Matthew Scace and Bill Graveland report. (Canadian Press)

Spokane’s Spokesman-Review is going nonprofit
In joining a growing wave of nonprofit conversions, the family-owned paper aims to preserve community journalism — and keep it out of corporate hands. Rick Edmonds reports. (Poynter)

Scientists trace a butterfly migration route that is millions of years old
Every year, for millions of years, a huge number of painted lady butterflies have migrated thousands of miles across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Now, for the first time, an international team of scientists called the Worldwide Painted Lady Migration Project has traced their route.  Natalie Escobar reports. (NPR)

The First Ever Sighting of a Colossal Squid
An expedition spotted a baby of the species in the South Sandwich Islands. This cephalopod can grow to more than 20 feet and has proved elusive in its deep-sea environs. Elizabeth Preston reports. (NY Times)

The First 100 Days

• Trump plans order to cut funding for NPR and PBS (NPR)
  
• The White House is starting a new media policy that restricts wire services' access to the president (Associated Press)
  
• DOGE trumpets unemployment fraud that the government already found years ago (Associated Press)
  
• Trump administration sues Maine over participation of transgender athletes in girls sports (Associated Press)
  
• Trump administration must unfreeze billions in climate funding, judge rules (Washington Post)
  

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  230 AM PDT Wed Apr 16 2025    
TODAY  E wind 5 to 10 kt, backing to NE late. Seas 5 to 7 ft.  Wave Detail: E 2 ft at 4 seconds and W 7 ft at 12 seconds.  
TONIGHT  NW wind 5 to 10 kt, veering to N after midnight. Seas  3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: E 2 ft at 4 seconds and W 5 ft at  12 seconds.

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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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