11/20 'Frankenfish,' murrelet, storm sewage, Mt. Polley, oil rules, train safety, Inslee on refugees

“Frankenfish” AquAdvantage salmon (LA Times) 

Genetically engineered salmon is fit for dinner, FDA says in first decision of its kind
Perhaps that last breed does not evoke images of ancient and frigid headwaters in Alaska or Arctic Canada, where wild salmon spawn every year, or even the humble hatcheries that produce less expensive species consumed by millions of people. But on Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the AquAdvantage salmon — developed using growth hormone from Chinook salmon and a gene from an eel-like ocean fish that makes it reach market size twice as quickly as other salmon — has become the first genetically engineered animal approved for American consumption. AquaBounty Technologies Inc., the Massachusetts company that created the fish, calls it "the world's most sustainable salmon." Opponents call it "Frankenfish." The FDA, which was accused of delaying the decision for years amid public concern, now says you can call it dinner. William Yardley reports. (LA Times)

State considers conservation options for marbled murrelet
The state Department of Natural Resources is reviewing conservation plan options for the marbled murrelet, a seabird that is found along the state’s coast, including several bays on Skagit County’s shoreline. The state agency worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to draft five strategies to conserve the bird’s habitat. The options would protect between 594,000 and 734,000 acres of land managed by Natural Resources. The marbled murrelet is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act, meaning it is likely to become endangered. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Deadly storm flushes sewage into Seattle's waterways
Heavy rains means heavy runoff making its way into bodies of water around Seattle. But that's not all that's making its way into area lakes and the Puget Sound. The recent storms that moved over Seattle and the Pacific Northwest and knocked out power to thousands, also sent rivers of stormwater into underground pipes. As pipes became overwhelmed, they were flushed into local bodies of water, carrying not only stormwater, but sewage as well. Richard Oxley reports. (MyNorthwest.Com)

Critics warn of another disaster at Mount Polley
 Rapidly rising water levels in a vast containment pit at the Mount Polley mine are now a scant six metres below the level where they could seep into groundwater and the Quesnel River system. Bigger worries loom for spring. Winter snow melt could overwhelm storage capacity causing another catastrophic spill like August 2014, when a breach dumped 10 billion litres of water and 4.5 billion litres of slurry into Polley Lake. Stephen Hume reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Ecology working on new rules for movement of oil
he state Department of Ecology is developing new rules for transporting oil by train and pipeline. The changes could require companies moving oil through the state to improve accident response plans and provide advanced notice about the movement of oil. The changes could go into effect as early as 2016. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

No more breaks on positive train control, agency chief tells railroads
The nation’s rail safety chief told a group of railroad officials she expects them to complete a long-delayed collision-avoidance system by the end of 2018 and to not count on Congress to give them an additional reprieve. Recent legislation approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama gives them a three-year extension to complete positive train control, though with some wiggle room to seek an additional two years if necessary. Sarah Feinberg, who heads the Federal Railroad Administration, encouraged attendees of the Rail Trends conference in New York Thursday to make 2018 their goal. Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy)

Why My State Won’t Close Its Doors to Syrian Refugees
OVER the last week, a growing number of governors, representatives, senators and presidential candidates have demanded that America slam shut our borders to refugees who are fleeing unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Islamic State. On Thursday the House passed a bill containing impossibly onerous vetting procedures for new refugees from Syria. The American character is being tested. Will we hew to our long tradition of being a beacon of hope for those chased from their homelands? I have always believed that the United States is a place of refuge for those escaping persecution, starvation or other horrors that thankfully most in America will never experience. Governor Jay Inslee writes. (NY Times)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
 WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST FRI NOV 20 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING
TODAY
E WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SAT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING SE 15 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
SUN
SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING E 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W 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.

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10/6 BC pipe, Lummi quarry, Elwha flick, Duwamish restoration, Orca Talk, Carl Safina

Pacific wren (Julio Mulero/BirdNote)

If you like to listen: Three Wrens, Where Once There Was One...
Until about 2010, the Pacific, Winter, and Eurasian Wrens were all considered to be part of the same species — called the “Winter Wren” in North America and simply the “Wren” in Europe. What changed? Well, closer examination revealed that for these three geographically separated populations of wrens, both the birds’ genes and songs had changed since they last shared a common ancestor! (BirdNote)

If you like to watch: An Introduction to Living Shorelines
Restore America's Estuaries sweet new video.

If you like to watch:  Second whale sighting in Vancouver
For the second time in two days, a whale has been spotted in Vancouver. On Sunday, a whale was seen near the Maritime Museum; on Monday, a whale was seen between Sunset Beach and English Bay Beach. (Vancouver Sun)

Northern Gateway pipeline review was flawed, court told
Lawyers representing several environmental groups and a labour union are in court this morning attempting to overturn the federal government's approval of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project. The groups plan to argue the Joint Review Panel and the Governor in Council, which approved the project in 2013, failed to consider several factors, including: compliance with the Species at Risk Act with respect to humpback whales; a proper assessment of how bitumen reacts in the marine environment; (and) balancing Northern Gateway's economic benefits with its environment impacts. (CBC)

Land trust buys Lummi Island quarry site for $1.08 million
The Lummi Island Heritage Trust has bought 105 acres of quarry land on the island for $1.08 million for conservation, low-impact recreation and saltwater access. The deal closed Wednesday, Sept. 30. The seller was Resource Transition Consultants, the receiver for Lummi Rock LLC’s quarry and its operator, Aggregates West of Everson. The land opens onto Smugglers Cove and Hale Passage, on the southeast slope of Lummi Mountain, the trust said Monday, Oct. 5, in announcing the purchase. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Elwha River documentary wins 'Oscars of nature film' at Jackson Hole festival
No way could this pair of filmmakers, from two communities on the North Olympic Peninsula, turn away from the story. “I wanted to tell the world about what was happening here . . . to document the whole thing come hell or high water,” John Gussman of Sequim remembers thinking circa 2010.  This month Gussman and colleague Jessica Plumb of Port Townsend have won two “Oscars of nature film,” as he calls them, for their Elwha River restoration documentary “Return of the River.” Diane Urbani de la Paz reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Can we really ‘restore’ Duwamish, Seattle’s industrial river?
…. This is Seattle’s industrial river, the Duwamish, It is soon to be the target of a $342-million Superfund cleanup, which will build on what have already been years of significant efforts to restore the river. Even with a Superfund cleanup, however, there are limits to what can be done, and to understand that, it helps to consider the natural history of the river, and its human history, continuing to the present day. The polluted modern waterway is a far cry from the meandering river that Seattle pioneers found here in 1851, the one from which natives had harvested fish and clams for millennia. If you found a clam near the river mouth now, you’d be well advised to throw it back. The modern Duwamish has been shaped by the pursuit of profit. Daniel Jack Chasan reports. (Crosscut)

What do orcas and ants have in common? Find out when The Whale Trail’s new Orca Talk series begins
…. If you’re among our area’s many orca fans, you will want to hurry up and get your ticket for the October 13th event that will lead off The Whale Trail‘s new Orca Talk season, with world-renowned author and orca expert Erich Hoyt speaking October 13th at The Hall at Fauntleroy. His talk titled “Ants, Orcas and Creatures of the Deep” is one of three stops in the region on Hoyt’s “Orca Tour 2015.” Wondering what in the world ants and orcas could have in common? Don’t miss the chance to find out – you can get your ticket right now through Brown Paper Tickets. (When Hoyt spoke here two years ago, he filled the house!) (West Seattle Blog)

Carl Safina explores animal culture plus orca-salmon links
Carl Safina — scientist, teacher, author and documentary filmmaker — will speak Wednesday on a topic of interest to many killer whale observers, “Intertwined Fates: The Orca-Salmon Connection in the Pacific Northwest.” The talk, sponsored by the group Orca Salmon Alliance, will be held at the Seattle Aquarium, but it appears the event has been sold out. (Brown Paper Tickets) Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE OCT 6 2015
TODAY
SE WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING W IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 7 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING S AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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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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9/11 Orca by drone, BC agreement, BC LNG, Beard's Cove, gravel permits, quakes, eagle killer, sea plastics

L91 and calf L122 (NOAA/KOMO)

If you like to watch: Drone gets amazing pics of new baby orca near San Juans
Scientists with NOAA now have even better views of a baby orca that has been born to an endangered group of killer whales off the San Juan Islands, marking the fifth birth among the region's three pods since December. NOAA officials got a special permit from the FAA to use a drone to capture aerial views of the calf, named L122. Members of the Center for Whale Research spotted the calf on Monday. The baby was swimming with its mother, a 20-year-old orca named L91 that's part of the Puget Sound's L-pod. Molly Shen reports. (KOMO)

Kiwi mum to live in bathtub for a month to protest an orca's captivity
A Kiwi animal rights advocate wants to live in a Miami bathtub for four weeks to protest an orca's captivity. Some animal welfare groups have demanded Lolita the orca be freed from Miami Seaquarium. The killer whale was first brought to the oceanarium 45 years ago. Now, Lower Hutt mum Danielle Daals has pledged to live in a bathtub near the Seaquarium to raise attention about Lolita's situation. (New Zealand Herald)

First Nations leaders and province agree on framework for reconciliation
Hundreds of First Nations leaders have given approval in principle to a reconciliation agreement with the province of B.C. — one day after warning that court battles and protest camps loomed if B.C. did not support a meaningful reconciliation proposal. The agreement is viewed as a road map for future economic, social and legal relations between Aboriginal peoples and the provincial government. First Nations Summit Grand Chief Ed John said the road ahead may be bumpy, but all sides are willing to build a path forward. The agreement was approved Thursday morning by about 500 First Nations leaders at a closed-door meeting with Premier Christy Clark and members of her cabinet in Vancouver. (Canadian Press)

Price weakness, construction costs cast B.C. LNG projects into doubt: report
Worries are growing that B.C. liquefied natural gas projects will face delays and cancellations as high construction costs and low LNG prices erode the confidence of international energy players. “The coming 12 months will prove pivotal for LNG development on the Canadian West Coast,” Calgary-based investment dealer Peters & Co. said in a new report. Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Beard's Cove estuary restoration nearly complete 
For the past three decades, local land trusts and state agencies have worked hard at restoring and preserving more than 700 acres of estuary habitat in lower Hood Canal's Lynch Cove wetlands. Now, in partnership with the Beard's Cove Community Organization, Great Peninsula Conservancy is completing restoration on the missing link of the greater Lynch Cove estuary. When finished at the end of this year, the roughly 20-acre Beard's Cove estuary restoration project in Belfair will create 1,550 linear feet of shoreline, 1,600 feet of tidal channel for salmon to navigate and more than 7 acres of nearshore habitat, restoring the area to its pre-1884 condition. Arla Shephard Bull reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Ecology proposes sand, gravel permit changes to protect water quality
In an effort to protect the state’s lakes, rivers, groundwater and Puget Sound, updates are proposed for the water quality permit that regulates discharges from sand and gravel operations, the state Department of Ecology announced Wednesday. Untreated discharge water from sand and gravel operations may harm water quality and aquatic life. In the permit update, Ecology proposes new requirements for how to manage water that drains off piles of recycled concrete, which can affect the acidity of water and threaten fish. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Research Digs Into Mechanics Of Subduction Zone Earthquakes
Scientists know a little more about how big earthquakes happen, from research published Thursday in the journal Science. The study from the U.S. Geological Survey looked at a number of subduction zones, but not the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the Northwest coast. The research doesn't change predictions that there's a one-in-three chance of a big quake in the Northwest in the next 50 years. The research focuses on the physical mechanics of what happens when that kind of fault has an earthquake. The study's author, Jeanne Hardebeck, said subduction zones build up pressure in a way that's different from what was previously thought. Rob Manning reports. (KUOW)

Killer of eagles: ‘It is time for me to grow up’
A Marysville man who broke the skulls of two injured bald eagles before trying to sell their carcasses says it's time for him to "grow up."  Shane Moses was crabbing on Puget Sound when he came upon the injured female eagles. Hoping to make some money selling the birds to a taxidermist, Moses beat them both with a gaff. One died immediately while the other was later euthanized. Turned in to police after landing his boat, Moses, 45, was prosecuted federally in the Dec. 27, 2013, incident. He initially denied clubbing the birds but has since pleaded guilty. Prosecutors and Moses are prepared to ask for a 60-day jail term for the killings when he is sentenced Friday morning at U.S. District Court in Seattle. Writing the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Wilkinson asserted Moses destroyed two animals treasured by many. levi Pulkkinen reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Listing barge that dumped cars stabilized, sent to shipyard
A listing barge that sent crushed cars and scrap metal toppling into the Selkirk Water last month has been stabilized and moved to the Point Hope shipyard. The barge operator, Schnitzer Steel, said naval architects will continue to assess the vessel’s hull at the yard. Mike Geoghegan, a media representative for the company, said all the cars that fell into the water will be removed. (Times Colonnist)

Pacific’s worst pollution barely visible to the eye
… Captain Charlie Moore is an independent voyager and researcher renowned for his work in the eastern North Pacific Gyre, an area thick with floating plastic debris. Since 1999, Moore and his team have logged 15 voyages to the area known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” A more accurate definition of it is “Great Pacific Plastic Soup,” he says. Plastic, large and near microscopic alike, permeates the water column from ocean floor to the surface. And the problem is getting much worse, he says. Martha Baskin reports. (Crosscut)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT FRI SEP 11 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SAT
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SUN
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

8/14 Derelict gear, coal terminal, oil pipes, geoducks, safe oysters, drought, power sales, mine safety

Ken Woodside at work
(Bellingham Herald)

Lost nets, crab pots pulled from Puget Sound waters
Divers pulled more than 5,660 derelict fishing nets from Puget Sound’s shallow water — within 105 feet of the surface — as part of the work to remove lost and abandoned gear that had snared and indiscriminately killed marine life, sometimes for decades. Bellingham-based Northwest Straits Foundation led the project. It started in 2002 and ended June 30 this year. About 3,800 crab pots also were removed. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald) See also: Long-running effort to remove deadly ghost nets reaches major milestone  Christopher Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Finally, Some Real Rain
Cliff Mass writes: "For almost a week the models have been advertising a significant rain event today (Friday).  And the most recent forecast is no different.  A substantial rain event that will substantially reduce water use for several days and perhaps put some meaningful water into reservoirs.   The first significant rain of the summer…." (Weather Blog)

Coal company buys stake in Gateway Pacific Terminal
Coal producer Cloud Peak Energy has purchased a 49 percent stake in a proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point, according to a joint announcement by Cloud Peak and majority owner SSA Marine. Cloud Peak paid $2 million up front and will pay up to $30 million in future permitting costs, according to the announcement Thursday, Aug. 13. In the short term, SSA Marine gets an infusion of cash and some relief from what has already been an expensive permitting process. SSA Marine has paid more than $11 million so far for an ongoing environmental review that is scheduled to be completed next year. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Shipping oil by pipeline safer than rail, says Fraser Institute report
While a new study finds transporting crude oil by pipeline is much safer than by rail, pipeline opponents argue there is no safe way to transport oil and given the threat of climate change, the discussion should be how to reduce the need to transport fossil fuels. The Fraser Institute report was released Thursday, ahead of an anticipated rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline project by U.S. President Barack Obama. Tiffany Crawford reports. (Vancouver Sun)

New blog: Old Japanese Pitcher Throws No-Hitter
Japanese-born Hisashi Iwakuma pitched a no-hitter on Wednesday in Seattle. At 34 years old, Iwakuma is the oldest pitcher since Randy Johnson threw a non-hitter in 2004. That’s according to Tim Booth, the Associated Press sports writer. Did it matter that Iwakuma needed to be identified as Japanese-born by the sports writer?

Geoduck farms expand along with rules and critics
New geoduck farming rules are rolling out across Puget Sound, prompting a renaissance in the clam harvest and a growing movement to stop it. In the last decade, Taylor Shellfish has expanded geoduck farms by 30 acres, with another 25 awaiting permit. They produce 7,000 pounds of geoduck per year, through which hundreds of jobs have been created. Their nursery is filled with tens of thousands of growing geoduck seed…. Now, counties across Puget Sound are adopting the new geoduck rules. That's prompted renewed interest, along with big demand in Asia. The Department of Ecology counts 28 new geoduck farm permits since 2012. However, geoduck growth has also grown grit from critics. Alison Morrow reports. (KING)

Growers say B.C. oysters are ‘safe to eat raw’ despite Vancouver-wide ban
Vancouver Coastal Health issued an order this week instructing all restaurants to cook their B.C. oysters before serving them to customers, explaining that a naturally occurring bacterium called Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which is found in coastal waters, is linked to a rise in gastrointestinal illness. Other health authorities across the province, including on Vancouver Island and in the Fraser Valley, followed suit. Raw oysters harvested elsewhere are unaffected. But the B.C. Shellfish Grower’s Association, which represents about 70 per cent of shellfish growers in the province, disputed that its members had anything to do with the illnesses. Executive director Roberta Stevenson said the province’s oysters are fine when they come out of the water. Kat Sieniuc reports. (Globe and Mail)

If you like to listen: Drowned Out
If you’re a whale, you use your ears to navigate. Unfortunately, humans can have a hard time seeing all the noise they make, and what it’s doing to the world of sound. Christopher Clark can explain. He’s a senior scientist in bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is part of a “listening culture” of scientists. And he knows a lot about whales. This is an audio story about listening. (NPR)

Peninsula drought intensifies; status boosted from severe to extreme
The North Olympic Peninsula's drought status has been upgraded from severe to extreme. The U.S. Drought Monitor announced the change Thursday. The new categorization indicates regional impacts that include major crop and pasture losses and widespread water shortages or restrictions. It is based on multiple factors including soil moisture, rainfall, river flows and groundwater availability. Arwyn Rice reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Drought Cuts Seattle City Light's Revenue By Millions
Seattle’s electric utility says it's taking a big financial hit because of the weather: The lack of rain has affected its ability to produce surplus power to sell in the open market. Its revenue from selling that surplus is down more than 40 percent, KUOW has learned. The utility relies primarily on hydropower, and in this normally wet corner of the country, it typically produces a lot more power than its customers need. Deborah Wang reports. (KUOW)

The Animas River spill and the myth of mine safety
The definition of a mine, said Mark Twain, is a hole in the ground owned by liars. And this month the industry's biggest lie — that it can be trusted with our water — is once again on display as another mining disaster has spilled millions of gallons of toxic mining waste and chemicals into our streams, rivers and lakes. Joel R. Reynolds reports. (LA Times)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 250 AM PDT FRI AUG 14 2015
TODAY
SW WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING W 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.
SAT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
SUN
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 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.

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8/10 Humpbacks, BC salmon, pinks, tribal fish, derelict gear, Hood Canal deal, shrimp spray, no tankers, mine waste

Humpback whale (NOAA)

If you like to listen: It Took A Musician's Ear To Decode The Complex Song In Whale Calls
Humpback whales don’t just sing songs — they compose with the whales around them, singing a song that changes, and evolves over time. Scientists didn’t know that until they started recording whale sounds in the 1960s and spent years listening…. Katy Payne, a researcher in acoustic biology at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and her husband Roger were the first scientists to realize that the intricate and eerie calls of some humpback whales are actually songs. Bill McQuay and Christopher Joyce report. (NPR)

Mountain School makes the magic of the wilderness real for kids
The three-day mountain camp strives to give school children a visceral connection to the Northwest wilderness. Ron Judd reports on the 25-year-old program by the North Cascades Institute. (Seattle Times) See also: Kids get outdoors in ‘Experience The Wild’ camp There is a summer camp where campers climb to the top of a mountain, then descend to the shores of the sea over the course of five days. Vince Richards reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

New blog: Into The (Sort Of) Wild
"I spent parts of this past weekend at Deception Pass State Park with a thousand or more campers. But with the right camera angles, it can still be remembered as a few days in a wildness of sorts. But what was the experience?…"

Salmon on Vancouver Island threatened by heat wave
River levels in Southern B.C. are at record lows and water temperatures are at record highs. This is threatening the millions of salmon coming home to spawn and the billion-dollar freshwater fishing industry that depends on healthy rivers. Greg Rasmussen reports. (CBC News)

Crews to prep Dungeness River this week for huge run of pink salmon
Work could begin this week on creating as hospitable an environment as possible for hordes of pink salmon expected to return to the Dungeness River later this month. A preseason prediction that 1.3 million pinks will return to the Dungeness this year may not come to pass, said Mike Gross, biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, who is based in Montesano. That estimate was based on a run of 400,000 pinks in the Dungeness two years ago. (Peninsula Daily News)

Court upholds Suquamish’s right to share fishing with Tulalips
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision that recognized the Suquamish Tribe’s rights to fish in Port Gardner and other nearby waters. The result is that the Tulalip Tribes, who had filed the appeal, will have to share those fishing grounds with the Suquamish, who are based across Puget Sound in Port Madison. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled July 27 that the Tulalip Tribes did not provide ample evidence that fishing grounds on the east side of Puget Sound should not be shared with the Suquamish. Chris Winters reports. (Everett Herald)

Traditional fishing revival launched by First Nations man
Almost a century after fishing practices unique to First Nations in B.C.'s Salish Sea were outlawed, members paddled canoes back to traditional waters and dropped their full-sized reef net. It was the start of a long-term mission to revitalize the once-celebrated technique for gathering food and bonding community for the Strait Salish people. The web-like net — about the length of a city bus — was suspended between two canoes in an endeavour by a University of Victoria doctoral student who envisions bringing his nation's fishing style "back to life." Tamsyn Burgmann reports. (Canadian Press)

Initiative’s feat: Ridding waters of nets
Knowing the deadly consequences abandoned fishing nets pose for marine life, a nonprofit has worked to remove 550 from Puget Sound this year alone. That brings to 5,600 the number of derelict nets the Northwest Straits Initiative and its partners have dragged out since 2002. The effect: restoring 800 acres of marine habitat. The group’s efforts to remove nets identified in shallow Puget Sound waters concluded in June. A celebration is scheduled Thursday in Everett to commemorate the milestone. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

State won’t audit shoreline deal Navy got at half the $1.7M value
The acting state auditor has turned down a request by two state senators asking for an audit of a Hood Canal land-lease deal between the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Navy. As her reason, Auditor Jan Jutte cited a Jefferson County Superior Court judge’s opinion in May that said DNR had authority to grant the shoreline lease and that the way the agency determined its $720,000 value “was not arbitrary, capricious or unlawful.” (Seattle Times)

Back to the drawing board for control of oyster-killing shrimp
They’ve tried smashing, cementing, shocking and shaking them, but now that pesticides are off the table — at least temporarily — what’s the option for ridding oyster beds of ghost shrimp? Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times) Meanwhile: Shellfish spraying in Willapa Bay continues — on clam beds  After neurotoxin controversy, oyster growers aren’t spraying to kill shrimp. But herbicide applications to kill nonnative eel grass are still allowed. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Gabriola Island residents rally against tanker moorage proposal
Concerned residents of B.C.'s Gulf Islands are planning to round up their boats near Gabriola Island today to draw attention to a proposal to moor large vessels in the area….. The proposal comes from the Pacific Pilotage Authority of Canada, which says the new anchorage space is needed, partly because ships are getting larger… the authority's CEO Kevin Obermeyer says the authority is currently gathering more research on the issue and will hold a meeting with Gabriola Island residents in early 2016, after which they'll have 90 days to respond. (CBC)

EPA Says It Released 3 Million Gallons Of Contaminated Water Into River
In an event that has led to health warnings and turned a river orange, the Environmental Protection Agency says that one of its safety teams accidentally released contaminated water from a mine into the Animas River in southwest Colorado. The spill, which sent heavy metals, arsenic, and other contaminants into a waterway that flows into the San Juan National Forest, occurred on Wednesday. The EPA initially said that 1 million gallons of wastewater had been released, but that figure has risen sharply.  (NPR, KUNC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON AUG 10 2015
TODAY
VARIABLE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.  W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
TONIGHT AND TUE
VARIABLE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 9 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.

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7/30 Shell drill, anchorage, drought conflict, warm waters, Big One, bull kelp, toxic spills, Polley mine, fish names

St. John’s Bridge, Portland ( Mike Zacchino /Oregonian)

Protesters in Portland dangle from bridge in a bid to block Shell icebreaker
Protests against Shell’s off-shore Arctic drilling took a dramatic turn in the pre-dawn hours Thursday as 13 Greenpeace activists suspended themselves on ropes from a bridge above the Willamette River here in a bid to stop an icebreaker from heading north to the Chukchi Sea. The 380-foot icebreaker, the MSV Fennica, must be on hand in the Chukchi before Shell can drill into oil-bearing zones where the company hopes to make a major new find. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Proposed freighter anchorages anger islanders
The owner of a multi-million dollar home on Gabriola Island says he’ll fight the establishment of five proposed anchorages for freighters less than a kilometre from shore all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada if he has to. “NIMBY? You bet,” said Ted Fullerton, who moved into the view home on the island near Nanaimo four years ago and worries about decreasing property values. “It’s heavy industry in my back yard. I don’t want it here and they can’t get away with it.” Susan Lazaruk reports. (The Province)

In drought, conflict emerges between fish and man
…. Government and the courts now protect “in-stream” flows for salmon, other critters, aesthetics, and more. In Washington, salmon have a special place in the calculations. Endangered Species Act listings and the treaty rights of Indian tribes make it impossible to just forget about the fish. Nevertheless, spurred by the current lack of summer water, some people are trying to forget, while others, for transparent reasons of self-interest, are steadfastly remembering. Daniel Jack Chasan reports. (Crosscut)

Warm waters bring more restrictions on salmon fishing in Tulalip
The continuing drought in Washington state has led the Department of Fish and Wildlife to put more restrictions on salmon fishing in Tulalip. Significantly fewer summer-run chinook are showing up in tribal and state hatcheries. Any salmon caught by anglers is one less fish that can be used for brood stock, said the Tulalip Tribes' Mike Crewson. Water temperatures in rivers and streams have been high for most of the summer, and now Tulalip Bay has been getting too warm for the fish, providing a barrier to migration for chinook returning to the tribes' hatchery off Tulalip Creek. Chris Winters reports. (Everett Herald) See also: B.C. drought forces closure of another fishery  Drought conditions in British Columbia have forced the closure of another fishery in the province's southern Interior. The Okanagan Nation Alliance has suspended the commercial and recreational sockeye salmon fishery on Osoyoos Lake after high water temperature led to more fish disease, infection and death.  (Canadian Press)

How To Stay Safe When The Big One Comes
For most of the past three years, I’ve worked as a book critic, which is not a job that affords me many opportunities to scare the living daylights out of my readers. (Authors, occasionally; readers, no.) But earlier this month, when a story I wrote about a dangerous fault line in the Pacific Northwest hit the newsstands, the overwhelming response was alarm. “Terrifying,” the story kept getting called; also “truly terrifying,” “incredibly terrifying,” “horrifying,” and “scary as fuck.” “Don’t read it if you want to go back to sleep,” one reader warned. “It’s hard to overhype how scary it is,” Buzzfeed said. “New Yorker scares the bejesus out of NW,” the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote. Kathryn Schuulz reports. (The New Yorker)

Little is known about bull kelp, which nearly all marine life here relies on
When bull kelp washes ashore in the fall, it's almost too tempting for any kid to leave alone. It provides a ready-made whip or, if cut right, a natural wind instrument. The slick, greenish-brown plant with a bulbous end is such a feature of the beach landscape that it's easy to take for granted. Yet little is known about its presence in the waters of north Puget Sound. Where does it grow? Is it growing back in the same places after it dies off each fall? Is it thriving or declining? Bull kelp has disappeared in parts of south and central Puget Sound, but the situation farther north is unclear. With those thoughts in mind, volunteers from Snohomish County's Marine Resources Committee paddled out in kayaks for several days in mid-July. They left from beaches in Edmonds, Meadowdale and Mukilteo to perform a first-of-its-kind survey, in collaboration with other communities around the Sound.  Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

Tacoma tideflats recycling company fined again for toxic spills
For the second time in five months, the state has fined a Tacoma recycling company for spilling toxic waste into Commencement Bay. Emerald Services, Inc., a waste-management company on the Tacoma tideflats, was fined $99,000 by the state Department of Ecology for two back-to-back spills on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 of 2014. A tank overflowed and spilled 100 gallons of “dangerous waste solvent” into the water, the department said. The spill was the result of employee error, officials said, highlighting shortcomings in training. Stacia Glenn reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Mount Polley tailings pond cleanup completes first phase
The first phase of the cleanup operation triggered by the Mount Polley tailings pond collapse has been completed. On Aug. 4, 2014, the massive dam storing tailings from the gold and copper mine gave way, spilling 24 million cubic metres of mine waste and water into nearby lakes and rivers. The phase one cleanup was meant to stabilize a creek and ensure water quality. (CBC)

You Say Striped Bass, I Say Rockfish. What's In A Fish Name?
Order a rockfish at a restaurant in Maryland, and you’ll likely get a striped bass. Place the same order in California, and you could end up with a Vermilion rockfish, a Pacific Ocean perch or one of dozens of other fish species on your plate. This jumble of names is perfectly legal. But it’s confusing to diners — and it can also hamper efforts to combat illegal fishing and seafood fraud, says the ocean conservation group Oceana. Clare Leschin-Hoar reports. (NPR)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU JUL 30 2015
TODAY
VARIABLE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 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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7/14 Pluto, T46C2, The Big One, water price, drought aid, Polley mine, 3 Crabs, small nukes

Pluto ( NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI )

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Zips by Pluto
It was like New Year’s Eve in Times Square as the countdown clock ticked down to zero. “We’re going to do our 10-9-8 thing and you can get your flags out,” S. Alan Stern, the principal investigator for NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto told the people gathered at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory here, which is operating the mission. “We’re going to go absolutely ape.” At about 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made it closest pass by Pluto, coming within 7,800 miles of the surface. Kenneth Chang reports. (New York Times)

Rescued juvenile transient whale spotted reunited with family
Researchers studying whales off the coast of B.C. have finally got the good news they've been waiting for two years — Sam, a young transient killer whale rescued in August 2013 has been reunited with his family.  The young whale, T46C2, was two years old when he was stranded in a small cove near remote Aristazabal Island in the summer of 2013 for several weeks. Scientists kept a close eye on the juvenile, hoping he would leave the bay himself. (CBC)

The Really Big One
An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when. Kathryn Schulz reports. (The New Yorker) See also: If you think New Yorker’s earthquake story is scary, better read this  (Seattle Times)

B.C. to review ‘low’ water prices after complaints about Nestlé deal
Premier Christy Clark has ordered a review of the fees charged to bottled-water companies, amid a public backlash that accused her government of being too generous with the province’s water during a summer drought. Clark said the government is rethinking the new groundwater rate structure it plans to charge companies as of Jan. 1. The decision came after more than 200,000 people signed an online petition calling the rates too low, since a company like Nestlé can bottle 265 million litres of water annually for only $596. Rob Shaw reports. (Vancouver Sun)

State grants for drought aid available from Ecology
The state Department of Ecology is accepting applications for grants for projects to relieve hardships from drought. The agency received a $16 million appropriation from the Legislature for the grants. The funds can be used over the next two years to help protect public health and safety from effects of the drought, and reduce economic or environmental impacts from water shortages, Ecology said. (Peninsula Daily News)

Mount Polley restart ignores water concerns: First Nations
The T’exelc and Xatsull First Nations say they are extremely disappointed that the B.C. government has allowed Imperial Metals to partly restart the Mount Polley mine. The First Nations contend that allowing the gold and copper mine to reopen is premature, ignores their concerns and could place their and other communities at risk. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Changing face of 3 Crabs: Neighbors object to proposed wetlands restoration project that would change road
A proposed restoration project intended to revitalize wetlands near 3 Crabs Road has angered residents living in the area. “We will be severely impacted by the proposed realignment project,” Julie Smyth, who lives in the 400 block of 3 Crabs Road, said during a public hearing Wednesday night at the Clallam County Courthouse. Smyth, 65, was nominated to speak for the 25 homeowners in her neighborhood, who have signed a letter opposing the project. Chris McDaniel reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Small nuke reactors: Search for site is planned
The Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council will begin searching for a potential manufacturing site for small modular reactors. That information came from a recent Energy Northwest blog entry. Energy Northwest is lined up to operate small modular reactors courts under a Northwest venture allied with the federal Department of Energy. The most likely manufacturing site is a half-built reactor located just north of Richland and near Energy Northwest’s sole existing reactor. John Stang reports. (Crosscut)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 224 AM PDT TUE JUL 14 2015
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 10 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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7/10 Birds at risk, BC LNG, watersheds at risk, drought, Polley mine, fish at risk, steelhead

Rufous hummingbird (Grouse Mountain Refuge)

Rufous hummingbird population in North America appears to be declining
The rufous hummingbird population in North America appears to be declining, likely because their migratory patterns are being affected by development, according to a wildlife expert on Grouse Mountain. The Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife has been studying the tiny creatures' migratory patterns and population over the past 10 years by catching them and attaching bands to their legs. (CBC) See also: Seabird population down 70 per cent around the world, say UBC researchers  Tiffany Crawford reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Ottawa says Fraser River LNG terminal requires federal environmental review
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has ruled that a proposed $175-million LNG export terminal on the Fraser River in Delta will require a federal assessment. The review is required because of the type of project and the possibility the project “may cause adverse environmental effects,” said the agency. The municipalities of Delta and Richmond and environmental groups have been calling for a federal review of the proposal by U.S.-based WesPac Midstream LLC. They remain concerned that B.C. will be granted a substitution, where a provincial review replaces the federal assessment. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Five First Nations join forces to assess environmental impact of LNG exports
Five First Nations, including two groups that support Pacific NorthWest LNG, have joined forces to assess the environmental impact of B.C. liquefied natural gas exports proposed for the Prince Rupert region. Metlakatla, Kitselas, Gitxaala, Kitsumkalum and Gitga’at are members of the newly formed Tsimshian Environmental Stewardship Authority (TESA). Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Stephen Hume: B.C. watersheds at risk, according to World Wildlife Fund report
Three of British Columbia’s four major watersheds are at high or moderate risk from the threats posed by climate change and fragmenting wildlife habitat, according to a new national report from the well-regarded World Wildlife Fund. It says the Fraser, B.C.’s largest and longest river, draining an area which by itself is larger than 38 of Europe’s countries, is at high risk overall because of pollution, habitat fragmentation and the presence of invasive species in the watershed. These risks are amplified by the impacts of climate change, habitat loss and the alteration of river flows. Stephen Hume reports. (Vancouver Sun)

As W. Wash. in 'severe drought' Seattle water supply outlook drops
Drought conditions are worsening in Western Washington as Seattle’s water supply outlook has changed from good to fair, according to Seattle Public Utilites. The Drought Monitor reports Western Washington’s drought is now considered severe.  At the start of 2015, 15 percent of the state was in a severe drought. On Wednesday, the state was at 86 percent. (KIRO)

Nanaimo, Parksville move to level 4 water restrictions with extreme drought conditions
A popular B.C. seaside tourist zone is so drought-stricken that faces the toughest water restrictions levied in B.C.so far. City officials say if people continue to water and powerwash at the current rate, Parksville and Nanaimo will run out of water…. The new restrictions affect Parksville and the District of Nanaimo — but not the city of Nanaimo which remains at Level 2 on the province's drought measurement system. The area relies on local rivers, which were already low because of a reduced snow pack. (CBC)

B.C. gives restricted OK for Mount Polley mine to reopen after tailings spill disaster
The British Columbia government has issued a conditional permit allowing the Mount Polley mine to reopen, but with restrictions. Mines Minister Bill Bennett said Thursday the permit is the first of three steps the mine must take before it can be authorized to operate fully. He said Mount Polley Mine Corp. must submit a long-term water treatment and discharge plan to the government by next June. (Canadian Press)

Record Heat Producing Deadly Conditions For Fish
Drought and record hot weather are producing lethal conditions for salmon and trout in rivers across the West. A recent survey released Wednesday of the lower reaches of 54 rivers in Oregon, California and Washington by the conservation group Wild Fish Conservancy showed nearly three-quarters had temperatures higher than 70 degrees, considered potentially deadly for salmon and trout. Jeff Barnard reports. (Associated Press) See also: Protections being taken to save fish from heat   Fishery managers are taking unprecedented steps to protect fish from potentially lethal conditions caused by the drought this summer. Amy Nile and Chris Winters report. (Everett Herald)

State to stop hatchery steelhead release in some Puget Sound streams, seeks public input
State fisheries managers are considering which streams in the Puget Sound region to use as wild steelhead management zones, meaning no hatchery fish would be released in those streams in an effort to conserve wild fish, according to a news release. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife will designate at least one wild steelhead management zone, or gene bank, in three Puget Sound regions, including North Puget Sound. Streams in the Skagit, Samish and Sauk watersheds are among those that may be considered. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 306 AM PDT FRI JUL 10 2015
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 18 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG IN THE
 MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 2 FT AT 17 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG
 AFTER MIDNIGHT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SAT
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. SW SWELL 2 FT AT 16 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG IN THE MORNING. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 2 FT AT 15 SECONDS.
SUN
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 2 FT AT 14 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

Follow on Twitter.

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6/4 House move, pit-to-pier, Navy orcas, oil future, Shell drill, bad pipe, Ocean Modeling, whale hunt

House move (KOMO)

If you like to watch: Mansion on the move: $3.5M house barged to Bainbridge
Matt and Mary Rain are making a monstrous move -- a 500-ton move, to be exact. The Bainbridge Island couple bought a 1923 Madison Park Mansion that they call their "rescue home" and they barged it to Bainbridge…. Crews from Nickels Brother Industrial Movers spent the past two and half months preparing the house for the giant trek across Lake Washington, through the Ballard Locks and across the Puget Sound. They tunneled under concrete and put three layers of criss cross steel and more than a dozen dollies under the home to lift it onto a barge…. The house, valued at $3.5 million with its granite kitchen floors and counter tops, will cost the new owners a minimum of $750,000 to buy and move. They wanted a home made a recycled materials like their last dream house. Elisa Jaffe reports. (KOMO)

Pit-to-pier claims against state dismissed; Developer plans to appeal superior court decision
A Kitsap County judge has dismissed with prejudice all claims made against the state by the developer of the controversial pit-to-pier project along Hood Canal. That developer – Hood Canal Sand and Gravel – is not giving up its fight to nullify an easement granted by the state Department of Natural Resources to the U.S. Navy for tidelands along the Hood Canal shoreline, which has effectively blocked its plan to build a pier for loading gravel onto barges for shipment to local and international markets. “We're going to be appealing the decision,” said Dan Baskins, project manager for developer Hood Canal Sand and Gravel's Thorndyke Resource Operation Complex, also known as T-ROC. Nicholas Johnson reports. (Port Townsend Leader)

Navy halts live-fire exercise to avoid harming whales
The Canadian navy halted a live-fire explosives exercise near Nanoose Bay on Wednesday after a whale-watching crew warned that a pod of orcas was arriving in the area. J-pod, which includes three calves less than a year old, was heading south of Qualicum and into the path of the active military exercise in the Strait of Georgia off Nanoose Bay, said Dan Kukat, owner of SpringTide Whale Watching…. A similar incident happened in July 2014, when the Canadian Forces suspended an explosives exercise near Bentinck Island after a whale-watching company alerted them to approaching orcas. Bentinck Island, near Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, is used by the military as a demolition range and test site for explosives. Katie Derosa reports. (Times Colonist)

Sorry environmentalists, the Pacific Northwest is likely the next big hub for oil and gas
The Pacific Northwest has traditionally prided itself on environmental leadership and clean energy, but radical changes in the oil and gas industry could mean the region will become the next major hub for oil and gas production. That's primarily because of our proximity to Asia. With its growing population and increasing demand for fossil fuels, the Pacific Northwest coast is the easiest way to get coal, oil and gas from North America to Asia. Sarah Aitchison reports. (Puget Sound Business Journal)

Shell Oil’s Arctic rig permit hearing set for July 23
A hearing has been set for July 23 for the Port of Seattle and Foss Maritime’s appeal to the City of Seattle’s interpretation that the port needs a new permit to host Shell’s Oil’s rig Polar Pioneer. Representatives from all parties attended a prehearing conference Wednesday with deputy hearing examiner Anne Watanabe to discuss the timeline and to estimate how much time the parties will need for witness testimony. Coral Garnick reports. (Seattle Times)

Pipeline that spilled oil on California coast badly corroded
A pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated 101,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara last month occurred along a badly corroded section that had worn away to a fraction of an inch in thickness, federal regulators disclosed Wednesday. The preliminary findings released by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration point to a possible cause of the May 19 spill that blackened popular beaches and created a 9-mile slick in the Pacific Ocean. Michael R. Blood and Brian Melley report. (Associated Press)

Ocean Modeling Forum to bring human element to herring fishery, others
Similar to how hurricane forecasters combine all projected paths of the storm to predict landfall, a new group aims to take the most useful science and perspectives to gauge how the world’s oceans should be best managed. The Ocean Modeling Forum, a collaboration between the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries, is trying something very rare — bringing together multiple science models and people who care about a particular ocean resource or fishery to decide what’s most important for its vitality and the communities it serves. Michelle Ma reports. (UW Today)

Public comment period for Makah whaling request is extended to July 31
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service has extended to July 31 the period for public comment on the Makah tribe's request to resume whaling. The opportunity to comment on the draft environmental impact statement had been scheduled to close June 11. Anti-whaling activists — who included Chuck and Margaret Owens of Joyce and D.J. Schubert of the Animal Welfare Institute of Washington, D.C. — had urged at an April 29 public meeting in Port Angeles that they be given more time to file objections to the tribe's request for a waiver from the Marine Mammal Protection Act. James Casey reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 243 AM PDT THU JUN 4 2015
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING NW 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 17 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 4 FT AT 16 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

Follow on Twitter.

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6/3 L121, oil train, Shell drill, octopus, herring, poaching, BC mine ponds, rain gardens, septics

L-121 (Marcie Callewaert/Victoria Marine Science Association)

Killer whale baby boom: 4th calf spotted near Tofino
Whale watchers on Canada's West Coast are celebrating the confirmed sighting of a fourth killer whale calf born to the endangered southern resident population this year. The calf, named L-121, was spotted on June 1 with L-Pod near Cox Beach south of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The sighting was welcome news, because L-Pod lost one calf and a three-year-old female in recent years, and L-121, which was first spotted in February, wasn't seen the last time the pod was observed off the coast of Oregon by NOAA Fisheries scientists....  After years of population decline, the recent sighting combined with three other calves born to J-Pod this spring, puts the population of wild southern resident orcas at 81. (CBC) See also: Fake Baby Orca Joins Astoria's Sea Lion Scare Event Thursday  Lizzy Duffy reports. (KUOW)

Shell v. Skagit; Court Rules The Public Is Entitled To More Information About Oil Train Transport
Shell Oil didn’t get far last week in its effort to head off a study of Bakken oil transport in the Skagit Valley. Its lawsuit rolled backward down a legal slope, like the unattended oil train that blew up in Quebec in 2013. Nobody got hurt when the rhetorical brakes failed in Skagit County Superior Court last week. The world’s second-biggest oil company (or biggest, depending on how you measure it) emerged with smudges on its corporate profile. There may have been some gains in people’s right to know the hazards of living in the midst of a frantic rush to extract and sell fossil fuel. A lawsuit filed by Shell over Skagit County’s plans to conduct an environmental impact statement on Shell’s proposed unloading oil facility in Anacortes was dismissed on Thursday by a Skagit County Superior Court judge. Bob Simmons reports. (Cascadia Weekly) Event: Oil Trains in Anacortes. Depot Arts Center, Wednesday, June 3 - 7:00pm  Eric De Place, Sightline Institute, will speak on the costs and consequences of increased oil train traffic for the city of Anacortes and the larger regional picture of the Northwest grappling with an unprecedented influx of coal, oil, and gas export schemes.

Railroad And Oil Refineries Sign Mutual Aid Agreement To Respond To Accidents
BNSF Railway and oil refineries in Washington are teaming up to better respond to accidents.  The railroad and BP Cherry Point, Phillips 66, Shell Oil Products US, Tesoro Companies and U.S. Oil Refining Company have all signed the agreement. But, environmentalists say it doesn't address safety problems with oil trains. Courtney Wallace, spokeswoman for BNSF Railway, says the mutual aid agreement formalizes what the railroads and refineries have already been doing informally. Paula Wissel reports. (KPLU)

New blog: Let’s Talk About Sex For A Change
How about that Bruce Jenner? Makes that trans-sex transformation to female and gets the exclusive and the cover of Vanity Fair which is then picked up by every major and minor news outlet in the world. Reminds me of the time a few years back when the ribbed Mediterranean limpet (Patella ferruginea) was found to be able to change its sex from male to female and back again…

Enviros Suing Shell Over Arctic Drilling Leases, 2015 Exploration Plans
Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic prospecting plans have sparked two new lawsuits. An alliance of environmental and Alaska-based community groups is challenging the sale of leases in the Chukchi Sea. The second suit takes issue with Shell’s exploration plan, which was recently approved by a federal agency. Eric Grafe is with Earthjustice, which filed the suit against Shell’s Arctic exploration plan in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Grafe is representing ten other groups, including the Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Octopus relationship 'expands the moral universe,' says researcher Sy Montgomery
Sy Montgomery spent three years getting to know octopuses at the New England Aquarium. Little did she know her time with the animals would change the way she lives and sees the world. The author and naturalist, who has written about the experience in her new book The Soul of An Octopus, is in Vancouver for a talk at the Vancouver Aquarium. (CBC)

Why Is Herring So Hard to Find?
When Lexi, who owns Old Ballard Liquor Co. and goes by only her first name, was a kid growing up in the 1970s, herring was abundant in Seattle. She remembers when you could pull it out of Puget Sound yourself and grill it over a beach fire. But when she tried to find fresh herring to serve at her Nordic-inspired pop-up restaurant, Tumble Swede, earlier this year, she was surprised to find that it was nearly impossible. "I had to hunt high and low to try to find herring for the restaurant," said Lexi. "It was super frustrating. People assume that it's around, but it's not." Tobias Coughlin-Bogue reports. (The Stranger)

Poach Fish, Get Caught, Keep Your License
Get caught poaching fish one too many times in Northwest waters and you’re likely to lose your sport fishing license. Do the same under a commercial license, on a much larger scale, and you’ll likely avoid the same fate. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has suspended thousands of recreational fishing licenses since 2003 because of rule violations, according to agency data. It has revoked zero licenses for commercial fishing violations since then. They’re almost as uncommon in Oregon. Tony Schick reports. (EarthFix)

B.C. mine tailings ponds pose serious risk to water sources: report
Thousands of kilometres of salmon-rich waterways and the drinking water of hundreds of communities in central and Northern British Columbia are at risk of mining-related environmental disasters, a new report warns. The survey from the BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council is being released just ahead of a decision by the provincial government on the application to restart the Mount Polley gold and copper mine after the catastrophic tailings pond collapse last August that spilled 10 million cubic metres of contaminated water into the waterways below. Justine Hunter reports. (Globe and Mail)

New Fund Will Help More Seattle Residents Build Rain Gardens
Seattle’s RainWise rain garden program is spreading green stormwater solutions across the city, but the rebate program has been out of reach for some homeowners with more modest incomes. While RainWise offers generous reimbursements—$4,600 on average for the installation of rain gardens and cisterns—the homeowner has to pay for the work upfront, then wait up to two months for the program to pay them back. It’s an expense that not everyone can shoulder. A new financial program called the Green Infrastructure Rebate Advance Fund (GIRAF) should remove that hurdle by bridging the payment gap. Lisa Stiffler reports. (Sightline)

County slowly cracks down on septic systems polluting local beaches
When Rhoni Grimshaw and her husband rented a home on outer Quartermaster Harbor a year and a half ago, they were happy to find a place on the water and didn’t think much about the home’s sewage. But now, according to Grimshaw, they’ve moved out because they could no longer handle a septic system they found to be unpermitted and smelly…. Public health officials say the situation at Grimshaw’s rental is not uncommon on Vashon. And though Grimshaw’s main concern was the smell, King County is slowly but surely cracking down on old and ineffective septic systems on Vashon because of the pollution they send into the water. Recently there’s been a special emphasis on the 5-mile stretch of beach where Grimshaw lives, a highly polluted shoreline on southern Vashon Island that the county hopes can be opened to shellfishing if enough homeowners fix their systems. A similar effort is planned next for the Spring Beach neighborhood. Natalie Martin reports. (Vashon Beachcomber)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 243 AM PDT WED JUN 3 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SCATTERED SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SW 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

Follow on Twitter.

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