12/1 Dolphins, chinook closure, Whale Scout, Salish Sea Studies, clean energy, Gorge spill

Short-beaked common dolphin (Vancouver Sun)

New species of dolphin to B.C. waters shows up alive for the first time
A species of dolphin has been discovered in B.C. waters for the first time — alive. Two small schools of short-beaked common dolphins have been confirmed about 75 kilometres off southwestern Vancouver Island. The only prior record of the species on the west coast of Canada has been three dead animals found over a period of more than 60 years. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Impact of catch-and-release on salmon causes early closure
Fisheries managers are concerned about the impact catch-and-release is having on endangered chinook salmon and have closed salmon fishing two months early in the central Puget Sound. (Associated Press)

Local nonprofit works to spot, and save, orcas
It’s that time of year — the whales are back. Starting in the fall, southern resident killer whales can be spotted in our neck of Puget Sound. Whale watching tours that let customers go out on a boat to see whales up close are popular, but there’s another option. Next time you’re on the beach, keep an eye for a Whale Scout. Whale Scout is a program started by Whitney Neugebauer of Bothell. Whale Scout volunteer naturalists go out to beaches on the Sound to educate people and help them spot whales. Naturalists send alerts to people on social media when they’re going out, and to those who have signed up for text notifications. Emily Hamann reports. (Woodinville Weekly)

Western Establishes New Salish Sea Studies Institute
Western Washington University’s Provost Council in November approved the establishment of the University’s new Salish Sea Studies Institute, an interdisciplinary center for collaboration, education, research and community involvement focused on the health of the Salish Sea and its environs – the body of water encompassing the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca…. The institute will be led initially by a leadership team of retired Western faculty member and “Father of the Salish Sea,” Bert Webber; Wayne Landis, director of Western‘s Institute for Environmental Toxicology and a professor of Environmental Science; and Brian Burton, Western’s associate vice president for Academic Affairs. (Western Today)

Bill Gates lays out vision for clean energy at Paris climate conference
In the kickoff to the historic summit, Bill Gates unveiled a new role as a global recruiter for billionaires willing to push clean-energy ideas out of the lab and into the marketplace. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Columbia Basin breaking records for returning fall chinook salmon
This year has seen the second largest count of salmon returning to the Columbia River in 80 years, which regulators attribute to efforts at restoring fish habitat George Plaven reports. (East Oregonian)

Esquimalt crews try to contain spill in Gorge
Esquimalt workers responded to what was described as a petrochemical spill Monday in the Gorge waterway, near the foot of Sioux Place and Kinsmen Gorge Park. The type and volume of the substance involved are not yet known. Workers noticed the spill at 9:30 a.m. Booms and absorbent tiles are being used to help contain the spill, and efforts are being made to find the source. Jeff Bell reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 310 AM PST TUE DEC 1 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING S AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS. RAIN.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/2 Galloping Gertie, whale-watch boat, Vic sewer, green chemicals, Triangle Cove, Hood Canal awards

Galloping Gertie (Tacoma Public Library/News Tribune)

The man blamed for the fall of Tacoma’s Galloping Gertie
On the day the first bridge over Puget Sound collapsed 75 years ago this week, a mixed-breed cocker spaniel named Tubby was the only life lost with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in what now is known as one of history’s most spectacular engineering failures. Photos and film of the last moments of Galloping Gertie are iconic to this day. The bridge’s fall on the windy morning of Nov. 7, 1940, is still taught in schools. It is regarded as the birthing event of the field of wind engineering in building design. Derrick Nunnally reports. (Tacoma News Tribune) See also:  Video: Galloping Gertie's collapse is an enduring Tacoma narrative  (Tacoma News Tribune) And also: Black and blue and lucky to be alive, the last person to escape Galloping Gertie tells his story  Howard Clifford recalls. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Tofino whale-watching vessel had passed stability test: Transport Canada
The whale-watching ship that capsized off British Columbia’s coast, killing five people, passed a stability test after an observation deck was added when it was converted from a tugboat, Transport Canada said Thursday. MV Leviathan II, originally built in 1981, was once a forest-industry tug and was lengthened and had a deck added 15 years later for the whale-watching industry. “The owner prepared a stability assessment, including an incline experiment, at that time. Transport Canada approved this work and certified the vessel,” said a Transport Canada statement. The ship capsized on Sunday with 27 people on board, about 15 kilometres from the tourist community of Tofino, which is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Dirk Meissner reports. (Canadian Press)

Victoria mayor muses on combining casino, sewage plant
It could give a whole new meaning to a royal flush. Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps has mused publicly about the possibility of combining a casino with a new regional sewage treatment plant. The B.C. Lottery Corporation is considering a second casino closer to downtown Victoria than the existing one in View Royal and has asked six communities — Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Oak Bay and the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations — if they would host a casino smaller than View Royal’s. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

After 25 Years Of Pollution Prevention, Wash. State Working Toward Greener Chemicals
It has been 25 years since the federal government passed the Pollution Prevention Act. The 1990 law is credited with reducing industrial waste by as much as 60 percent since it was enacted, by getting companies and governments to look upstream at what goes into the manufacturing process and stopping pollution at the source. But the effectiveness of that approach appears to have limits. With many toxic chemicals remaining, especially in consumer products, additional strategies are needed. And that’s where states come in. Washington is considered a pioneer. Ken Zarker, a section manager for pollution prevention with the State Department of Ecology,  says Washington has 8 or 9 laws on the books that are looked to by experts as model legislation for the reduction of toxic chemicals. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Margaret Atwood's tweet 'spooks' Surrey truck parking lot proposal
Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood has tweeted out a spooky warning to sign a petition against a semi-truck parking lot in Surrey or be haunted by her "in the form of a dead salmon." … The outspoken author is the latest critic of the 77-acre parking lot for big rigs that critics say jeopardizes a nearby salmon hatchery. (CBC)

Camano Island 3-year watershed improvement project a winner
A three-year project to clean up the Triangle Cove watershed brought hundreds of property owners together for lessons on protecting their water supply. As grant funding for the work comes to an end, organizers say results have exceeded expectations. The Snohomish Conservation District and Island County Public Health received a $400,000 Pollution and Identification Correction grant to improve water quality in Triangle Cove, specifically dealing with bacteria, oxygen levels and acidity. Work started in 2013 and the grant is up at the end of this year. Kari Bray reports. (Everett Herald)

Hood Canal council names winners of environmental awards
Beards Cove Community Organization and Newberry Hill Heritage Park Stewards are this year’s winners of the Hood Canal Environmental Achievement Awards. The awards, sponsored by the Hood Canal Coordinating Council, recognize people and groups that have taken actions and fostered relationships to improve the health of the Hood Canal environment. Chris Dunagan writes. (Watching Our Water Ways)

State committee approves new geographic names
The Washington State Committee on Geographic Names has approved new names for geographic features in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Pierce counties. At its regular semi-annual meeting this past week, the committee approved proposals from Washington residents to officially designate three previously unnamed geographic features in the state. Their selections will go before the Board of Natural Resources for a final decision at one of its regular public meetings. (Associated Press)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST MON NOV 2 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST TODAY
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 11 FT AT 13 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
NW WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING N AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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9/9 Toxic oil, BC pipe redo, Pete Haase, NW glaciers, Seattle hills, counting fish

Purple Martin and meal (Laurie MacBride)

If you like to watch: Here be Dragons Delish!
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "I love dragonflies – and so, apparently, do Purple Martins. But not in quite the same way as me. At each marina we visited this summer we saw and heard Purple Martins, busy raising their next generation. From the early hours until almost dark, we’d hear the melodious voices of these oversized swallows – their lovely, almost metallic song that reminds me of the twang of halyards against aluminum masts (appropriate for birds that spend their summers hanging around boats)….

Low levels of oil pollution harm herring, salmon, study finds
Federal scientists based in Seattle and Alaska have found that oil — by impairing heart functions — can cause serious harm to herring and pink salmon at far lower concentrations than previously documented. The research, published Tuesday online in Nature’s Scientific Reports, could help unravel the mystery of why herring stocks in Prince William Sound collapsed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Their work also has implications about the effects of low levels of chronic oil pollution in Puget Sound and elsewhere in the world. “What this study shows is that in very, very low concentration of oil, embryonic fish … get born with a mild heart defect,” said John Incardona, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration toxicologist at a Seattle fisheries science center. He is one of 10 co-authors of the study. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

First Nation, Burnaby seek complete redo on Trans Mountain pipeline review
The Squamish First Nation and the City of Burnaby are urging the federal regulator reviewing Kinder Morgan’s proposed $5.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline to strike a new panel. They made the request to the National Energy Board last week, shortly after the panel heading up an environmental and economic assessment halted the review because a consultant who prepared evidence in favour of the pipeline had been appointed to work for the regulator. While the consultant’s evidence has been struck from the review and Kinder Morgan will provide new evidence on the project’s economic benefits, that does not erase that evidence from the minds of the panel members or cure the perception that the impartiality of the board has been compromised, said lawyer Aaron Bruce in a letter to the NEB on behalf of the Squamish Nation. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Avid volunteer from Bow gets regional recognition
Avid volunteer and citizen scientist Pete Haase sees himself as just one of many, something like a soldier in an army working for a healthier Puget Sound. The Bow resident wouldn’t call himself a hero, but RE Sources for Sustainable Communities does. The Bellingham-based nonprofit has chosen Haase as one of its five environmental heroes of the year. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

‘Disastrous’: Low snow, heat eat away at Northwest glaciers
Glaciers across the North Cascades could lose 5 to 10 percent of their volume this year, accelerating decades of steady decline. One scientist estimates the region’s glaciers are smaller than they have been in at least 4,000 years. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

‘Too High & Too Steep’: When Seattle’s hills came falling down
David B. Williams’ new book, “Too High & Too Steep,” chronicles the massive changes wrought on the Seattle landscape in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Williams will discuss his book Sept. 9 at the University Book Store, and at other locations around Seattle. Michael Upchurch reviews. (Seattle Times)

In California's Protected Waters, Counting Fish Without Getting Wet
Using divers to monitor whether life is returning to the 100 or so marine protected areas is pricey. Now, advances in DNA sequencing mean scientists just need a seawater sample to do a marine census. (KQED/NPR)

Now, your tug weather--
 WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED SEP 9 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 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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8/19 Hazel Wolf, sewage, citizen scientist, tanker ban, coal port, rewilding, Blob-Godzilla, crab closure, quakes, gulls

Brown creeper (Mike Hamilton/BirdNote)

Hazel Wolf
The writer Paul Bowles said, “Nothing just happens. It depends on who comes along.” For the Audubon Society in Washington State, that “who” was Hazel Wolf. She was a labor activist, environmental campaigner, and life-long champion of causes she believed in. From 1969 until 1997, Hazel Wolf organized Audubon chapters throughout the Pacific Northwest. She made a difference for birds including her favorite, the Brown Creeper, because someone had made a difference for her. It was a calling, though, that nearly didn’t happen... (BirdNote)

Department of Ecology honors Vashon wastewater plant
The Vashon Wastewater Treatment Plant is perfect — according to the performance requirements of the State Department of Ecology (DOE), that is. The plant is one of 127 such operations throughout the state recently recognized for perfect performance by the DOE. The plant passed all environmental tests, analyzed all samples, turned in all state-required reports and avoided permit violations during 2014. It is the first time the plant has been recognized for such an award. Craig Groshart reports. (Vashon Beachcomber0

Sewage treatment: Victoria’s constipated political process needs fixing
The Seattle Times editorial board asks: "Despite decades of ridicule and protest, Victoria continues the foul practice of treating the Puget Sound like a toilet bowl. What will it take, Oh Canada, to bring your sewage treatment into the 20th century?"

New blog: Citizen Scientists – Are They For Real?
Guest blogger Pete Haase writes: "Nowadays, in this business of volunteering in the environmental community around Puget Sound, I see citizen scientists behind every tree and on very beach…. I’m one.  I know this because several “real” scientists have told me so and thanked me for being one!…"

Greens push for supertanker ban on B.C. coast, stronger environmental laws
The federal Green party says Canada needs stronger environmental assessment laws to help defend coastal communities from risky pipeline and tanker schemes. The party also wants a legislated ban on supertankers on British Columbia's coast and a moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. (Canadian Press)

Montana officials praise Cherry Point coal port plan
Congressional and business leaders from Montana shrugged off the concerns of environmentalists and praised a coal terminal proposed for Cherry Point. This was no surprise, as coal is an $80 million a year business in Montana, according to U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican and Montana’s only House member. No state has more coal in the ground than Montana, the officials said. Zinke and representatives of the Montana Farm Bureau and Montana Chamber of Commerce met with reporters on Tuesday, Aug. 18, after touring the site of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Burrard Inlet restoration boosts Seymour River salmon returns
Salmon numbers in the Burrard Inlet are improving, with the help of a so-called rewilding project put in place following an oil spill in Burnaby, B.C. in 2007, according to a North Shore environmental group. "On the pink salmon I would say the returns are 50 per cent better this year than what we saw two years ago," said Shaun Hollingsworth, president of the Seymour Salmonid Society.  He said he believes the numbers of salmon on the Seymour River have improved in part because of the work being done by the Burrard Inlet Restoration Program. (CBC)

Blob-Godzilla combo to affect B.C. coast weather
What will happen when “the blob” meets “Godzilla” off the coast of the Pacific Northwest this year? The question might sound like science fiction, but B.C. scientists are watching closely. Experts forecast this year could bring one of the most intense El Niño events in recorded history, of such strength that some scientists recently dubbed it the “Godzilla El Niño.” The El Niño is expected to bring another warm, dry winter to southern B.C., and experts are watching to see how it combines with a warm-water phenomenon called “the blob” already being observed off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. John Colebourn and Dan Fumano report. (The Province)

Drought prompts more rule changes for region’s rivers
Drought conditions have prompted changes to rules on 60 rivers and streams in the state. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced changes this week for some dredging and plant removal activities. The changes prohibit or restrict suction dredging for gold and the removing aquatic plants using machinery. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Emergency closure of Dungeness crab fishery in Olympic National Park’s coastal section
To protect people from severe health impacts, fishing for Dungeness crab along the coastal strip of Olympic National Park is closed, effective at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19…. This emergency closure is designed to protect human health, as levels of the marine toxin domoic acid have exceed health standards in Dungeness crabs along the Washington coast. (Peninsula Daily News)

Cascadia fault chatters and pops with little quakes
Initial results from a program to monitor the Cascadia Subduction Zone in unprecedented detail show that the fault off the Northwest coast isn’t as seismically quiet as it has long appeared. Seafloor seismometers deployed as part of the National Science Foundation’s Cascadia Initiative detected nearly 600 small earthquakes off central Oregon during their first year of operation — quakes that didn’t register on any land-based instruments. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Gull darn it! – Lots of seabirds, lots of guano
The problem with gulls in Port Townsend. John Boone reports. (Port Townsend Leader)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED AUG 19 2015
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

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