5/21 Septic gaps, oil spill, B;ham cleanup, ocean acid, coal port, T rex bone, BC ferry, 'Fake Willy,' John Willits

Stubby squid (Susan Middleton/San Juan Journal)

'Spineless'... sea creatures like you've never seen 'em before, at IMA
A portrait of the a Stubby Squid (Rossia Pacifica) is one of the many provocative photographs of creatures of the deep by Susan Middleton, which will be on display as part of San Juan Islands Museum of Art's latest exhibit, 'Spineless,' opening May 23 in Friday Harbor. Scott Rasmussen reports. (San Juan Journal)

KING 5 finds gaps in septic tank inspections
After a two-year-old boy died and a 10-year-old girl was hurt in accidents involving septic tanks, KING 5 examined state and county data and discovered a trail of incomplete records and out of date inspections. The Washington State Department of Health admits it doesn't know exactly how many on-site sewage systems exist in the state. DOH estimates 934,000 exist in the state and 613,000 of those are in the Puget Sound region. Of those, only a fraction are closely monitored. The majority of those are in marine recovery areas where a failure could be catastrophic to the area's waterways. Danielle Leigh reports. (KING)

Pipeline Operator In Calif. Spill Reportedly Had History Of Infractions
The Texas-based company responsible for the undersea pipeline that has leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the sea near the coast at Goleta, Calif., has a history of federal safety violations, The Los Angeles Times reports. The newspaper reports that Plains All American Pipeline has accumulated 175 safety and maintenance infractions since 2006… a nine-mile slick is expected to have a negative impact on some wildlife. Scott Neuman reports. (NPR)

Cleanup work along Bellingham’s waterfront to start this summer
Crews could start work on a more than $35 million environmental cleanup of a polluted Bellingham waterfront site as soon as July. The Port of Bellingham Commission approved a contract for cleaning up the Whatcom Waterway with American Construction Company of Tacoma during its regular Tuesday afternoon meeting, May 19. The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Mike McAuley opposed. Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Fund the race to save marine life from souring seas
Congress must invest in research to combat acidic seawater conditions. Jay Manning and Bill Ruckelshaus write. (Seattle Times Opinion)

Army Corps: ‘We can be flexible’ in giving coal terminal time to respond
In a response sent early this Wednesday morning, May 20, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told The Bellingham Herald it won’t hold SSA Marine to a strict deadline in its response to Lummi Nation’s assertion that SSA’s coal terminal would interfere with tribal fishing. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Heald)

First Dinosaur Fossil Found in Washington State
A large bone from a meat-eating dinosaur has been discovered in the San Juan Islands – the first dinosaur fossil ever found in Washington state. Researchers found the fossil along the shores of Sucia Island State Park in the San Juan Islands. They returned with paleontologists from the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. The fossil they pulled from the rock is from the Late Cretaceous period and is about 80 million years old. The partial thigh bone comes from a two-legged cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex. It measures 16.7 inches long and 8.7 inches wide. Scientists believe the complete bone was likely more than three feet long. Isolde Raftery reports. (KUOW)

Jack Knox: Ferry-naming contest invites spirit of scorn
On Tuesday, B.C. Ferries invited the public to take part in a contest to name three intermediate-class vessels being built in Poland. On Wednesday, the public replied … and replied … and replied. Gleefully malicious/seditious posts bearing the #NameAFerry hashtag swamped social media. How about SS ShouldveBeenABridge? Or Privatized Backfire? Or Ark of the Government? Or the Knot Pretty, Knot Cheap and Knot Maiden B.C. Jack Knox reports. (Times Colonist)

‘Fake Willy’ could haunt sea lions
A Free Willy impersonator could come to Astoria to scare off sea lions. In its efforts to get sea lions off its docks, the Port of Astoria has had to think outside the box. Thanks to a man from Bellingham, Wash., that could become a lot easier. During his report Tuesday to the Port Commission, Executive Director Jim Knight said the agency has been approached by a man — he didn’t know exactly who it was — from northern Washington with a realistic fiberglass orca whale. Edward Stratton reports. (Daily Astorian)

Shelley Fralic: River Monsters host Jeremy Wade’s excellent B.C. adventure
Jeremy Wade is on the phone Tuesday morning, apologizing for sounding so groggy because he’s still recovering from the previous night’s diving exploration in Puget Sound. In the deeps. In the dark. No, he’s not at liberty to share what he was looking for in the waters around Seattle, or what he found, because that would be giving away the surprises for viewers of the coming Season 8 of Wade’s Discovery Channel hit, River Monsters. Shelley Fralic reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Renowned Port Angeles conservationist John Willits dies at 78
John Willits, a dedicated conservationist whose passion helped preserve hundreds of acres of farmland and wildlife habitat, is dead. He was 78. He died last Friday at his Port Angeles home after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Rob Ollikainen reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU MAY 21 2015
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 7 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG IN
 THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 3 FT AT
 7 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.

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10/1 Chinook threat, tidal power, fish consumption rules, state budget, water fights, ocean literacy, Shawn Yanity, Chesapeake

Ballard Locks (PHOTO: Eric Warner/KPLU)

Ballard Locks Poses Triple Threat To Returning Chinook
At the heart of Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood is one of the most unique parks in the region. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks attracts tourists and locals alike. People line up to watch boats move up and down between Puget Sound and Lake Washington in a narrow concrete and metal channel that is, in effect, a kind of marine elevator. It was built with the Ship Canal that replumbed the region at the turn of the last century. The Locks opened in 1917. Along the south side is a fish ladder that has windows where you can see salmon as they migrate through. In the late summer and fall, especially when the tide is coming in, dozens of giant chinook salmon might be visible, along with sockeye and coho swimming upstream on their way to spawning grounds in Issaquah to the north, or the Cedar River to the south. But sometimes the ladder is eerily empty, as was the case one recent afternoon. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Tidal Power Project In Puget Sound Abandoned By Utility
A long-awaited tidal energy project in Puget Sound has come to halt. The project was set to generate electricity and connect it to the grid – the first project of its kind in the world. But it just got too expensive. The Snohomish County Public Utility District had hoped to install two underwater turbines in Admiralty Inlet near Puget Sound’s Whidbey Island. The pilot turbines would have generated enough power for about 200 homes and stayed in the water up to five years. The U.S. Department of Energy had said it would pay for half the project, but the department recently said it couldn’t keep paying after eight years of permitting and testing. Courtney Flatt reports. (EarthFix)

Draft of water rules released; tied to fish consumption
The state Department of Ecology on Tuesday released a draft rule that updates contentious water quality standards partly tied to how much fish people eat. Under the federal Clean Water Act, rivers and other water bodies must be clean enough so people can safely eat fish from those waters. The proposal dramatically raises the current fish-consumption rate to 175 grams a day, which would protect people who eat about a serving of fish a day. The draft rule, expected to be finalized next year, is tied to legislation Gov. Jay Inslee plans to propose in 2015 that would seek to reduce toxic chemicals from everyday sources. Tribes and conservation groups have criticized the governor's proposal as not protective enough. Meanwhile, businesses have worried too-strict rules will hurt economic development. The draft rules released Tuesday provide greater detail of the plan Inslee announced in July. It comes nearly two years after the state began an often-heated process of updating the clean-water standards. (Associated Press)

Inslee: Carbon regulation could fund education, flood control
Which sounds more unlikely: a bipartisan coalition raising revenue through carbon regulation or Republican lawmakers putting together a big-dollar water-projects bill in a cash-strapped budget year? Both were talked about Tuesday at the Chehalis Tribe Community Center, as Gov. Jay Inslee stopped by on his tour across the state to discuss climate change. Joseph O'Sullivan reports. (Seattle Times)

Can we escape water fights in Puget Sound?
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways blogs: "It seems from my interviews that we should have enough water in the Puget Sound region to serve the needs of people while maintaining streamflows for fish and other aquatic organisms. It’s all about managing the resource... What isn’t so clear to me is what we need to do about water rights, and this is where the real hangup can come in. People, governments and developers are allowed to reserve vast amounts of water for various uses, then they simply need to “use it or lose it.” That does not encourage conservation. Water rights are considered a property right…. Christopher Dunagan blogs.

Interactive dives will promote ocean literacy
The Fish Eye Project, a non-profit group of diving enthusiasts, researchers and educators, will co-ordinate an interactive live-stream video feed for a dive exploring a shipwreck off the coast of Vancouver Island on Thursday. The Robert Bateman Centre, in the CPR Steamship Terminal at 470 Belleville St., will host the interactive public viewing from 9 a.m. to noon as part of its first Explore the Ocean Day. The dive can also be watched online. (Times Colonist)

Stillaguamish Tribe chairman named to Indian fisheries post
Shawn Yanity, chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribe, has been elected vice chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. “I'm there for the commission to help carry the voice of the 20 tribes in their interests,” Yanity said. “It's a huge honor, and it's a huge responsibility.” The commission, based in Olympia, represents 20 tribes in the state, with a member from each tribe serving in the group. A chair, vice chair and treasurer are elected from among the commissioners. Kari Bray reports. (Everett Herald)

Good: sturgeon return. Bad: rockfish fall. Ugly: a killer plant comes back to the bay Darly Fears reports about Chesapeake Bay (Washington Post)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 1220 AM PDT WED OCT 1 2014
WED
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
WED NIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 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.

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8/5 Velella, Samish closure, hydraulic code, dam pollutants, oil train disaster, Inslee's climate, GBH

Velella velella

Thousands of tiny jellyfish wash up on shore near Tofino, B.C.
Tofino beachgoers got a big surprise Monday morning when they discovered thousands of tiny jelly fish, known as Velella, velella. washed up on city beaches.... Last month, thousands of  Velella, velella also washed ashore in Oregon. (CBC) See also: Mysterious Velella Washing Up on California Coast Richard Farrell reports. (Discovery News)

Illness closes Samish Bay shellfish harvest through Sept. 30
With an increasing number of illnesses caused by shellfish infected with Vibrio bacteria, harvest will be halted in Samish Bay for the rest of the summer, the State Department of Health announced Monday. The number of reported illnesses has risen from nine t0 13 over the last week. All but one were traced back to commercial growers in Puget Sound. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

News Release: State Allows Limited Opportunity For Public Input On Push For Major Changes In Nearshore Protection Code
The Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the state Fish and Wildlife Commission are moving forward with plans for major revisions to the only state law specifically protecting critical nearshore habitats and at-risk fish species. The department and commission have allowed for a minimal public comment period and a single, middle-of-summer, late Friday afternoon public hearing in Olympia on August 8....

Army Corps of Engineers agrees to disclose dam pollutants
For the first time in its history, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will have to disclose the amount of pollutants its dams are sending into waterways in a groundbreaking legal settlement that could have broad implications for the Corps’ hundreds of dams nationwide. The Corps announced in a settlement on Monday that it will immediately notify the conservation group that filed the lawsuit of any oil spills among its eight dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon and Washington. Nigel Duara reports. (Associated Press)

King County To Lead Rehearsal Of Oil Train Disaster Response
Local and federal responders plan to rehearse how they’d handle the fiery crash of an oil train in Seattle – a hypothetical disaster that will play out around a table in King County. King County’s Emergency Management Department is coordinating with about a dozen different agencies in what they call a “tabletop exercise.” Staff will present the scenario, and responders around the table or on the phone then go through the motions of what happens next. Gabriel Spitzer reports. (KPLU)

As Oysters Die, Climate Policy Goes on the Stump
Billions of baby oysters in the Pacific inlets here are dying and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington is busy spreading the bad news.... The Democratic governor, aided by what is expected to be millions of dollars from his billionaire friend Tom Steyer, is using the story of Washington’s oysters — scientists say a rise in carbon levels has spiked the acidity of the Pacific and is killing off shellfish — to make the case for passing the most far-reaching climate change policies in the nation. Coral Davenportaug reports. (NY Times)

Olympia residents oppose townhome project near great blue herons
A proposed townhome development’s effect on great blue herons drew nearly a dozen citizens to voice their concerns to the Olympia City Council on Monday. The crane-like birds live in a colony located at the end of Dickinson Avenue in west Olympia. Local architect Glenn Wells wants to build six townhomes in a wooded area next to the colony — also known as a rookery or heronry — where about 15 nests are perched high in the trees. The development will disturb the birds and cause them to leave their nests behind, the residents say. The birds have nested in that location for at least three decades, according to residents, and the site is believed to be the last remaining heronry inside Olympia city limits. Andy Hobbs reports. (Olympian)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE AUG 5 2014
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING NW 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 4 FT AT 8 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG THIS MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. NW SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.
--
"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.

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3/26 Clean Water Act, Orca Tour, gray whales, BC quake, body humor, Exxon Valdez spill

Inside a fly (BBC News)

If you like to watch: 3D insect flight: footage captured from inside a fly
A team of scientists from Oxford University, Imperial College, and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland have used very intense X-rays to film inside an insect as it flies. (BBC)

Clean Water Act proposal would protect more water sources in West
The Obama administration proposed a long-awaited rule on Tuesday to clarify that the Clean Water Act protects wetlands near rivers and waterways fed by seasonal thaws and rains — a decision that could particularly shield water sources in the West. Proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, the draft Waters of the U.S. rule is aimed at defining the scope of the Clean Water Act after two Supreme Court decisions in the last 15 years led to confusion about which waterways were under federal protection, said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. Neela Banerjee reports. (LA Times) And from Chris Dunagan at the Kitsap Sun: EPA asserts protections under Clean Water Act

News release: Orca Tour 2014 Features Author Erich Hoyt In May Events Along The Range of Southern Resident Orcas
The endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales spend a significant amount of time on the Pacific Coast, from Vancouver Island to Monterey, CA. In May, The Whale Trail and partners are collaborating with noted author and marine conservationist Erich Hoyt on a series of nine presentations throughout the orcas' range.

Celebrate Gray whales at the New Langley Whale Center and Welcome the Whales Day April 19
Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network has followed the travels of the Gray whales, as well as orcas and other whales, and now is opening its new Langley Whale Center. On April 19, Orca Network will celebrate its annual "Welcome the Whales Day Parade and Festival" in Langley.

Catastrophic earthquake: B.C. not prepared, says report
B.C.'s emergency management agency (EMBC) is not adequately prepared for a catastrophic earthquake, according to the province's auditor general Russ Jones. Jones also found that neither the provincial government or Emergency Management BC has made significant progress preparing for a destructive earthquake since the last report 17 years ago. (CBC)

Body humor billboards turn heads, gain attention for septic company FloHawks
A friend of mine almost drove off the road in Pierce County when she sped by a billboard that caught her eye. “Our customers give us crap everyday,” it read. Turns out it is one of 30 billboards around south King, Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties, all part of an advertising campaign for FloHawks, a Puyallup-based plumbing and septic company. Some of the other traffic-slowing billboard slogans are, “Your doody. Our duty” and, “You think your job stinks!” Patti Payne reports. (Puget Sound Business Journal)

25 Years Later, A Look Back At The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill  
At midnight 25 years ago, a ship called Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, spilling enough crude oil to fill 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The event came as a shock to most people, but not to Kimbal Sundberg. [Sundberg now lives on San Juan Island and is active in water resources issues.] He’d spent the three years leading up to that day mapping out what would happen in the case of just such an event.  As a habitat biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Sundberg had commented on oil spill contingency plans for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. He'd even co-authored an impact analysis report on how an oil spill might affect fish and wildlife in the area. Rae Ellem Bichell reports. (KPLU) And read Shelly Larsen’s account of growing up in Alaska constantly hearing about “the spill”: 25 years later, what have we learned from Exxon Valdez?  And Friday Harbor's David Nash and Lynn Danaher remember--Twenty-five years later; in the wake of Exxon Valdez

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED MAR 26 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
SE WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING E 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A
 CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SHOWERS.

--
"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

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8/1 Coal EIS, SSA pays up, Salish Sea Village, crab area pollution, Victoria sewer, Kitsault LNG

The state Department of Ecology on Wednesday announced it was launching an environmental review, unprecedented in scope, of a proposed coal-export terminal near Bellingham. The scope of the review will range from other Western states that would see increased numbers of coal trains, to Asia, where coal combustion will create greenhouse gases. The state review of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point in Northwest Washington is expected to take some two years to complete. It will be coordinated with more limited reviews conducted by Whatcom County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Hal Bernton and Brian M. Rosenthal report. State to undertake sweeping review of coal-terminal plan   See also: Climate Change & Rail Transport Will Be Included When Measuring Coal Export Project’s Impact  

Pacific International Terminals, the SSA Marine subsidiary pursuing the Gateway Pacific coal export terminal at Cherry Point, has agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from the company's unauthorized land-clearing work on the property in 2011. RE Sources for Sustainable Communities had filed the suit, alleging that the land-clearing work was a violation of the federal Clean Water Act. That act allows citizens and environmental groups to file lawsuits to enforce the federal law. John Stark reports. SSA Marine pays $1.65 million to settle lawsuit over land clearing

New blog: “One of the reasons to return to Hawaii this time of year was to attend the annual O-bon celebration at the Haleiwa Buddhist Church and participate in the toro-nagashi. The annual celebration is in memory of one’s ancestors and the Haleiwa ceremony features in addition to the prayers and dancing the floating of paper lanterns lighted with candles on the waters near the church...” Returning to Their Heaven: Haleiwa O-bon and Toro-nagashi

Long before Europeans arrived, civilization flourished on the shores of what is now modern Vancouver. It produced a sophisticated society made up of distinct cultures, says Bruce Macdonald. At a time when many in England lived in little huts, the Musqueam built multifamily homes of 90 feet by 200 feet, the Vancouver historian, heritage advocate, and author reminds us..... He’s part of a troika that has started discussions about the Salish Sea Village. The two others are Scott Clark and Hendrik Hoekema, executive directors of the Aboriginal Life in Vancouver Enhancement Society and the Vancouver Eastside Educational Enrichment Society, respectively. Carlito Pablo reports. Trio contemplates Salish Sea Village on Vancouver's waterfront  

Clallam County should strengthen an existing program to operate and maintain individual on-site septic systems in the Dungeness/3 Crabs area, a new study concludes. Staying the course was one of four alternatives being considered in a feasibility study for wastewater management in an unincorporated area where failing septic systems were said to be polluting Dungeness Bay with fecal coliform and nitrogen. Damon McAlister, a senior engineer with Parametrix, and county Environmental Health Director Andy Brastad presented the final study to the Clallam County commissioners Tuesday. Rob Ollikainen reports. Feasibility study addresses Dungeness/3 Crabs-area pollution  

The Town of View Royal will not allow a sewage treatment plant to be built on undeveloped waterfront property at Thetis Cove, says Mayor Graham Hill... The property, at the end of Hallowell Road, is zoned residential, part of View Royal’s official community plan and currently before town staff as a potential residential development, Hill wrote. “It would be folly for the Capital Regional District to purchase another site only to learn that their investment is sown on infertile ground.” Rob Shaw reports.  View Royal adamant: No sewage plant  

An entrepreneur is trying to breathe new life into the B.C. ghost town of Kitsault by making it a major hub in the province`s growing liquid natural gas infrastructure. Krishnan Suthanthiran, an Indo-Canadian businessman who made his fortune selling medical supplies throughout North America, bought Kitsault in 2004 for $5 million in cash.... The town, which is located north of Prince Rupert on Alice Arm, was constructed nearly overnight in the early 1980s by U.S. mining conglomerate Phelps Dodge.  B.C. ghost town could become major natural gas hub   

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 900 PM PDT WED JUL 31 2013
THU
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING NW 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 2 FT AT 7 SECONDS. CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING.
THU NIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 2 FT AT 7 SECONDS. CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

--
"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

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6/19 Corps coal, coal poll, Oly coal, state budget, L Pod, BC oil pipe

The U.S Army Corps of Engineers will not review the broader climate-change impacts of proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest, an agency official told Congress on Tuesday, June 18. The much-anticipated decision is a significant victory for the supporters of three coal terminals in Washington and Oregon - including Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point - and a setback for environmentalists and state and local officials who oppose the projects.... (Jennifer Moyer, acting regulatory chief for the Corps) said that the Corps would not consider the impact of the transportation of coal by rail from mines to the ports on waterways and air quality - something that the governors of Washington and Oregon, environmental groups and Indian tribes had demanded.... Larry Altose, spokesman for the Washington Department of Ecology, said the state may choose to commission studies of climate change and rail traffic impact under the State Environmental Policy Act, even if the Corps says it is not required to do so under federal law. Curtis Tate reports. Army Corps of Engineers says climate change won't be studied for coal terminals   See also, from Floyd McKay, Federal decision hands coal ports a big victory

Meanwhile, a new survey finds support for coal export terminals has dropped over the past year among Northwest residents. It also finds support for a region-wide approach to measuring the environmental impact of exporting coal. Courtney Flatt reports. EarthFix Poll: NW Residents’ Support For Coal Dropping

The Olympia City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass a resolution opposing the construction of coal export facilities in the Northwest. The resolution states the council’s opinion, but exerts no control over the shipment of coal through the city or the construction of coal terminals, which in this state are proposed for Longview and near Bellingham. The resolution notes that it “is expected” the coal would travel through land adjacent to the city’s drinking water source, McAllister Springs and Wellfield, which sits in unincorporated Thurston County. Matt Batcheldor reports. Olympia takes position against coal

There’s suddenly a flurry of talk in Olympia about a quick resolution to the weeks-long budget stalemate. The change in rhetoric follows Tuesday’s positive revenue and caseload forecasts. Budget writers will now have more than $300 million in additional funds to help bridge their differences, thanks to a recovering housing market and improved consumer confidence. Austin Jenkins reports. Positive revenue news could break budget logjam in Olympia

Yesterday the Center for Whale Research reported that two adult female orcas are now dead.  While both were senior members of the Southern Resident orcas and no longer able to bear calves, their roles in the orca culture nonetheless were important. The most disturbing fact about the death of one of the females is that she leaves behind just one son with no other offspring to continue the family line. Candace Calloway Whiting reports. L Pod Orcas Lost Two Members, End of a Matriline Looms  

There is a growing imbalance between oil supply and delivery in Canada, and a spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says doing nothing is not an option. The association’s lawyer, Keith Bergner, told the review panel weighing the Northern Gateway oil pipeline in Terrace, B.C., that producers are finding themselves with product on their hands and no way to ship it to buyers. Northern Gateway needed to deliver excess oil supply, hearing told  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED JUN 19 2013
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT...THEN 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

--
"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.

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10/25 Hood Canal Council, coal hearing, derelict vessels, Land Conservancy, iron-dumping, chum run, Snohomish dredge, Oly shores, GAGA ferns

Joseph's Coat rose (Laurie MacBride)

Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "With the days getting noticeably shorter and our cool, wet season closing in, it’s lovely to still find some flowers in the garden. There’s something extra special about having a bouquet of homegrown roses on your dining table at this time of year...." Still Unfolding

New blog: I thought it was simple: While I’m sleeping, this spirit— something between Jack Flash and Jack Black — paints fall colors on the leaves when it starts to get colder and the nights get longer. Fall Colors— You Mean It’s Not Jack Frost?

Have you checked out the online Encyclopedia of Puget Sound?

Mason County commissioners have announced their intent to pull out of the Hood Canal Coordinating Council if their various concerns are not remedied during upcoming discussions. In a meeting Tuesday night, the commissioners voted to provide an official 90-day notice of withdrawal, as spelled out in an agreement with Kitsap and Jefferson counties, the other counties on the coordinating council. Mason County Commissioner Lynda Ring-Erickson said the 90-day notice provides an opportunity to open discussions about operations of the coordinating council, including a new in-lieu-fee mitigation program. Chris Dunagan reports. Mason County votes to pull out of Hood Canal council

If you like to watch: A selection of images from Nikon's Small World photomicrography competition, showcasing photographs or digital images taken through microscopes Nikon Small World photomicrography competition - in pictures

Backers and opponents of the Gateway Pacific Terminal coal export pier are trying to rally their faithful for Saturday's public meeting on the project, even though the government agencies convening the meeting insist that gauging public sentiment is not the point. The meeting - scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Squalicum High School - is formally known as a "scoping meeting." Its purpose is to collect public comment on what environmental and economic impacts of the Gateway Pacific project ought to be evaluated during the preparation of an environmental impact statement, which could take two years. John Stark reports. Coal terminal environmental meeting in Bellingham likely to draw huge crowd

A boat that sank over the weekend off Port Orchard's waterfront will be recovered and placed in storage Thursday morning, officials say. Five other boats in the area have been tagged and await a similar fate if they are not claimed by the owners, said Cmdr. Geoffrey Marti of the Port Orchard Police Department.  Chris Dunagan reports. Sunken boat to be removed from Port Orchard waterfront  

The Land Conservancy says it needs to find $1 million immediately if it is to meet its financial obligations. The money is needed to pay off short-term debt, including interest on privately held mortgages and severance payments to laid-off staff. Board chairman Alastair Craighead said he is confident solutions can be found, allowing the organization and its more than 50 protected heritage and wilderness properties to survive. Judith Lavoie reports.  Land Conservancy faces urgent $1-million gap

German businessman Alexander Schoppmann says he was approached by controversial American carbon project developer Russ George to sell greenhouse gas reduction credits from a Haida Gwaii ocean iron-dumping project. But Schoppmann says he declined to take the project on. Schoppmann flirted with the possibility of his company selling carbon credits once before for an ocean iron fertilization project, in a 2009 and 2010 venture he called Blue CO2. Zoe McKnight and Gorden Hoekstra report. Haida iron-dumping project sought Swiss company to sell carbon credits

The prime time for seeing chum salmon spawning in South Sound streams is fast approaching with state fisheries managers predicting runs ranging from average to robust. Results from the early commercial and test fisheries in the marine waters south of Seattle suggest a total returning population of 700,000 to 1 million chum salmon in South Sound, said Steve Thiesfeld, Puget Sound salmon manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. That compares to a 10-year average in the South Sound area of 740,000 returning fish, he said. John Dodge reports. Chum salmon spawning to begin soon

Another round of dredging in the lower Snohomish River and Port Gardner has begun as part of the ongoing task of keeping the waterway safe for shipping. The Army Corps of Engineers is spending $1.5 million on the job, scheduled to last through February. Some of the spoils -- a term for dredged material -- will be available for use by local governments, while some will be used to reinforce the shoreline along Jetty Island, said William Dowell, a spokesman for the federal agency. Bill Sheets reports. $1.5 million dredging work begins on Snohomish  

The Olympia City Council indicated late Tuesday night that it would relax development restrictions on city shorelines from those proposed by the city’s planning commission, but the restrictions would still be stricter than those in place now. On Port of Olympia property on the north and east points of the port peninsula, the council concurred on a 50-foot setback from the shoreline, in which development would not be allowed unless additional restoration is provided. Then builders could develop as close as 30 feet from the shoreline. That’s a big change from the Planning Commission’s proposal, which would restrict new commercial development within 100 feet of the port’s shoreline along all the north and most of the east sides of the port peninsula. The Port of Olympia objects to that proposal, saying it would inhibit its building plans. Matt Batcheldor reports. Port may win its shoreline

Top this: Pop music megastar Lady Gaga is being honored with the name of a new genus of ferns found in Central and South America, Mexico, Arizona and Texas. A genus is a group of closely related species; in this case, 19 species of ferns will carry the name Gaga. At one stage of its life, the new genus Gaga has somewhat fluid definitions of gender and bears a striking resemblance to one of Gaga’s famous costumes. Members of the new genus also bear a distinct DNA sequence spelling GAGA. Nineteen species of fern named for Lady Gaga

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU OCT 25 2012
TODAY
SE WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS THIS MORNING.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 17 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

--
"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

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7/30 Geoduck rules, Elwha Love, Marysville stink, Enbridge spill, Arctic drilling, PA wetlands, JeffCo landfill, green wine, bird news

Geoducks (WDFW, Dan Rothaus)

The extreme summer weather in B.C.’s southern Interior — from landslides and floods to wind storms — has become the norm, according to experts. Destructive weather now the norm, say experts

Donald Hansen said permitting more geoduck farming on Henderson Bay between Purdy and Key Peninsula will put a “septic dump” in front of his home and create safety hazards for those using the water for recreation. Hansen is not alone. He’s among people raising objections to proposed changes in policies regulating shorelines in Pierce County.... The county says it aims to tighten rules on commercial growers of the Puget Sound’s famously large bivalve – even going beyond state Department of Ecology standards.  Pierce shoreline policy changes fuel geoduck-farming concerns   

Just months after the 108-foot tall Elwha Dam was removed, salmon and steelhead are already returning to the restored habitat.  Part of the restoration process includes releasing tagged fish into the river above the lower dam to jump-start the recolonization of the habitat that has been cut off from migratory salmon for almost 100 years. Some of these fish are already spawning.  Spawning fish already returning to reopened Elwha River habitat    And, if you like to watch: Divers literally look into silt coming out of mouth of freed Elwha River

A planned study of odors in the Snohomish River delta could finally get at the heart of a sour smell that's plagued Everett and Marysville neighborhoods in recent years, proponents say.  Others -- including the city of Marysville and the Tulalip Tribes, and most of the people who attended a meeting on the subject this week -- don't believe it. They note that the odor has been traced multiple times to Cedar Grove Composting on Smith Island by inspectors for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and not to any other operation.  Bill Sheets reports.  1-year odor study met with objections in Marysville  

Canada’s Enbridge Inc. raced on Sunday to repair a major pipeline that spilled more than 1,000 barrels of oil in a Wisconsin field, provoking fresh ire from Washington over the latest in a series of leaks. The spill on Friday, which comes almost two years to the day after a ruptured Enbridge line fouled part of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, has forced the closure of a major conduit for Canadian light crude shipments to U.S. refiners and threatens further reputational damage to a company that launched an over $3 billion expansion program just two months ago. Enbridge working fast to contain Wisconsin oil spill, restart pipeline

Shell Oil is scaling back its plans for drilling in the Arctic Ocean this year. Icy conditions in the far North and construction problems in Bellingham have delayed the company's efforts. John Ryan reports. Delays In Bellingham Curtail Arctic Oil Drilling  

Sprint boat race organizers Kelie and Dan Morrison say they expect their upcoming sprint boat races will proceed as planned in August and September despite what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says is a wetlands violation on property that includes the sprint boat race course.... Corps’ Seattle district Engineer Bruce Estok told Dan Morrison, and the Morrisons’ A2Z Enterprises, that Dan Morrison had committed “a knowing and willful violation of federal law” by not obtaining a permit to deposit material that was excavated to build the track, access roads and a utility line into 1.44 acres of wetlands. Paul Gottlieb reports. Sprint boat organizers aim to resolve wetlands issue with Army Corps of Engineers  

A showdown that may come to a head in September is brewing between Jefferson County Public Health Officer Tom Locke and Port Townsend Paper Corp. over a permit for the 3-acre landfill in which the company deposits biomass ash. Locke, who is also Clallam County’s health officer, is requiring the company to upgrade its landfill permit to include a groundwater-monitoring plan, a guarantee the company will pay for future landfill closure costs and a pledge it will conduct more detailed tests on what’s contained in the ash and how often it’s put into the company’s dump. Paul Gottlieb reports.  Port Townsend Paper, county health officer square off over permit for landfill containing biomass ash

Does it matter whether the grapes that go into that wine you love come from vineyards where butterflies thrive and birds sing from oak trees? At Klickitat Canyon Winery in the Columbia Gorge that’s what winemaking is all about. Here, the ecosystem - the nuthatches and bush grasses - are just as important as the grapes. Martha Baskin reports.  Klickitat Canyon Winery  

It seems like everybody has an opinion on what to do with the shuttered Kimberly-Clark paper mill -- including the birds. Hundreds of Caspian terns -- almost 1,000 by one count -- have made the mill their new home, laying eggs and raising chicks en masse atop the flat-roofed warehouse on the waterfront. Debra Smith reports. Terns flock to Everett mill after it closes  

At West Sound Wildlife Shelter, we have the privilege of saving the lives of bald eagles each year....One of the bald eagles in our care right now was severely injured in a fight. A fight with a dog? No. An osprey? No. A coyote? Nope. It was a fight with another eagle. Eagles are the top of their food chain; other than humans, the only animal eagles have to fear are eagles themselves. Kol Medina writes: Our national symbol can put up a heck of a fight | ISLAND WILDLIFE  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 248 AM PDT MON JUL 30 2012
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 1 FT AT 6 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 2 FT AT 7 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE.

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"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

6/26 BC flood, levee pact, sea rise, Coquitlam salmon, owl birth, hummers & butterflies

Fraser flooding (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

By the end of the week it will be known whether the flood threat has passed. But for the next few days everyone will be watching to see if water levels drop after peaking just below the lip of the dikes that are holding back the churning waters.  With heavy rainstorms and sudden snow melt causing a flurry of flooding around the province over the weekend, officials were worried the Fraser could rise to levels it has reached only four times before in the Lower Mainland, when the mighty river swept across the flood plain in the valley, where most of British Columbia’s population is concentrated.  All eyes on the mighty Fraser River as breaching point nears  

The Puget Sound Partnership says it has reached a memorandum of understanding with the Army Corps of Engineers and others that will help it resolve the issue of vegetation on levees. The state agency says the corps, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have agreed to work together to make sure levees in the region to protect the public while also protecting salmon. Corps, partnership agree to collaborate on levees

A new report from the National Research Council in Washington DC looks specifically at the West Coast, as compared to global sea level rise over the next century.  It says the problem here won’t be as bad as in California, which is expected to see sea levels slightly higher than projected globally. The report found sea levels in Washington and Oregon are predicted to rise about 2 feet over the next century. Most of California could see a three and a half foot rise.  Study: Rising seas will hit Calif. hardest, but Washington still sees damage

Juvenile salmon are benefiting from a $4-million habitat enhancement project in Colony Farm Regional Park in Coquitlam. It has been confirmed that juvenile chinook, chum, coho, and pink salmon are using the Wilson Farm area of the park as a rearing area for the first time since dikes were built for agricultural purposes about a century ago. Juvenile salmon to utilize Coquitlam's Colony Farm for first time in a century  

A captive pair of northern spotted owls has successfully given birth to a male owlet — for the first time with help from an artificial incubator.  The human-assisted birth offers a flicker of hope for the endangered owls, which have suffered over the years from habitat loss and fragmentation due to logging of old-growth forests. Endangered northern spotted owl born in captivity in Langley

For many passionate gardeners, there is no greater source of joy and inspiration than the sight of hummingbirds and butterflies in the summer garden. After all the digging, composting, planting and garden maintenance, the opportunity to relax, reflect and enjoy these magnificent creatures presents a welcome respite. Jeff and Eileen Bidwell report. Dishing the Dirt: Attracting Hummingbirds and Butterflies

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 254 AM PDT TUE JUN 26 2012
TODAY
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 14 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 14 SECONDS.

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"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

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5/30 Coal vote, pipeline battle, Samish septics, Kent side channel, mooring plan, caterpillars, Harbor porpoise, Lonesome Larry, seagrasses

Anna's hummingbird (Kevin Mack)

Thank You, City Council! The Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday opposing the development of coal-export terminals in the state after raising concerns about increased train traffic and potential harm to health and the environment. The vote came as the federal government is reviewing the first of at least six port facilities proposed in Washington and Oregon to ship coal from the Powder River basin of Montana and Wyoming to hungry markets in Asia.  Seattle City Council opposes coal-export terminals in state  

Take a look at these pix: There are things that people don't get to appreciate. They're busy. And baby hummingbirds grow up and fly away too fast. "The things that happen under our noses are incredible," said Kevin Mack, a PAWS naturalist, who spent this spring photographing a hummingbird nest he found on the nonprofit animal rescue center's property. Lynnwood naturalist closely followed hummingbirds  

The battle for the hearts and minds of British Columbians over a proposed oil pipeline has ramped up after Enbridge Inc. launched a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign – and Greenpeace Canada responded by unfurling a giant, eye-catching banner on Lions Gate Bridge. The tactics revealed on Tuesday by the opposing sides in the debate are dramatically different.  Enbridge ad campaign intensifies pipeline battle  

Skagit County Commissioners approved an expansion of the Marine Recovery designation in the Samish Bay Watershed Tuesday with the aim of encouraging higher inspection rates of septic systems in the watershed. Designating almost all of the watershed as a Marine Recovery Area allows the county Health Department to use state and federal funding to contact owners of the septic systems in those MRAs and ensure they’ve had an inspection of their septic systems. The MRA designation also means that property owners who don’t respond to repeated notices from the county Health Department to have their systems inspected could start incurring a $75 per day fine.  Commissioners approve recovery area expansion in watershed  

The city of Kent and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have begun construction of a side channel at Riverview Park in Kent to restore salmon habitat and reduce potential flooding on the Green River. TProject manager Beth Tan said construction of the side channel will create summer rearing habitat and a high flow refuge for multiple endangered salmon species including Chinook, steelhead and bull trout.  Green River project in Kent to improve salmon habitat, flood protection  

The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is working to map out specific places where mooring buoys will be allowed in Quartermaster Harbor, the next step in a long-term project to clear the harbor of abandoned buoys and make the bay safer for boats. On Thursday DNR officials will visit Vashon to discuss the mooring buoy plan with boat owners who may be affected.  State presents plan to map where boats can moor in harbor

The branches of fruit trees on southern Vancouver Island are alive with western tent caterpillars, as the tiny insects enjoy a population boom.  It's a peak year for the insects, which hatch from web "tents" high in trees, then proceed to make breakfast, lunch and dinner out of succulent green leaves.  South Island's caterpillar population explodes  

Traffic through Burrows Pass is getting extra attention these days with a study of how many commuters make the waterway on the east side of Fidalgo Island part of their journey. Only it’s not boaters that are the subject — it’s Pacific harbor porpoises. The number of the sea creatures, once abundant in the Puget Sound during the 1950s, had decreased drastically by the early 1990s.  Burrows Pass study aims to help species in decline  

In 1992, four Snake River sockeye made their way through eight dams, past nets and predators and on to their home in Idaho's Sawtooth Valley. One male completed the final climb up the Snake and Salmon rivers to a weir on Redfish Lake Creek, a wakeup call for Idahoans and making the fish the symbol of the entire Snake and Columbia salmon-restoration program. Lonesome Larry's legacy lives on in salmon's rebound  

Per unit area, seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world’s temperate and tropical forests.  This makes seagrasses a vital part of the solution to climate change, according to a new international study, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.  The paper is the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses and demonstrates that coastal seagrass beds can store up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, mostly in the soils below them. For comparison, a typical terrestrial forest stores around 30,000 metric tons per square kilometer, most of which is in the form of wood.  Saving seagrass could bury more carbon

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 230 AM PDT WED MAY 30 2012
TODAY
LIGHT WIND BECOMING E 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 9 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
TONIGHT
E WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS. RAIN.

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"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

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Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

5/17 Nooksack levees, Penn Cove spill, oyster drill, Pt Wells, Elwha Love, porpoise Jack

PHOTO: Laurie MacBride

Laurie MacBride writes: "Our hellebores have outdone themselves this spring – which is surprising, since just a few months ago our resident deer family worked their snouts under the protective netting and mowed them down, along with the Sarcococca, fern and winter jasmine." Hellebore Abundance  

Whatcom County would need to spend lots of money seeking permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep trees on its Nooksack River levees, under draft federal policies. Its other options: remove the trees, putting the county at risk of getting sued for running afoul of environmental laws, or forgo federal levee repair funding. Whatcom County, feds' dispute over Nooksack River levees could be costly

There's no more oil leaking from a sunken fishing boat in Penn Cove, but it will be at least two weeks before the country's oldest and largest mussel farm is back in business there. The owners of Penn Cove Shellfish are crossing their fingers that the spill won't do any lasting damage to their operations — but it could hardly have come at a more sensitive time.  Oil from sunken crabber drags Penn Cove mussel farm into limbo    See also: State expects moving sunken boat from Penn Cove to cost $500,000  

Imagine you’re an oyster laying snugly in your bed in Willapa Bay, filtering in nutrients while growing to two and a half inches in diameter. And then you feel a weight on your quarter-inch thick shell and a short time later you begin to hear a grinding sound.  Slowly, inexorably over the next few hours the drilling continues as the radula (a sandpaper-like tongue) of an Atlantic or Asian oyster drill snail takes away debris that its secretions of hydrochloric acid has created on your shell. When the snail inevitably pokes through your shell, its proboscis makes you its next meal.  Combating Snails To Save Oysters

The town of Woodway has drawn up an alternative vision for Point Wells, the waterfront industrial site where an international developer wants to build 3,100 high-rise condos. Under Woodway's plan, the buildings would top out at 12 stories, rather than 17. That plan also has about two-thirds the number of homes as Blue Square Real Estate's proposal.   Woodway pitches smaller plan for Point Wells  

The Glines Canyon Dam, the upper dam on the Elwha River, will be completely removed ahead of schedule between spring and summer 2013, federal officials said this week. The last remnants of the lower dam, the 108-foot Elwha Dam, which formed Lake Aldwell 5 miles upstream from the river's mouth, were removed in March.  Dam removal ahead of schedule: Glines gone in a year

A harbour porpoise found near death in Horseshoe Bay last September will be calling the Vancouver Aquarium home.  Jack, a five-week-old porpoise, was found stranded on the beach Sept. 16 and was rescued by the aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre. Despite six months of intense rehabilitation, the porpoise was recently deemed unfit to survive in the wild by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Jack will reside in the aquarium’s porpoise habitat. Vancouver Aquarium becomes permanent home of rescued porpoise

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU MAY 17 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE
 AFTERNOON. NW SWELL 8 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. NW SWELL 7 FT AT 9 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

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"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

5/10 Sea plastics, Black Out Speak Out, spot shrimp, PSPoison, growth cost, coal review, algae, Ft Worden

Spot Shrimp boom (Seattle Times)

Thank you, Mr. President!


The amount of plastic debris in the part of the Pacific Ocean known as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has grown 100-fold in the past 40 years. But that wasn't the major finding the scientists are reporting. The scientists have found that all those pieces of plastic have provided ample opportunity for insects called "sea skaters" to breed. Study: Plastic in Pacific Ocean increased 100-fold in 40 years

Canada's leading environmental organizations will black out their websites for one day next month to protest what they consider attacks by the federal government - and they are asking businesses, social justice groups and individuals to join them.  The Black Out Speak Out campaign, culminating in website blackouts June 4, is a symbolic act to focus attention on government actions.  Eco groups protesting government bill, attacks

The spot shrimp fishery started off on a high note, and looks like it should stay that way heading into the next opener this Friday.  "What we're seeing in Puget Sound the past few years is an increase for Dungeness crab and spot shrimp like we've never seen before," said Rich Childers, a state Fish and Wildlife shellfish manager.  Spot shrimp fishery off the charts good in Puget Sound, and should remain that way in open days ahead

Harvesting of a number of shellfish species is banned from Sandy Point north to the Canadian border and at Point Roberts due to rising levels of paralytic shellfish poison. Until further notice, clams, cockles, mussels, scallops and oysters may not be harvested from those areas. Crabs can still be taken, but crab "butter" and crab entrails should be discarded.  Biotoxin closes shellfish harvest from Sandy Point to border

A predicted influx of new county residents in the next 50 years is likely to cost more to cities and other governments than the taxes they will generate, a report unveiled Tuesday stated. The report was presented to Skagit County commissioners as part of the Envision Skagit 2060 project. Expected growth won’t pay for itself, report reveals  

The Washington Ecology Department is asking the Corps of Engineers to develop a cumulative study of plans for coal export terminals in the Northwest.  In a letter Tuesday, Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant said a federal review of rail and vessel congestion, air quality and other possible problems is necessary to help state and local governments.  Last month the Environmental Protection Agency also asked the corps for such a review. Washington Ecology Boss Seeks Federal Coal Review

Sunshine is causing algae blooms in Western Washington waters, including Sinclair Inlet, according to the Washington Department of Ecology. So far, only Jefferson County's Anderson Lake has been closed. It was found to have toxic bluegreen algae. People are advised to stay out of the lake.  Sunshine causing algae blooms in Sinclair Inlet, elsewhere  

The development of a plan for running a lifelong learning center at Fort Worden State Park moved closer toward fruition this week as public development authority board members discussed options for a partnership with the state. The first option includes leasing out several buildings that are now used for storage and renovating them to generate revenue. The second option concentrates on managing the campus area of Fort Worden, with the transfer to the PDA of all existing leases and leaseholders.  Development authority sets two options for management of lifelong learning center at Fort Worden

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 848 PM PDT WED MAY 9 2012
THU
NW WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
THU NIGHT
NW WIND 15 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

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"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

3/14 Fish protection, L112, Navy training, Gateway pipe, Harper dock, Vashon septics, Bainbridge sewage, wasted biomass, Skagit study, Mill Cr boardwalk

Dr. Joe Gaydos and L112 (Photo: Scott Rasmussen)

New blog:  “I read in the LA Times that last weekend’s poll of Republican voters in Alabama and Mississippi found about half still believe President Obama is a Muslim and about 1 in 4 believes his parents’ interracial marriage should have been illegal.“ Ignorant and Stupid People Vote, Too  

The Harper government is planning to gut the powers in federal legislation intended to protect fish habitat, making it easier for projects such as Calgary-based Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline to B.C. to clear federal hurdles, according to retired fisheries biologist Otto Langer.  Canada poised to 'gut' fish protection laws, biologist claims

Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research says that the young female killer whale, known as L112 and Sooke, which died recently didn't die of disease or starvation. "Clearly the animal was blown up.” Balcomb says the signs of trauma on the body and on the head and, more importantly, among the tissues in the rear of the killer whale’s jaw are strikingly similar to the injuries that he witnessed in a group of stranded beaked whales several years ago in the Bahamas. He said those whales stranded themselves on a beach shortly after a military ship traveling in the same vicinity passed by with its sonar engaged. Scott Rasmussen at the Journal of the San Juans reports: Death at sea: speculation swirls over sonar

Meanwhile, the Navy will host an open-house information session in Quilcene today on a proposal to expand training activities, including use of sonar.  The meeting will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Quilcene School District multipurpose room at 294715 U.S. Highway 101. Navy hosting public meeting in Quilcene today

Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik'uz First Nation and leader of the Yinka Dene Alliance said her group will pursue a legal challenge if Ottawa approves the Northern Gateway pipeline over their objections. Decrying federal ‘bully tactics,’ B.C. natives vow to block pipeline

What to do about the Harper fishing pier? The dock was built in the late 1800s to serve the small steamboats of the Mosquito Fleet. And though the deck has been rebuilt, much of the original underpinning remains. Wooden piles are rotting. Metal cross beams hug deteriorating wooden predecessors. The dock has been duct-taped together to keep it open to its many visitors, but ultimately it'll have to be fixed. Ed Friedrich at the Kitsap Sun reports: Harper dock has long history, uncertain future

A few Vashon Islanders are pushing King County to find funds to help cover the costs of repairing failing septic systems along Vashon’s six Marine Recovery Areas. The call for financial aid comes after notices went out to more than 100 waterfront homeowners stating they’re in violation of county code and could face civil penalties. Islanders push county to find funds for septic repairs

The rusty sewer pipe running under an Eagle Harbor beach was overdue for replacement when it erupted in 2009, spewing up to 490,000 gallons of raw sewage into the harbor. By next year — four years after the a pipe failed — the city may finally have the money to replace it-- if a $4.16 million state Public Works Trust Fund loan remains in both the House and Senate's capital improvement lists of projects. State loan could help Bainbridge avoid another sewer leak in Eagle Harbor  

Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark has released a study on forest biomass that shows the industry is currently using only about a third of the woody biomass that could be sustainably harvested and then converted into liquid fuel or heat for electricity generation. Currently, the biomass is mostly burned in the slash piles that are a bi-product of logging. An under-used resource in Washington: forest biomass

Three years after the devastating 1990 floods tore through levees on Fir Island, Skagit County Commissioners authorized a study of the Skagit River in hopes of preventing future widespread flooding. To date, nearly $12 million in local and federal money has been spent to advance the Skagit River General Investigation Study over the past 20 years. The study is one of the longest-running in the country. Skagit River flood study hits milestone

The North Creek boardwalk stretches about three-quarters of a mile through a wetland just west of the Bothell-Everett Highway, south of Mill Creek. It gives bird-watchers a great perch. At the same time, the wetland plays an important role controlling floodwaters. The boardwalk decking and plastic foam floats are being upgraded. Mill Creek wetland boardwalk won’t soak feet after work is done

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED MAR 14 2012
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PDT TODAY
TODAY
SE WIND 25 TO 35 KT BECOMING S 15 TO 25 KT LATE IN THE MORNING. COMBINED SEAS 8 TO 11 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 11 SECONDS. RAIN.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. SW SWELL 10 FT AT 9 SECONDS. RAIN.

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