11/9 Keystone, BC unmuzzled, NW tribes, Asarco, port races, Wisconsin derail, bag ban, Navy jets, Elwha

Citing Climate Change, Obama Rejects Construction of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
President Obama announced on Friday that he had rejected the request from a Canadian company to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ending a seven-year review that had become a symbol of the debate over his climate policies. Mr. Obama’s denial of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which would have carried 800,000 barrels a day of carbon-heavy petroleum from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast, comes as he seeks to build an ambitious legacy on climate change. Coral Davenport reports. (NY Times) See also: Justin Trudeau 'disappointed' with U.S. rejection of Keystone XL  Kathleen Harris reports. (CBC)

Keystone pipeline rejection means oil tankers could multiply in Strait of Juan de Fuca
President Obama’s decision Friday to reject the Keystone XL pipeline puts a fresh spotlight on other efforts to bring Canadian crude to market, including a $5.4 billion project to boost oil flows to British Columbia. The oil piped from Alberta would be targeted for maritime export, dramatically increasing the number of oil tankers traversing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and raising environmental concerns among Washington state Department of Ecology (DOE) officials.  Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Kristi Miller, muzzled fisheries scientist, felt like a second-class citizen
A federal edict that prevented government scientists from talking publicly about their work turned them into "second-class citizens", a B.C. based molecular geneticist told CBC news Friday. Kristi Miller, a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, told CBC News Friday that she was excited at news the newly elected federal government had lifted the muzzle from its researchers. Kristi Miller was prevented from talking to media about the results of her study. (CBC) See also: Scientists, ministers get green light to speak under Trudeau  Pauline Dakin reports. (CBC)

Exxon Mobil accused of climate change cover-up
Oil giant Exxon Mobil is being investigated for misleading the public about the impact of climate change. The New York attorney general has sent a request for emails and financial records to the company. Allegations surfaced last month that the company's own scientists raised concerns about global warming decades ago and that Exxon had worked to suppress that information. (BBC) See also: Oil companies and climate change: who should pay?  Environmentalists say an investigation into ExxonMobil may open the door to tobacco-style lawsuitsJason Proctor reports. (CBC)

UW Symposium: Ocean Acidification Pushing Boundaries Of Environmental Law
The University of Washington held its first annual symposium on environmental law last week. The idea is to choose a topic and examine how it fits into current and future regulations. This year’s focus—ocean acidification.  It is sometimes called the evil twin of global warming. Ocean acidification is caused when carbon pollution from fossil fuels dissolves into our waterways. Scientists say it may cause serious harm to life on the planet; some say it is already damaging the local shellfish industry. It is also pushing the envelope of current environmental law. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Northwest tribal leaders fight for government to uphold treaties
A proposed coal terminal and affiliated railway for Cherry Point, Wash., has sparked concern about treaty violations and environmental degradation for many Pacific Northwest tribal leaders, 10 of whom rallied together in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning against what they said is government disregard for their treaties. Grace Toohey reports. (McClatchy)

Three decades after the Asarco smelter shutdown, its toxic legacy surprises Tacoma newcomers
Tacoma’s industrial history confronted Alex Stillman on a late spring morning while she was up to her wrists in front-yard dirt. A neighbor saw the 27-year-old school nurse, part of the city’s influx of new homeowners, digging to plant a hedge outside her North 40th Street house and walked over to share some friendly insight about the neighborhood. The conversation sent Stillman inside to start learning things no real-estate agent or inspector had explained to Alex or her husband, Bryce, when they bought the place in fall 2014. It fell to Google to tell her about the long-gone Asarco copper smelter that operated less than a mile from where her tidy 1940s bungalow stands, and that the lead and arsenic emitted from its 571-foot-tall smokestack for several decades had polluted her yard and thousands of others with agents linked to cancer and other serious health problems. Derrick Nunnally reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Dangerous, tasty fishery resumes off B.C. coast
One of British Columbia's most unusual and dangerous fisheries is poised for a comeback. Gooseneck barnacles, which grow on the rocks below the high tide line off the west coast of Vancouver Island,.are prized in Spain and served as appetizers by high-end restaurants across North America. With a shell-like top and stubby stalks of rich meat beneath, goosenecks resemble clumps of asparagus. However, the best ones are hard to reach and risky to harvest. Chris Brown reports. (CBC)

Port Commissioner: The Race We Can No Longer Afford To Ignore
As election results continue to filter in, most eyes focus on the big-ticket races—city council members, state ballot measures, and levies. Yet way down near the bottom of the ballot is one of the most important votes that we cast in the Northwest: the races for port commissioner. Historically overlooked by voters and pundits alike, the Northwest’s recent controversies over coal and oil have begun to shift some attention to the leadership of public ports. It’s an entirely appropriate shift, because the elected leaders of the region’s ports play a more important role—for good or for ill—in determining the fate of the thin green line than almost anybody else. (…. Running for an empty seat vacated by outgoing Commissioner Bill Bryant, environmental advocate Fred Felleman, who was an outspoken critic of the Port’s decision to host Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet this summer, defeated Marino Yoshino. Felleman raised $86,000 to Yoshino’s $29,000.) Eric de Place and Nick Abraham report. (Sightline)

2nd Train Derails in Wisconsin in 2 Days, Spills Crude Oil
Canadian Pacific Railway says less than 1,000 gallons of crude oil has spilled after a train derailment that prompted evacuations in southeastern Wisconsin. Thirteen cars derailed around 2 p.m. Sunday in Watertown. Canadian Pacific said in a statement late Sunday night one car was punctured and it leaked some oil. The company says it's working to determine the exact amount, but it's no more than 1,000 gallons…. The derailment Sunday was the second in the state in as many days. On Saturday, a freight train derailed near Alma in western Wisconsin, spilling thousands of gallons of ethanol. (ABC)

California lawmaker plans law to end killer whale captivity
A California congressman announced Friday that he is planning federal legislation that aims to phase out the captivity of killer whales by banning breeding, importing and exporting the animals for public display. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said he will introduce the Orca Responsibility and Care Advancement Act to ensure that orcas now at aquatic parks such as SeaWorld are the last ones and that when they die, no other whales will replace them. The bill also would ban taking any whales from the wild. Although no orca has been captured in U.S. waters since 1976, Schiff says captive killer whales are bred. (Associated Press)

Construction site washout kills salmon on Burnaby Mountain
Water thick with sand and sediment has fouled a fish-bearing creek after heavy rain washed out an active construction site on Burnaby Mountain last week. The silty water poured into Stoney Creek from a tributary, killing spawning Chum and Coho salmon and smolts, said John Preissl, a local streamkeeper. Salmon had been absent from the once polluted creek for half a century, but returned about a decade ago, thanks to decades of rehabilitation work by foundations, government agencies and hundreds of volunteers, Preissl said. Before the accident, streamkeepers had counted nearly 200 salmon in the creek. Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun) See also: Rain causes more problems at Burnaby Mountain construction site  Joanne Lee-Young and Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Victoria council backs ban on single-use plastic bags, staff to study
The days of plastic bags in Victoria could be numbered. Victoria councillors Thursday took the first steps in developing a bylaw that would ban retailers from providing single-use plastic bags. Several councillors said they support the proposal provided the public is properly consulted and the city works in concert with retailers so that the change, if implemented, is even-handed. Bill Cleverely reports. (Times Colonist)

Navy, National Park Service to work together to monitor jet noise over Olympic National Park
The Navy and National Park Service are coordinating efforts to monitor jet noise over Olympic National Park during training missions. “I'm glad the Park Service — the staff who are charged with protecting the visitor experience at Olympic National Park — and the Navy will work together to monitor noise issues and evaluate any increase in noise from Navy training activities,” said U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer in a news release issued Thursday. A Democrat from Gig Harbor, Kilmer represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula. He had requested that the Park Service and the Navy work together on monitoring jet noise. Chris McDaniel reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Taking the pulse of Puget Sound
The state’s effort to improve the health of Puget Sound is moving slowly, even with a variety of fish-focused projects in motion throughout the Skagit River watershed, from major dike setbacks to minor culvert replacements. In a State of the Sound Report released last week, the Puget Sound Partnership describes the progress to restore this inlet of the Pacific Ocean as largely stagnant. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) See also:  Puget Sound restoration: two steps forward, one back — or vice versa?  Chris Dunagan blogs. (Watching Our Water Ways)

With dams down, restored Elwha River mouth 'a treasure'
No one, not even among those studying the ecology of the Elwha River mouth, expected the degree of change seen there after the dams came down, according to a woman who has researched it for years. An area that once was little more than large cobbles is now a vast tract of quiet, sandy beach speckled with hundreds of seabirds and brushed by ocean waves. It contains pools constantly dimpled by the jumping of fish. Sometimes, looking at the acres of new beach — and the new life it now supports — she nearly cries, said Anne Shaffer, a marine biologist and the executive director of the Coastal Watershed Institute of Port Angeles. Arwyn Rice and Leah Leach report. (Peninsula Daily News) See also:  Who owns new Elwha River land? Discussions begin about ownership, responsibility  Arwyn Rice reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 228 AM PST MON NOV 9 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PST THIS MORNING
TODAY
NE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 10 FT AT 14 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
NW WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 12 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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9/2 Orca protection, Malahat LNG, Janet Holder, Clean Water, fed election, jellyfish, derelict boats

July 31, 2015 (Elaine Thompson/AP)

Patrols keep US boaters in line, protect killer whales
Against a backdrop of rocky bluffs, a pod of orcas jumped out of the emerald waters of the Puget Sound before splashing their massive black-and-white bodies back into the water. Shadowing the whales on a recent afternoon were several recreational and commercial whale-watching boats that ferry people out to watch the orcas breach, one of nature's most impressive spectacles. But the combination of boats and whales has state and federal authorities worried now that the Southern Resident pod of killer whales has four new calves. Manuel Valdes reports. (Associated Press)

Agreement signed for 128km pipeline to service Malahat LNG facility
The Island Gas Connector Project would be an independent pipeline that would transport natural gas 52.8 kilometres from Sumas, Washington to Cherry Point, Washington, then 75.2 kilometres under water to the proposed Malahat LNG Project in the Saanich Inlet. Steelhead LNG has signed a pre-construction agreement with United States pipeline developer Williams to commence with the design and regulatory approvals for the Island Gas Connector Project. Environmentalists are concerned that an undersea pipeline could be built through B.C. waters and particularly the sensitive Saanich Inlet. April Lawrence reports. (CHEK)

Janet Holder, public face of the Northern Gateway pipeline project, dies
Janet Holder, who rose to prominence as the project leader for Enbridge's controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline project, has died of leukemia…. Holder was named Enbridge executive vice president of Western Access in 2011, and soon afterwards, relocated from Toronto back to her home town of Prince George. She became a recognizable face to many after fronting a number of folksy-themed television ads promoting the pipeline project.

Obama's Clean Water Act rule faces deepening opposition  
A federal judge in North Dakota has provided the stiffest challenge yet to a new rule from the Obama Administration that aims to protect ecologically-vital temporary waterways. Last week, US District Judge Ralph Erickson in Fargo issued a temporary injunction to stop the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers from regulating the waterways under a reinterpretation of the Clean Water Act. But the scope of the injunction remains unclear. While the EPA argues that it only applies to the 13 states that sued, the North Dakota attorney who filed the request on their behalf says it applies to all 50 states. Michael Holtz reports. (Christian Science Monitor) See also: Why The EPA’s Clean Drinking Water Rule Is So Controversial  Emily Atkin reports. (ThinkProgress.Org)

Federal election a 3-way race in Metro Vancouver; Marine protection a top issue for voters in the upcoming federal election
To live in B.C.'s Lower Mainland is to live on the water, whether it's the commuters who speed over the Fraser River each day or the dog walkers strolling the seawall around Vancouver each night. And it's the waterfront providing a backdrop to many key election issues here, from the affordability of living along it to how it's used to send natural resources abroad. (Stephanie Levitz reports. (Canadian Press)

Marine animal colony is a multi-jet swimming machine, scientists report
The University of Oregon's Kelly Sutherland has seen the future of under-sea exploration by studying the swimming prowess of tiny jellyfish gathered from Puget Sound off Washington's San Juan Island. n a paper with four colleagues in the Sept. 2 issue of the journal Nature Communications, Sutherland details how a tiny type of jellyfish - colonial siphonophores - swim rapidly by coordinating multiple water-shooting jets from separate but genetically identical units that make up the animal. (Phys.Org)

DNR cleans local waterways of sunken, derelict, abandoned boats
A double-masted sailboat and a WWII-era tugboat disappeared from local waters in August — and most people probably consider it good riddance. A state Department of Natural Resources program that works to remove abandoned boats from waterways around the state has focused of late on the Everett area. Contractors will remove seven derelict vessels from local sloughs and riverbanks, if all goes as planned. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED SEP 2 2015
TODAY
SW WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS. A
 SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
SW WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS IN
 THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS 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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5/29 WA lege, BC fish farming, sea stars, jellies, Shell drill, water rule, Vic sewer, sea lion shooting, whale ban

Nibblet at work (Laurie MacBride)

Everyone Does Their Part
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "I like to think that everyone who lives here at our place contributes, doing their part of the considerable work needed to keep the homestead running…. And now that Nibblet’s tall enough to reach the Oceanspray, he’s hard at work as well – doing his very best to keep the forest of wild shrubbery that surrounds our yard from crowding out the foxgloves and other cultivated plants…"

Gov. Inslee calls second special session: Legislature confronts budget deadline and U.S. Open
Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday called the Washington Legislature into its second special session, citing lawmakers’ failure to agree on and approve new operating and capital budgets for the upcoming 2015-17 biennium. The latest 30-day special session starts at 12:01 a.m. Friday…. The Legislature faces two deadlines. The official deadline, noted in the governor’s proclamation, is July 1.  It’s the start of the new biennium…. The second deadline is posed by the U.S. Open golf tournament, slated for Chambers Bay the week of June 15-21. The prestigious golf event has booked hundreds of hotel rooms in the south Puget Sound area, creating a question:  Where will the 147 members of the House and Senate sleep if they are called back that week to complete budget deliberations? Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com) See also: Senate GOP releases latest budget offer to spur talks  Jerry Cornfield reports. (Everett Herald)

More than 100,000 sign petition opposed to expansion of B.C. salmon farming
A petition signed by more than 100,000 people opposed to expansion of B.C.'s salmon farming industry has been presented to the legislature in Victoria. More than 100 conservation groups, industry organizations, and business owners also supported the petition. Concerns relate to the potential for disease transfer and lice outbreaks to impact wild salmon. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Researchers cautious about slow sea star recovery on North Olympic Peninsula while hundreds of new juveniles crop up elsewhere
The North Olympic Peninsula's remaining sea stars may be holding their own, but there is no evidence yet of a remarkable recovery of young sea stars seen elsewhere along the Pacific coast, researchers say. With nearly all of the mature sea stars dead and gone, rarely seen juvenile sea stars — popularly known as starfish — have been seen emerging by the hundreds at locations previously devastated by a malady known as sea star wasting syndrome during the past 18 months. Two surveys near Everett found a total of about 600 juvenile ochre stars — one of the hardest-hit species. Five other Puget Sound surveys found hundreds more. However, sea star colonies on rocky outcroppings along North Olympic Peninsula shorelines not are part of that good news, researchers in Clallam and Jefferson counties say. Arwyn Rice reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Kaleidoscopic jellyfish display ready for its Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium debut
Like many other beautiful creatures, jellyfish can be high-maintenance. They need the water temperature just right. Their tanks require creative construction so they don’t get suctioned into the vent or stuck to the bottom. Their behavior changes depending on light and food sources and how many other jellies are swimming nearby. The tiniest scratch on their thin skin can lead to infection or death…. The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium opens its “Jammin’ with Jellies” exhibit Friday, which it claims is the most “flexible” exhibit of its kind worldwide. Stacia Glenn reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Much of Hood Canal closed to shellfish harvesting
Much of Hood Canal and part of Whatcom County’s shoreline have been closed to shellfish harvesting because of high levels of marine toxins. Public health officials say concerns about “red tide,” which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, have led to the closure of Hood Canal from the Bangor naval station to Sisters Point in Mason County. The tip of Hood Canal in the Belfair area remains open. Meanwhile, Whatcom County has closed its shoreline from Birch Point to Sandy Point, northwest of Bellingham. (Associated Press)

NTSB Faults Shell's Risk-Taking in Arctic Oil Rig Wreck
A new report from The National Transportation Safety Board says poor planning and risk assessment by Shell Oil led to the wreck of the Kulluk oil rig off the coast of Alaska in December 2012. The NTSB report comes out as Shell is gearing up to hunt for oil again this summer in the Arctic Ocean. The report says it wasn't a single error or equipment failure that caused the wreck: It was the company's failure to leave a margin of safety when planning a risky midwinter trip across the Gulf of Alaska. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

EPA clarifies federal jurisdiction over streams and wetlands of the U.S.
Enforcement of the federal Clean Water Act has been stuck in a state of confusion since 2006, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers was overreaching by requiring permits for all sorts of waterways beyond the agency’s jurisdiction…. The EPA requisitioned a scientific report about hydraulic connectivity, concluding that even small streams can affect downstream waters. The final language in the rule, designed to reduce judgment calls by federal regulators, says tributaries would come under federal jurisdiction only if capable of delivering significant pollution downstream. Such tributaries would need to have flowing water or related features — such as a streambed, bank or high-water mark. The rule has worried farmers, who want to make sure the federal government does not try to regulate ditches designed for irrigation and drainage. Language in the final rule says ditches will not be regulated unless they are shown to be a remnant of a natural stream that has been diverted or altered. Christopher Dunagan explains. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Ontario Killer Whale Ban Passes
Ontario has passed a bill that prohibits the breeding and acquisition of killer whales as well as other animal protection rules. The bill, named the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, also includes rules that require animal welfare committees at any facility that has marine mammals. The bill also includes a requirement for marine parks — there is only one in Ontario — to have qualified veterinarians with marine mammal expertise to oversee preventive and clinical care. (Canadian Press)

Have your say at sewage workshops this weekend
Sites for sewage-treatment facilities are on the agenda this weekend at a pair of workshops covering the eastern part of the region — Oak Bay, Saanich and Victoria. Feedback can also be given by completing an online survey. The survey will be available starting on Monday. The workshops, run by the Eastside Select Committee, are set for Saturday at the University of Victoria’s Cadboro Commons Building and Sunday at the Victoria Conference Centre, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. (Times Colonist)

$5,000 Offered For Info In String Of Sea Lion Shootings
Federal wildlife officials are investigating a string of sea lion shootings on the Oregon Coast. The Humane Society of the U.S. and another group are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of those responsible for the shootings. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says ten California sea lions and one harbor seal were shot and killed during the months of April and May. Killing a sea lion is a federal offense under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. (Associated Press)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 225 AM PDT FRI MAY 29 2015
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING NW IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SAT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SUN
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 3 FT AT 11 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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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4/2 Rockfish, BC sockeye, oil train, OR coal, BC tanker bill, Salish Sea, sand shrimp, Green Diamond trees

Snow Trains Bring Water to the West
Today (April 1), Governor Inslee made an important announcement that will put a smile on the faces of local environmentalists: many of the coal trains that have been plying our region will be adapted to carry snow from the eastern and central U.S. to the Pacific Northwest.   Coal trains will be turned to snow trains, and as shown below, the first snow trains are rolling. Cliff Mass winks. (Weather Blog)

New study highlights the value of local knowledge in recovering endangered species
A new study highlights the value of local knowledge in recovering endangered species. The collaborative research, co-authored by NOAA Fisheries, the University of Washington, and researchers from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, is specifically designed to incorporate the knowledge of recreational anglers into recovery planning for three rockfish species in Puget Sound—bocaccio, canary rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish, each of which was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2010. The study explores how recreational anglers' understanding of the ecosystem and fishing practices influence their views of conserving Puget Sound rockfish. Through surveys of 443 recreational boat-based anglers, which included scoping questions related to their knowledge of rockfish biology, fishing practices, perceptions of threats to rockfish, and preferences for rockfish recovery measures, several key findings arose. (Pyys.org)

More bad news for B.C.’s wild sockeye
Nations around the Pacific Ocean may have to cap the number of hatchery salmon they release if sockeye salmon runs are to return to sustainable levels, according to a new study. Record high numbers of pink salmon in the North Pacific coincided with the disastrously small 2009 Fraser River sockeye return, while the unexpectedly large 2010 sockeye return interacted with 40-per-cent fewer pinks, said Brendan Connors, co-author of the article published by the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. The findings have implications for fisheries management and hatchery programs in Russia and Alaska that produce most of the five billion hatchery fish released into the Pacific each year. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)

BNSF: State rail regulators wrong in saying company failed to report leaks
BNSF claims that Washington state rail regulators were mostly wrong when they said the company failed to properly report more than a dozen hazardous materials spills. In an email newsletter Monday, March 30, the company said it wants to “set the record straight” regarding claims made by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission staff in a March 19 report. The report outlines 14 releases of hazardous materials between Nov. 1, 2014, and Feb. 24 that the state says were not properly called in to a state hotline within the required half hour of learning about them. In some cases BNSF did call the hotline, but not within 30 minutes, according to the report. In other cases, it states BNSF never called the hotline and only submitted a copy of a federal report required within a month of any hazardous material spill…. But the company stated it had found inaccuracies with “more than 90 percent of the alleged violations.” Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Coal export terminal gets water-quality approval from Oregon
Oregon environmental regulators have ruled that proposed coal export terminal on the Columbia River meets state and federal water-quality standards, but the project still faces an adverse ruling from another state agency and questions about its economics in a slumping coal market. The state Department of Environmental Quality issued a water-quality certification Tuesday to the proposed Coyote Island Terminal at Boardman, The East Oregonian reported. The terminal would receive coal arriving by rail from Montana and Wyoming and put it on barges. Downriver, the barges would be offloaded at another terminal, and the coal put on oceangoing vessels, bound for Asia. Shipments to the Boardman terminal could total 8.8 million tons a year. (Associated Press)

B.C. MP's anti-tanker bill not expected to pass
Members of Parliament will vote on a private member's bill on Wednesday afternoon that would keep crude oil tankers off of British Columbia's North Coast. However, Bill C-628, introduced by New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen, likely has next to no chance of passing due to the fact that not a single Conservative MP in B.C. appears to support it. Daybreak North reports. (CBC News)

The Northwest’s Salish Sea comes alive in new book
Perhaps you remember the squabbles a few years ago over the effort to incorporate a new name, “the Salish Sea,” into the cartography of inland waters running from Olympia up to Campbell River, British Columbia. This was an international issue of identity – or lack thereof. As Audrey DeLella Benedict and Joseph K. Gaydos suggest in their new book, “The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest,” the matter arose when environmentalists, concerned by the impact of oil tankers on the inland waters, found it hard to gain traction with their arguments – it was difficult to assert there could be a problem in a place that doesn’t even exist on a map. A professor of environmental and marine science at Western Washington University, Bert Webber, proposed that the waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia be given a single moniker to reflect the fact that, despite political boundaries, they are an integrated ecosystem. Barbara Lloyd McMichael reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Sand shrimp may be unavailable due to whales
Herring, sand shrimp, Power Bait, cured roe, nightcrawlers. Eliminate any of those baits and you’ve made a major portion of the western Washington sport fishing public very unhappy. So expect howls of outrage when the word gets around that sand shrimp may be unavailable — or at least hard to find — for anglers anticipating fishing that big run of pinks due this summer in our local rivers. Or steelhead, Dolly Varden, cutthroat, and several other species…. The problem stems from the fact that leases to harvest sand shrimp on public beaches along parts of Saratoga Passage were cancelled last summer by the Washington Department of Natural Resources.... But whales have entered the picture…. Recently, questions have been asked, often by folks in the Langley area, about whether or not commercial shrimp harvest is negatively impacting whale behavior. Wayne Kruse reports. (Everett Herald)

Green Diamond plants its 100 millionth tree, more or less
In the midst of a 40-acre clearcut Wednesday just east of Taylor Towne in Mason County, about 75 people with ties to the state’s timber industry watched Green Diamond Resource Company Chairman Colin Moseley plant what was proudly called the family-owned forestry company’s 100 millionth tree….The Douglas fir seedling that gained so much attention was surrounded by about 16,000 slightly larger Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine trees that were planted in 2011 on the 40-acre parcel, which was harvested in 2010. On all four sides of the reforested area, Green Diamond timber stood in age classes ranging from 15 years old to 80 years old., symbolizing the fact that the company, which began as S.G. Simpson & Company has been around a long, long time — since 1890 to be exact. John Dodge reports. (Olympian)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 301 AM PDT THU APR 2 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SW WIND 10 KT...BECOMING SE 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY.
--
"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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5/22 Comb jelly, NW summer, Lolita, island glaciers, Magnolia tunnel, Southlands, PSP, Gorge Cr.

Comb jelly (Smithsonian/KPLU)

A Shimmery Sea Blob From The San Juans May Have Just Upended Evolutionary History
A squishy little sea creature fished out of the Salish Sea may be rewriting our history of how animal life first evolved. They’re called comb jellies, and they have nothing to do with hair products. They are translucent blobs that propel themselves with rows of shimmering threads called cilia. Scientists captured specimens at the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories and analyzed their genomes, coming to two pretty startling conclusions. First, these animals have nervous systems, but they look almost nothing like those of people or fish, or any other animal on Earth.... What may be even more surprising is that these aliens are our relatives. Scientists have long thought multicellular life began with sponges, which have no nerves or muscles. They just sit there and filter water. The thinking was animals got more complex much later. But the comb jelly, a predator with sophisticated anatomy, seems to actually be the first branch on the evolutionary tree, predating the more primitive-seeming sponges. Gabriel Spitzer reports. (KPLU)

Long, Warm Summer On Tap, According To Weather Service Outlook
This summer in the Pacific Northwest will be warmer than average, according to the National Weather Service. The supercomputers at the Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center have crunched long-term trends to produce an outlook for June, July and August. For most of the Northwest, the forecast gives a strong probability of above-normal temperatures. Tom Banse reports. (KPLU)

New twists in battle over Lolita give activists new hope
There are new developments in the decades-long battle over whether Lolita the killer whale, still at Miami Seaquarium, will be returned to her home waters near Seattle. Activists believe, while still a long shot, these developments present the best chance in 40 years to achieve their goal. Among the developments, Lolita will likely get protections under the Endangered Species Act; a new company with less reliance on Orca shows will complete its purchase of Seaquarium in mid-May; and celebrities are speaking out about Lolita's plight including Seattle natives Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Jeff Burnside reports. (KOMO)

Study assesses potential risk from increased shipping traffic in Puget Sound
A recently released Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment (VTRA) shows that three proposed maritime terminal developments could increase the risk of oil spills from vessel accidents. However, the study also shows that when a combination of management tools is applied to simulations of increased traffic, the potential for accidents could fall below the level regarded as the region’s baseline accident rate. The baseline was developed based on vessel traffic data collected in 2010. The VTRA study focuses on evaluating how the risk of accidents and oil spills in Puget Sound changes when commercial vessel traffic increases... The VTRA study is available here. (Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal)

Island glaciers will disappear in 25 years, scientist says
All Vancouver Island glaciers, including the iconic Comox glacier, will be gone within 25 years due to climate change, says University of Victoria geography professor Dan Smith. “There are not many glaciers left,” Smith said Wednesday. “In the 1970s, they did an inventory on Vancouver Island and they counted about 170 glaciers, and I’d say there are five of what you could call glaciers left.” Sandra McCulloch reports. (Times Colonist)

Tunnel to be drilled under Magnolia bluff this summer
This summer, a tunnel will be drilled below the Magnolia bluff to connect the existing sewer pipes and the new storage tank for the South Magnolia Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project from King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD). During major rainstorms, the existing diversion structure cannot handle the increased water, and a mixture of rainwater and raw sewage overflows directly into Puget Sound. This happened 36 times last year; now, WTD is under a federal consent decree to limit that to one time per year on a long-term average. To get this water to the new storage facility, it will need to go via gravity pipe under the Magnolia bluff. Sarah Radmer reports. (Queen Anne & Magnolia News)

Reject Delta’s Southlands proposal, Metro staff report says
Delta’s contentious plan to convert a parcel of Tsawwassen farmland into a massive residential development is a significant breach of Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy and could put more agricultural land at risk, a Metro staff report suggests. The report, slated to go to the Metro board Friday, recommends that directors reject an amendment to the plan, which would see 59.7 hectares of the land transferred from agricultural to general urban and re-designate 42.2 hectares from agricultural to conservation and recreation. Kelly Sinoski reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Some northern Whatcom County beaches closed to recreational shellfish harvesting
The state Department of Health has closed some beaches in northern Whatcom County to recreational shellfish harvesting because of unsafe levels of the biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. The ban affects beaches from Point Whitehorn north to Birch Point. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Gorge pollutant identified
A substance that polluted Gorge Creek and the Gorge waterway this month has been found to be a combination of motor oil and engine-cleaning fluid. While most of the liquid has been collected, booms and absorbent material are being left in place for at least the next three weeks to ensure that if more appears, it will be contained. The Ministry of Environment said five ducks were found to have been affected by the liquid. Jeff Bell reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 250 AM PDT THU MAY 22 2014
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 15 SECONDS...BECOMING NW 4
 FT AT 8 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
TONIGHT
NW WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
--
"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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5/5 CO2, LNG, Erich Hoyt, #SSEC14, birds, GiveBIG, Tesoro blast, derailment, sea star wasting, Vic sewer, steelhead

J26: first report 5/1 of Jpod off CA coast (M.Beattie)

Carbon dioxide in atmosphere at record level
For the first time in human history and likely for the first time in at least 800,000 years, the average level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere topped 400 parts per million for an entire month. Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas considered to be most responsible for global warming, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Earth System Research Lab. (USA Today) See also: China’s coal solution has carbon downside across globe  Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

When it comes to LNG, Clark is out to deliver – but at what cost?
When the Council of Canadian Academies examined the impact of shale-gas development on the environment, researchers found a disturbing shortage of data on issues of deep concern to British Columbians. The gas industry, which Premier Christy Clark is selling this week in a trade mission to Asia, is booming in B.C. There are currently 13 liquefied natural gas plants proposed and if they go ahead, up to 6,000 new wells could be drilled to supply them. But what will the development of all those wells, pipelines and processing plants mean in terms of environmental impact? We don’t know. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail) See also: British Columbia, Petronas strike deal on natural gas project  Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Erich Hoyt will talk about orcas and more
Erich Hoyt, who has been enjoying adventures with killer whales and other sea creatures since the early 1970s, will share his understanding of the underwater world during a series of presentations from British Columbia to Northern California. The tour begins [May 3] on Saturna Island in British Columbia. For the full schedule, visit The Whale Trail website. (http://orcatour2014.org) Erich has a rare talent. He is both an engaging writer as well as an experienced scientific researcher. His first book, “Orca: A Whale Called Killer,” is essential reading for orca supporters. His understanding of the oceans has led him into the field of conservation, seeking greater protections for marine habitats throughout the world. Chris Dunagan (Kitsap Sun)  See also: Whale Trail tour to make two stops on Peninsula

New blog: #SSEC14 Day 3: Now What?
“Like all good things, the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference http://www.wwu.edu/salishseaconference/ came to an end on Friday, and it no doubt left those who experienced the entire three days of speeches, presentations and festivities exhilarated and as exhausted as conference organizers. Even for those who came for a day, the proceedings proved edifying and sometimes entertaining...”

If you like to listen: They Can Fly a Thousand Miles Without Food Or Rest, Remember Every Single Flower They Visit, But Can They Survive Looming and Present Risks?
If you stop to think about it, birds are our most direct connection to nature. Their songs delight us, their journeys capture our imagination. Birds are the wildlife we interact with the most. But that bond is breaking. Each year more and more of them succumb to a host of threats: pesticides, the loss of habitat, climate change, and the biggest urban threat of all, cats. Martha Baskin reports. (Green Acre Radio)

24 hours to GiveBIG in fast-growing charity campaign
The Seattle Foundation’s big 24-hour rush of philanthropy, the online GiveBIG campaign, shows what a difference a day can make. Tuesday’s single-day drive is the fourth in what has become an enormous focus for charitable fundraising in the Puget Sound region. Sign on to seattlefoundation.org starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, choose from a list of 1,600 nonprofit agencies, and donate to one or more. Last year’s drive raised $11.1 million from 30,000 donors. (Seattle Times editorial)

Feds Urge Tighter Refinery Regulations After Fatal Tesoro Blast
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is calling for 60 improvements in the design, operation and regulation of the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes and of refineries nationwide. Four years after an explosion and fireball engulfed and killed seven workers, the federal agency finished its long-delayed inquiry into the blast at a sparsely attended meeting at Anacortes High School on Thursday night. The explosion was the worst industrial accident Washington state has seen in the past 50 years. John Ryan reports. (KUOW) See also: Chemical Safety Board releases final report on deadly refinery explosion in Anacortes  Mark Stayton reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Coal train derails in Maryland, hours after Virginia oil train accident
A train carrying 8,000 tons of coal derailed in Bowie, Md., early Thursday, hours after a train bearing Bakken crude oil from North Dakota left the rails and exploded in Lynchburg, Va.. The 63-car-long coal train was carrying coal from a mine in Pennsylvania to a destination in southern Marland. Three locomotives and 10 cars left the tracks, but none turned over. “The incident marked the third major mid-Atlantic incident for the railroad since Wednesday, when a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Lynchburg, Va. and a massive retaining wall collapsed onto tracks in Baltimore,” reported The Baltimore Sun. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

West Coast starfish being killed by pathogens, scientists suggest
Scientists are making some headway in figuring out what is killing millions of sea stars in the waters off the Pacific coast, from British Columbia to Mexico. While a definitive answer eludes them, researchers suggest a pathogen — either bacterial or viral — is responsible for the death toll. "We don't have an absolute answer yet," said Lesanna Lahner, a veterinarian at the Seattle Aquarium, after presenting the latest information at the Salish Sea Ecosystem conference in Seattle last week.  "We've narrowed in on it possibly being a pathogen, some sort of infectious source, bacterial or viral." (CBC)

Seaterra chooses company to build McLoughlin Point sewage plant
It doesn’t have approval to build on the site, but Seaterra has selected its preferred company to build a new sewage treatment plant at McLoughlin Point. Harbour Resource Partners has been picked to design, build and partially finance the planned treatment plant as well as the Victoria Harbour crossing and the marine outfall. Seaterra commission chairwoman Brenda Eaton said HRP’s proposal is within the planned budget, which is significant given that it represents about a third of the $783-million sewage treatment project budget. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Angling community frustrated by deal on steelhead
Representatives of the recreational fishing community expressed frustration at an agreement that ends a lawsuit over the state’s plans to release about 900,000 steelhead smolts in Puget Sound-area rivers. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife reached an agreement on April 25 with the Wild Fish Conservancy that stops litigation against the department over its Puget Sound hatchery programs for 21/2 years and permits the release of hatchery steelhead this spring into the Skykomish River. Jeffery Mayor reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON MAY 5 2014
TODAY
SW WIND 10 KT...BECOMING NW. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 14 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

Follow on Twitter.

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4/25 Starfish wasting, orca protection, tribes on climate, quake, Arctic spills, tribal lands, smoking fish, species procession

Wasted starfish (PHOTO: Nate Fletcher)

New blog: Watching Starfish Waste Away
(Bellingham) Those of us who might have wanted Dr. Ben Miner of Western Washington University to identify the mysterious disease that is killing starfish along the Pacific West Coast would have left his talk last Tuesday sadly unsatisfied after an hour or so. Real life and death isn’t like an hour’s episode of CSI...

Feds weigh protecting orcas off Pacific coast
NOAA Fisheries is weighing whether to protect endangered orcas in the waters off the West Coast. The federal agency said Thursday it would consider a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity seeking to expand the critical habitat for southern resident killer whales. NOAA has already designated inland waters of Washington as critical to orca conservation, but the group's petition says offshore areas from Cape Flattery, Wash., to Point Reyes, Calif., should now be added as critical habitat. Such a designation would require federal officials to limit activities that harm the whales. (Associated Press) See also: Fate of orcas? Depends on fish—and lately, both have been scarce  (San Juan Journal)

Washington state tribes ask for action on climate change
Representatives of nine Washington Indian tribes told Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Thursday that consequences of climate change are threatening their economies and cultures and that they need federal help to deal with intensifying climate-related problems. The tribes, with low-lying reservations on Washington’s ocean coast and along Puget Sound, said rising sea levels caused by global warming, ocean acidification and more severe weather patterns are endangering the natural resources on which their cultures are based. Rob Carson reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

After 6.6 quake, pressure’s on for Big One, seismologist says
The magnitude-6.6 earthquake that struck off the west coast of Vancouver Island on Wednesday night did nothing to release pressure off the Big One, said seismologist John Cassidy. “It was on a different fault,” said Cassidy, who works with Earthquakes Canada. He said the quake, which occurred about 94 kilometres south of Port Hardy 11 kilometres deep and had several aftershocks, occurred on the Nootka fault line... The quake — which the U.S. Geographical Survey initially said measured 6.7 — did not release any energy being stored in the Cascadia subduction zone, from California to the west coast of Vancouver Island, Cassidy said. “It’s completely locked,” he said. That means pressure for the Big One — a magnitude-9.0 megathrust earthquake — is building. Cassidy said there’s about a 30 per cent chance it could happen in the next 50 years. Sarah Petrescu reports. (Times Colonist)

U.S. not ready to deal with oil spill, marine accident in Arctic: NRC study
The United States is unequipped to handle an oil spill or any kind of marine disaster in Arctic waters even as melting ice encourages energy development, according to a new report by the National Research Council.  The report, requested by the American Petroleum Institute and other agencies, comes less than a month after Shell Oil announced it will not seek to drill this year in Arctic waters of the Chukchi Sea.... the report noted, there is no safety/regulatory infrastructure in places like the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, where oil companies want to drill. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.com)

Interior secretary calls for more land to be placed in tribal trust status  (Paywall)
Earlier this year, the Suquamish tribe added 283 acres to its Port Madison Indian Reservation, expanding the reservation for the first time in 150 years. That’s a tiny fraction of the 242,703 acres that tribes nationwide have brought into trust status since 2009. Before the Obama administration leaves office in 2017, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell wants to see that number double. “My goal is to take 500,000 acres of fee lands into trust, and I encourage the tribes to continue to submit their applications and emphasize this administration’s commitment to processing these applications,” said Jewell during a tribal leadership summit in Suquamish on Thursday. Rachel Anne Seymour reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Caution urged over smoking salmon; cooking method may cause cancer
Two University of British Columbia researchers are trying to find out whether the way First Nations in British Columbia have been smoking salmon for generations is actually carcinogenic. But B.C.’s deputy provincial health officer is urging caution, saying one of the unintended consequences of such a study is to cause aboriginal people to mistrust their own traditional foods. A research project being led by David Kitts and Kevin Allen – food scientists in the food, nutrition and health program at UBC – is looking at the presence of cancer-causing chemicals in smoked salmon prepared in old-style wood smokehouses. Cooking wild game or fish in these smokehouses requires extreme heat, which can result in polyaromatic hydrocarbons tainting the fish. Previous studies have shown that high levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons like benzo(a)pyrene – a cancer-causing chemical – are found in smoked fish. Nadim Roberts reports. (Globe and Mail)

Procession of the Species: 20 years and going strong
Procession of the Species founder Eli Sterling has long said that it was his aim to produce 20 of the annual events, which celebrate both the natural world and human creativity. The procession, which draws about 3,000 participants and 30,000 spectators each year, is a traveling spectacle of dancers and marchers in mostly handmade costumes as well as festive bands and human-powered floats. Saturday is the 20th procession. Sterling has met his goal. What’s next? Molly Gilmore reports. (Olympian)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT FRI APR 25 2014
TODAY
SE WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING E 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 15 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF
 SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 14 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF
 SHOWERS.
SAT
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
SAT NIGHT
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING S 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
SUN
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11 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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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1/21 Seahawk, Orion, quakes, BC LNG, China pollution, oil train spills, sea star survey

PHOTO: Mark Schiffler/BirdNote

What Is a Seahawk?
The first Seattle Seahawk to storm the field during home games isn’t the head coach or the quarterback -- it isn’t even human. It’s Taima, a captive-bred Augur Hawk that has accompanied the team before every home game since 2007. She is a beautiful representative of a species from the aridlands of East Africa, hardly a hawk of the sea. So, what is a “Seahawk”? Adam Sedgley ponders.

If you like to watch: The Unknown Sea: A Voyage on the Salish
By Deep Green Wilderness, a sailboat-based education program that introduces students to the biological and cultural diversity of the Salish Sea through voyages on our historic ship Orion and documentary filmmaking.

How Smaller, Off-Coast Quakes Could Badly Shake BC
A new scientific study indicates that southwestern B.C. faces some little-understood threats from earthquakes -- not just from the Big One, but from weaker quakes occurring within 100 kilometres of Vancouver. The implications for construction safety codes could be important, especially for the seismic retrofit program that's been strengthening B.C. schools. The report, published today in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, finds that the geology of the Georgia Basin tends to slow down waves from nearby crustal earthquakes, causing longer, more intense shaking. The basin underlies the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, as well as Puget Sound, and much of Greater Vancouver is built on it. Crawford Kilian reports. Also see: Earthquakes amplified in silty Vancouver basin: study

B.C. First Nations warns Premier Clark to consult aboriginals on LNG development
A British Columbia First Nation says the provincial government is dragging its feet when it comes to consulting with aboriginal people about proposed liquefied natural gas developments, including revenue sharing.

China’s exports include pollution to Western U.S.
Filthy emissions from China’s export industries are carried across the Pacific Ocean and contribute to air pollution in the Western United States, according to a paper published Monday by a prominent U.S. science journal. The research is the first to quantify how air pollution in the United States is affected by China’s production of goods for export and by global consumer demand for those goods, the authors say. It was written by nine scholars based in three nations and was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which last year published a paper by other researchers that found a drop in life spans in Northern China because of air pollution. The latest paper explores the environmental consequences of interconnected economies. Edward Wong reports.

More oil spilled from trains in 2013 than in previous 4 decades, federal data show
More crude oil was spilled in U.S. rail incidents last year than was spilled in the nearly four decades since the federal government began collecting data on such spills, an analysis of the data shows. Including major derailments in Alabama and North Dakota, more than 1.15 million gallons of crude oil was spilled from rail cars in 2013, according to data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. By comparison, from 1975 to 2012, U.S. railroads spilled a combined 800,000 gallons of crude oil. The spike underscores new concerns about the safety of such shipments as rail has become the preferred mode for oil producers amid a North American energy boom. The federal data does not include incidents in Canada where oil spilled from trains. Curtis Tate reports.

Feiro Marine Life Center of Port Angeles seeks help for Sunday sea star survey
The Feiro Marine Life Center is seeking volunteers to help monitor a disease affecting sea stars on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The sea star wasting disease survey is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, with volunteers meeting at the Freshwater Bay boat ramp for training. Volunteers will be told how to identify different sea stars and given instruction on conducting the survey, which is expected to take two or three hours, before spreading out to the east and west to look for infected sea stars. Arwyn Rice reports.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST TUE JAN 21 2014
TODAY
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 20 KT EARLY THIS MORNING THEN 5 TO 15 KT THIS AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4
 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR THIS AFTERNOON. W SWELL 9 FT AT 16 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 15 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 9 FT AT 14 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A CHANCE
 OF RAIN OR DRIZZLE.
--
"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

12/30 Tankers, BC pipe, air polluters, enviro fines, Elwha research, sand dollar, starfish deaths, king tides, gray whales

Christmas Bird Count (Alan Berner, Seattle Times)

If you like to watch: Christmas bird count
... Breaking into groups, the Seattle Audubon Society's annual CBC (Christmas Bird Count) took place Saturday with about 200 volunteers in 14 areas on both sides of Lake Washington. Photos by Alan Berner; post by Colin Diltz. See also: On the lookout for birds  

Proposal would increase oil tanker traffic in Washington waters
The number of oil tankers in Washington state waters could increase almost sevenfold under a proposal by a Canadian pipeline company to expand the amount of crude oil it sends to the Pacific Coast. Kinder Morgan Canada filed a formal application with Canadian regulators earlier this month to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline that carries crude oil from Alberta's oil sands to the Vancouver, B.C. area. Under the proposal, up to 34 tankers a month would be loaded with oil at a terminal outside Vancouver, then generally travel through Haro Strait east of San Juan Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca for export to markets in Asia and the U.S. That's up from about five tankers a month now. The $5.4 billion expansion project would nearly triple pipeline capacity from about 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of crude oil a day to meet customer demand. Much of that future cargo will likely be diluted bitumen from Canada's oil sands. Phuong Le reports.

Stephen Hume: Pipeline debate shaping up as propaganda war
Opposition in B.C. to the Northern Gateway pipeline project is not limited to fringe radicals, but instead is a ‘broad cross-section of serious citizens with concerns to express,’ writes Stephen Hume. It is a serious mistake to characterize opposition to project as simply from fringe radicals

Coal-burning power plant in Centralia tops Washington's list of biggest greenhouse gas emitters, EPA says
The coal-fired TransAlta power plant in Centralia, just off I-5 south of Olympia, was once again the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports. It, along with other power plants and refineries, ranked among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in the state in 2012, according to the latest data reported to the EPA.... BP's Cherry Point Refinery, Washington's largest, was the second-highest single source of emissions. It is located just a few miles south of the Canadian border, near Blaine. The next four biggest sources of greenhouse gas for 2012 also were located in the northwestern most part of Washington, on the mainland east of the San Juan Islands. No. 3 on the list was Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes, with that city's Tesoro Refinery listed at No. 4. Numbers 5 and 6 are located in Ferndale: Alcoa Intalco Works and the Phillips 66 refinery.

Department of Ecology fines Mukilteo, Everett companies  
Two Snohomish County businesses and the state Department of Transportation were fined by the state during the third quarter of 2013 for violations of environmental laws. Production Plating Inc. of Mukilteo and Cemex of Everett were fined $11,000 and $6,000, respectively, by the state Department of Ecology. The fines were among more than $283,000 in penalties issued statewide for the quarter, the department announced recently. Bill Sheets reports.

Insects, plant research in Elwha River Valley will allow for comparisons in future years
They’ve been snatched from the air with hand-held nets and scooped from the waters of the Elwha River. Now, between 600,000 and 2 million individual insects and certain plants collected from the Elwha River Valley before dam removal are being processed and cataloged by students of Washington State University. The goal of the collection is to establish a baseline of the types and populations of insects that lived in the river valley during the last century, when lakes were formed by dams, said Jerry Freilich, research coordinator for Olympic National Park. Jeremy Schwartz reports.

Sand dollar a giant, but a few cents shy a record
A spot in Guinness World Records isn’t likely, but the giant sand dollar found on Puget Sound’s Eld Inlet near Olympia this summer is now being studied by scientists, according to beachcomber Eric Talaska...According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s website, that species of sand dollars usually live six to 10 years, and their average size is 3 inches across. The critters live in low intertidal zones from Alaska to Baja California. The Guinness record for largest sand dollar is held by August Balicki, who found a sand dollar that measured 5.01 inches in diameter in Treasure Island, Fla. Talaska was hoping that his sand dollar would be a contender, since it was of a different species, Dendraster excentricus. Turns out, it wasn’t. Lisa Pemberton reports.

Oregon coast isolated from mysterious West Coast starfish die-off, but scientists warn problems could come  
Starfish, those purple and orange icons of Oregon’s coastal tide pools, are dying on the West Coast in big numbers, wasting away, losing arms and simply turning to mush. They’re falling victim to a morose marine mystery, one that’s barely touched the Oregon coast – so far. Just one suffering starfish site has been found in Oregon. Elsewhere, surveying underwater in Puget Sound and Monterey Bay, researchers have seen colonies of starfish quickly die and disintegrate into white goo. Deaths have been confirmed from Alaska to Southern California. Rob Davis reports.

3 Tips On Spotting A Migrating Gray Whale Along The Oregon Coast This Week
Chris Lehman reports: The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve is one of the best times of the year to watch grey whales migrating along the Oregon coast. It's the height of their annual southbound trek from Alaska to Baja, California. Here are three tips to help better your chances of spotting a grey whale.
1. Look For The Spout of Water
2. Be Patient
3. Look For The Boats

Got a camera? Photograph king tides starting today in Strait, on coast
Washington's higher-than-usual winter tides are underway, and the state Department of Ecology is inviting the public to share their photos of this naturally occurring event. These higher-than-usual tides are sometimes called “king tides” and occur when the sun's and moon's gravitational pulls reinforce one another... Pictures should be taken where the high water levels can be gauged against familiar landmarks such as seawalls, jetties, bridge supports or buildings. Note the date, time and location of the photo, then upload the images to the Washington King Tide Photo Initiative Flickr Group.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST MON DEC 30 2013
TODAY
SE WIND 10 KT THIS MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 16 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG THIS MORNING.
 PATCHY FOG IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
TONIGHT
SW WIND 10 KT...BECOMING S AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 15 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY...THEN RAIN
 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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