5/5 GiveBIG, PS Starts Here, clingfish, sea star disease, Shell drill, FHL pix, Cherry Point, Padden Cr., Fraser coal

Today, GiveBIG
The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG is a one-day, online charitable giving event to inspire people to give generously to nonprofit organizations who make our region a healthier and more vital place to live. The people behind these organizations, those who work tirelessly to improve the lives of everyone in Greater Seattle, are champions. GiveBIG is a day to support their championship-worthy work. Donate today

New blog: Whither Puget Sound Starts Here?
Governor Inslee proclaims the month of May as Puget Sound Starts Here month. The Puget Sound Partnership laments that, due to funding cuts, Puget Sound Starts Here needs to find another home. Do you care?….

Puget Sound’s clingfish could inspire better medical devices, whale tags
Scooting around in the shallow, coastal waters of Puget Sound is one of the world’s best suction cups. It’s called the Northern clingfish, and its small, finger-sized body uses suction forces to hold up to 150 times its own body weight. These fish actually hold on better to rough surfaces than to smooth ones, putting to shame industrial suction devices that give way with the slightest uneven surface. Michelle Ma reports. (UW Today)

Sea star wasting syndrome may have spread to Haida Gwaii
A disease that causes sea stars to fall apart may have spread to Haida Gwaii. If confirmed, this will be the first time sea star wasting disease would have been found in northern B.C. waters. The condition has killed millions of the marine creatures from California to Vancouver. Aggie Cangardel, a marine biologist for the Council of the Haida Nation, says scientists believe they have found it off the coast of Haida Gwaii. (CBC)

Mayor blocks lease, says Port of Seattle must get new permits to host Shell Oil
The Port of Seattle will have to apply for new permits in order for Shell Oil to use Terminal 5 to stage oil rigs. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray made the announcement to a roar of applause at the Climate Solutions annual breakfast Monday morning. “We need not continue with the past. It’s time to turn the page. Things like oil trains, coal trains and oil drilling rigs are the past,” he said. “If it was up to me, there would be no place for Arctic offshore oil drilling equipment in Seattle.” Steve Wilhelm reports. (Puget Sound Business Journal)

If you like to watch: The Friday Harbor Labs Image Gallery
Enjoy amazing photos of organisms and researchers from the Salish Sea region and around the world. We want to continue to update this gallery with new photos of FHL classes, research and marine plants and animals.... This image gallery is maintained by the UW Friday Harbor Laboratories as a resource for teachers and students at all levels and stages of their education. The images are being provided by scientists at FHL, and can be used free of charge for all non-profit purposes including lectures, reports, etc. Any for-profit use or publication of these images is prohibited without prior consent of the photographer.

Proponent of Cherry Point coal port prepares response to Lummi opposition
The company that would build a coal terminal at Cherry Point has until May 10 to respond to Lummi Nation’s request to reject the terminal. SSA Marine received a letter April 10 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking for the company’s response, along with copies of information the tribe originally sent to the Corps to support its Jan. 5 request that the agency refuse to grant a permit for the terminal. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Padden Creek project will remove tunnel that’s a barrier to migrating fish
For more than 120 years, a nearly half-mile section of Padden Creek between 22nd and 17th streets has been forced through a tunnel away and hidden from the sun. It’s believed that part of the creek, located off what is now Old Fairhaven Parkway, was routed through the tunnel in 1892 to help drain wetlands in part of Happy Valley so a train station could be built for Great Northern Railroad. That’s where the creek has been since. Now, the city of Bellingham will remove 2,300 feet of the creek from the 8-foot-tall and 4-foot-wide tunnel and return it to a more natural state in a $2.8 million “daylighting” project. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Fraser River port considers Panamax coal shipments
Fraser Surrey Docks is considering shipping coal directly from its planned transfer terminal on large ocean-going vessels rather than sending it by barge to Texada Island. The change of plans would cut the number of vessels brimming with U.S. thermal coal and navigating local waters, but the company would have to amend its permit and is asking for public feedback. The amendment would see as many as 80 Panamax-size vessels leave the docks annually. Each would carry about four trainloads of coal in a closed hatch. There would be no change in the total amount of coal — about four million metric tonnes annually — that would be shipped from the site. The company’s current permit allows for up to 640 loaded barges per year — nearly two per day. Matt Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE MAY 5 2015
TODAY
SW WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF TSTMS.
TONIGHT
NW WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 7 FT
 AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.
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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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5/4 Jelly blooms, shellfish spray, sea star babies, Simpson exit, oil train rules, Shell protest, BC LNG, sea lab

Moon jellyfish (Dept of Ecology/Seattle Times)

Prime fish give way to hordes of jellyfish in Puget Sound
Correigh Greene hauled the dripping, black net over the stern of the RV Orca and dumped its meager contents into a blue plastic tub: Five fingerling surf smelt, one juvenile herring, a few nickel-sized jellyfish and a handful of assorted larvae. Paltry catches aren’t unusual on cool, April days, explained Greene, a fisheries biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle…. Late last May, in this same spot near Deception Pass State Park, Greene and his crew hauled up a net so heavy they couldn’t winch it up on deck. But the contents didn’t speak well for the health of the ecosystem. Instead of the plump herring and smelt that used to be the dominant forage fish in Puget Sound, the net was bristling with 40,000 sticklebacks — bony, armored fish that seem to be on the upswing. In some parts of the Sound, the researchers’ nets are often crammed with jellyfish — another sign of a shift toward a less-productive environment. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Washington State Officials Withdraw Shellfish Spray Permit
Washington's Department of Ecology has canceled a permit to spray pesticides over shellfish beds in two areas, officials said Sunday. The decision to halt the practice in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor is part of an agreement between the local oyster growers association and the state. The growers association submitted a letter to the Department of Ecology on Sunday, after environmental concerns were raised in news coverage. The department reported hearing from residents across Washington state that the practice did not meet their expectations. (ABC News) See also:  Shellfish producer backs away from pesticide spraying
After receiving calls, emails and social-media comments from customers all day Friday, Washington’s largest shellfish producer has announced it will not treat its oyster beds with a controversial pesticide. “Our customers spoke loud and clear today, and that speaks volumes to us,” Bill Dewey, spokesman for Taylor Shellfish, said Friday.  Carol Garnick reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Oyster pesticide battle shows who really wields power   A couple of chefs accomplished in a few days what two powerful federal agencies couldn’t do in more than a year: head off the plan to spray pesticides on oyster beds. Danny Westneat reports. (Seattle Times)

New sea star babies offer hope amid mass deaths in Pacific
In scattered sites along the Pacific Coast, researchers and others have reported seeing hundreds of juvenile sea stars, buoying hopes for a potential comeback from sea star wasting disease that has caused millions of purple, red and orange sea stars to curl up, grow lesions, lose limbs and disintegrate into a pile of goo. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

Simpson pulling up stakes is painful
Shelton was always a company town. For most of the 20th century, Simpson Timber Co.’s logging and mill operations were synonymous with the city’s industrial waterfront and the forest economy of rural Mason County. That era is over now, and this week Mason County’s struggling economy got another clear, urgent message. It needs to diversify, or reinvent its economic identity, and its workforce needs retraining opportunities. Some 270 jobs at Simpson’s mills in Shelton and Dayton are going away by June 30 as Simpson sells those operations to a Northern California firm, Sierra Pacific Industries. (Olympian)

Fish biologist piggy backs on other research as he seeks answers on coastal cutthroat trout
Most days this time of year, James Losee is working on salmon or steelhead projects for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. But when he can, the state fish biologist slips on his waders and life jacket, and joins the crew using a beach seine net to capture smelt along South Sound beaches. Losee’s interest is not the forage fish that are the focus of a Fish and Wildlife research project. It’s the larger fish also caught as the net is brought to shore. Jeffrey P. Mayor reports. (News Tribune of Tacoma)

New oil-train rules leave a lot of questions unanswered
The U.S. and Canadian governments on Friday unveiled a long-awaited new standard for the tank cars used to transport crude oil and ethanol that includes numerous safety improvements. But it is far from the final word on efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic derailments, such as the one that killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, nearly two years ago. And industry and environmental groups are bracing for a court fight over portions of the new regulations that they don’t like. Most of the current tank car fleet that doesn’t meet the new requirements will be allowed to carry ethanol and some types of crude oil for eight more years. Environmental groups and some lawmakers objected Friday to the extended timeline. Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy)

Did You Like Knowing Where Oil Trains Moved In the Northwest? Too Bad.
Northwest emergency responders have complained about receiving little information about oil train movement through their community. They’re about to get even less. A set of new rules for oil train safety announced Friday includes mandates for tank car design, upgraded brakes and lower speed limits. The federal Department of Transportation also used it to rescind a requirement it issued last year requiring railroads notify states about shipments of flammable crude. Tony Schick reports. (KUOW) See also: State lawmakers call newly released rail-safety rules inadequate  Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald) See also: Washington Fire Chiefs seek BNSF info for disaster planning   Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Kayakers prep for oil-drilling protests in West Seattle  
Judging from the water-safety preparations and drills off Seacrest Park in West Seattle, kayakers are ready for their upcoming mission to protest Shell oil rigs drilling in the Arctic. On Sunday, approximately 19 advanced kayakers learned self-rescue techniques and how to assist when a kayak capsizes in anticipation of the upcoming flotilla protest May 16 in Elliott Bay. Through the Shell No! Action Council, hundreds of kayakers will join forces to oppose the Port of Seattle’s decision to allow Terminal 5 to be used as a staging area for Arctic drilling. (Seattle Times)

'Game changer': Gas company offers $1-billion to First Nations band in B.C.
The proponent of a liquefied natural gas plant on British Columbia’s north coast is offering more than $1-billion to obtain the consent of a First Nations community, a groundbreaking proposal that could establish the new price for natural resource development in traditional aboriginal territories. In a province where resource projects have stalled and sometimes foundered over aboriginal opposition, the tentative deal between the Prince Rupert-based Lax Kw’alaams band and a joint venture led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas sets a new benchmark for sharing the wealth from energy extraction. Justine Hunter and Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Underwater observatory to share data with those on land
Imagine if elementary school students took an interest in volcanoes and were able to track volcanic activity in the Pacific Ocean over the next 20 years, carrying what they witnessed into later college studies and maybe eventually their careers. That vision is part of what has driven researcher Deborah Kelley to bring to the rest of the world what she has experienced as one of the few deep-sea divers who have spent a significant amount of time along the seafloor. Kelley is part of a network of researchers across the country who have been involved in a decades-long National Science Foundation effort to bring underwater data and observations to people bound to the land…. Kelley, who teaches oceanography at the University of Washington and has been involved with the observatory project for years, said it’s a development that is going to change education across the globe. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Quilcene, Dabob bays closed to recreational shellfish harvesting because of biotoxin fears
Dabob Bay and Quilcene Bay beaches have been closed to the recreational harvest of shellfish because of high levels of a potentially deadly biotoxin. Shellfish samples taken Wednesday were found to contain dangerous amounts of the biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), said Michael Dawson, lead environmental health specialist for the Jefferson County Water Quality Program. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-300 AM PDT MON MAY 4 2015
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 13 SECONDS. CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 6 FT BUILDING TO 8 FT AT 13 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.

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

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

5/1 Coal port, rail fees, whaling, toxic spray, tugboat grant, sea lice, Bowen shore, sub volcano, Tesla battery

May Day 2015

Northwest tribes stand with Lummis at Cherry Point in opposition to coal port
Speaking in the Lummi language, tribal chief Bill James told a crowd assembled Thursday, April 30, on the Gulf Road beach at Cherry Point that a late elder once brought him to the site and told him, “This is the place of our ancestors from long ago. They need to be protected.” Speeches by Lummi tribal members and a seaside lunch featuring prawns, crabs and halibut fished from Puget Sound marked the end of the two-day Tribal Habitat Conference, where Puget Sound tribes shared stories about habitat restoration — and degradation. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Fee proposed on rail cars that haul oil, other flammables
U.S. senators from six states on Thursday proposed that the government charge companies a special fee to ship oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids in older railroad tank cars that have been involved in fiery explosions. The fee would start at $175 and increase to $1,400 per car by 2018. It would raise an estimated $600 million to train first responders, clean up spills and relocate rail tracks around populated areas. The proposal would be paired with tax breaks for upgrades to newer tank cars, so they can better withstand derailments. Matthew Brown reports. (Associated Press)

Whaling opponent changes mind to support Makah tribe's request; turnaround shocks those at Port Angeles meeting
At least one mind changed sides Wednesday at a public meeting on the Makah tribe's request to resume whaling, turning upon a flow of tears shed by a man who said he'd swum with whales. Gary Michael Lee of Salt Spring Island, B.C., led off the 19 people who testified at a NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service public hearing... He first urged NOAA Fisheries administrators to deny the Makah request for a waiver from the Marine Mammal Protection Act. But after 18 others had spoken — 15 in favor of whaling — Lee returned to the lectern about an hour later and tearfully renounced his point of view. “I've listened to all this testimony, and I'm moved,” he said. “These [whales] are valuable creatures, but a deal [the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay] has been made. James Casey reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Plan to put neurotoxin on oyster beds distresses restaurants
A plan to spray pesticide over the sizable oyster beds at Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor is raising concerns with chefs and their diners. Renee Erickson was on the phone to her oyster suppliers as soon as she heard the news about Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. As chef/owner of several Seattle restaurants, including renowned oyster bar The Walrus and The Carpenter, the region’s famous bivalves are her bread and butter, so she was “horrified” by a newly approved plan to spray some Washington oyster beds with imidacloprid, a neurotoxic pesticide, starting as soon as low tide on May 17. Bethany Jean Clement reports. (Seattle Times)

Big grant to help preserve ‘Tugboat Annie’ vessel
Congrats to Northwest Seaport for securing an $87,000 grant to help preserve of the historic Arthur Foss tugboat, which was featured in the classic movie Tugboat Annie. Built in 1889, the boat has a long and storied past, including roles on the Columbia River towing sailing vessels cross the bar, carting miners and others up the coast during the Yukon Gold Rush, and narrowly escaping Japanese forces as they invaded Wake Island during World War II. The boat is part of the collection of historic ships maintained by Northwest Seaport and moored near the Museum of History and Industry at South Lake Union in Seattle. Marty McOmber reports. (Three Sheets Northwest)

Sea lice limit young salmon’s ability to get food
Sea lice could be affecting wild salmon stocks, according to a new study by a Simon Fraser University-led team of researchers that found a link between sea lice infestation and the ability of juvenile sockeye salmon to forage for food. The competitive foraging experiment was conducted in part by Sean Godwin, a doctoral biology student at SFU. Godwin found that highly infected juvenile sockeye salmon were 20 per cent less successful at consuming food, on average, than lightly infected fish. Shawn Conner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Bowen’s beaches help to feed the Salish Sea
A healthy shoreline is good for human security, ecology and economics, and Bowen’s shores have a lot of potential, says biologist Ramona DeGraaf. DeGraaf sampled soft-sediment beaches all around Bowen last October to assess their suitability for forage fish spawning, and delivered the results to council this week. “I sampled 75 beach units, with a beach unit being an area no more than 300 metres long. Fourty beach units I sampled equalling 3.4 kilometers, are amenable for surf smelt or Pacific sand lance spawning,” says De Graaf. “Being a Howe Sound Island, the shoreline is mostly made up of hard rock, limiting the amount of shoreline that is available in the first place.” (Bowen Island Undercurrent)

Did she blow? NW submarine volcano likely just erupted
More than 80 scientists from around the world gathered in Seattle last week to discuss a thrilling development: For the first time, seafloor instruments were providing a real-time look at the most active, submarine volcano off the Northwest coast — and all signs indicated it might erupt soon. But even the researchers most closely monitoring Axial Seamount were stunned by what happened next. Beginning Thursday, April 23 — the day after the workshop ended — the new sensors recorded 8,000 small earthquakes in a 24-hour period. The volcano’s caldera, which had been swelling rapidly from an influx of magma, collapsed like a deflated balloon. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Tesla expanding battery technology to homes, businesses
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is trying to steer his electric-car company’s battery technology into homes and businesses as part of an elaborate plan to reshape the power grid with millions of small power plants made of solar panels on roofs and batteries in garages. Michael Liedtke and Jonathan Fahey reports. (Associated Press)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT FRI MAY 1 2015
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING NW 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 6 FT
 AT 10 SECONDS.
SAT
N WIND 10 KT...BECOMING NW IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
NW WIND 10 TO 20 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT IN THE EVENING...THEN LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 6
 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SUN
SE WIND TO 10 KT IN THE MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

4/30 Toxic tailings, BC spill, quake report, Samish, train count, Shell drill, Skagit ag & fish, tourism $s, sick coral

Vancouver in March (International Space Station/NASA)

If you like to watch: Nearshore Spring 2015
While much attention is paid to herring spawning, kelp habitats are critical for a number of forage fish species and life history stages, including young of the year sand lance. Here's a glimpse of this captivating and beautiful component of our marine ecosystem. (Coastal Watershed Institute)

Canadian, American groups call on B.C. to end underwater storage of mine tailings
Dozens of Canadian and American environmental groups, First Nations and businesses, as well as scientists and individuals, have called on the B.C. government to end the use of storing mine waste under water and behind earth-and-rock dams. But Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett said that is not going to happen in British Columbia. “I don’t think that’s in the cards for B.C. — or any other province in Canada — to adopt a policy where all you can use to manage tailings is dry-stack tailings,” Bennett said in an interview. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Vancouver oil spill response 'embarrassing,' says international expert
The response to the bunker fuel spill in Vancouver's English Bay was "very disappointing" says Anita Burke, an international expert in responding to and restoring ecosystems affected by industrial and natural disasters. "We clearly have large gaps in our ability to respond and take care of our coast … it's embarrassing, frankly," said Burke, who worked with Shell and its subsidiaries on corporate responsibility and sustainable development for 17 years. (CBC)

Earthquake would leave hundreds critically hurt or dead, North Vancouver report predicts
If a major earthquake hit the North Shore today, many buildings in several low-lying waterfront areas would likely topple as sandy soils were subject to liquefaction. Landslides would likely be triggered along escarpments of the Capilano, Lynn and Seymour rivers. Older neighbourhoods of Norgate, Pemberton Heights, Highlands, Edgemont, Lower Lynn and Riverside would likely see pockets of extensive residential damage. As many as 15,000 homes would be without water and power and over 4,000 people could be forced out of their homes in the immediate aftermath of a large earthquake. Up to 2,000 people are likely to be injured, several hundred of those seriously, overwhelming Lions Gate Hospital and other local medical facilities. Several hundred would likely be critically injured, or killed. Jane Seyd reports. (North Shore News)

10 Things You Should Know About the Samish Nation
The Samish Nation’s story is nothing short of remarkable. In the 1840s, more than 2,000 Samish people lived on their ancestral islands in the central Salish Sea: Fidalgo, Guemes, Lopez, San Juan, and Samish. But by the time of the Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, which made land available for non-Native settlers, introduced diseases had reduced the Samish population to 200. Richard Walker reports. (Indian Country Today)

Volunteers keep track of trains in annual count
More coal, less oil. That's what a group of volunteers saw last week when they kept a round-the-clock vigil on the railroad tracks running through Snohomish County. They counted 29 coal trains and 12 crude-oil trains. That compares to 24 coal trains and 16 crude-oil trains last year. The new figures are in line with the number of oil-train shipments that BNSF Railway has reported to the state. This was the second straight year that Snohomish County Train Watch has conducted the census. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

Judge extends TRO after hearing on Greenpeace injunction
Shell’s court battle to obtain a preliminary injunction against Greenpeace USA continued in U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason’s court in Anchorage April 28. Gleason is considering whether to issue an order that would keep Greenpeace protestors at a certain distance from vessels Shell hopes to use for its 2015 Arctic offshore drilling. After the hearing, Gleason extended the temporary restraining order against Greenpeace covering two drill rigs and a heavy lift vessel; that order issued April 11 expired April 28 and she extended it to May 9 or until she rules on Shell’s request for an injunction that would cover all 27 vessels being mobilized for its Arctic exploration this summer. The company is asking for a court-ordered safety zone of 1,000 meters while vessels are en route, and a 1,500-meter safety zone while drill ships are anchored in the Chukchi Sea and support vessels are maneuvering in the area to move anchors and perform other support tasks. Tim Bradner reports. (Alaska Journal of Commerce)

Washington officials, Skagit County commissioner talk fish and farms with Gov. Inslee
Skagit County has the largest intact estuary in Puget Sound and is a focal point in the largest pending estuary restoration proposal, officials said during a discussion Tuesday with Gov. Jay Inslee. Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen also said agriculture is an integral part of the county’s culture and needs to be considered alongside fish recovery…. Skagit County is home to the Padilla Bay National Esturine Research Reserve, which has the largest eelgrass beds in the Sound. Also, four of 11 sites proposed for restoration under the Puget Sound Nearshore Estuary Restoration Project are in Skagit County along the Skagit River delta and the county’s shoreline areas. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Report tallies economic benefit from North Cascades tourism
A National Park Service report shows that nearly 770,000 people visited the North Cascades National Park Service Complex last year, spending more than $33.5 million in nearby communities. The park complex includes North Cascades National Park as well as the Lake Chelan and Ross Lake areas. The report says the spending supported more than 400 local jobs and provided a cumulative local economy benefit of more than $40.5 million. (Associated Press)

Most Whatcom beaches reopened to shellfish harvesting
Most beaches in Whatcom County have been reopened to recreational shellfish harvesting because marine biotoxins that could cause illness have dropped to safe levels. The Washington state Health Department has lifted the ban on most beaches, except for Portage Bay, where varnish clams still can't be harvested recreationally. The announcement was made Wednesday, April 29. (Bellingham Herald)

Black band coral disease continues to affect Kauai reefs  
Black band coral disease is affecting nearly half of the reef sites state officials have surveyed in waters off Kauai. That's according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The agency is holding a news conference Wednesday to discuss progress made to combat the disease. Scientists will also share information from a new report on the disease by the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. (Hawaii News Now)

Now, your tug weather--
 WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU APR 30 2015
TODAY
SW WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
SW WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A SLIGHT 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.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

4/29 Ocean energy, Charm City, neurotoxin spray, oil future, Shell $, volatile oil, no-drone zone

(PHOTO: Vancouver Aquarium/NOAA)

Ocean-energy project bad for whales, researcher says
A proposed clean-energy project may slow the speed of climate change, but it could also imperil threatened orcas, critics say. Vancouver-based Weyl Power Ltd. — pronounced “wheel,” not “whale” — is eyeing two sites within the Northern resident killer whales’ critical habitat for ocean energy projects. The company has only applied to monitor and investigate the potential of the sites, but a local orca researcher says it has already gone too far. “It shouldn’t even get out of the starting gate — I don’t think the proposal should be considered at all, even at the investigative stage,” said Paul Spong, founder of the OrcaLab whale research station on Hanson Island, near Telegraph Cove. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

New blog: Last Week in Baltimore, Charm City
"I spent last week in Baltimore, Charm City. I returned home late Friday before the first outbreak of violence on Saturday, for which I would have had a front row seat around Camden Yards. Now more rioting on Monday, National Guard on call, law enforcement moving in from around the region. What does the rioting solve, Baltimore’s mayor asks? What happens to the charm, I ask?…."

Disbelief over state plan to spray neurotoxin into oyster beds
The state has approved plans to spray in Willapa Bay a neurotoxic pesticide that has a warning right on the bottle: “Do not apply directly to water.” What could go wrong? Danny Westneat reports. (Seattle Times)

Are greens picking the wrong oil target?
The major targets of environmental protests against Big Oil have been the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through the Midwest, and Shell Oil’s planned drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Arctic Alaska. Have the green activists wisely picked their targets? A just-released report, “West Coast Tar Sands Invasion” by the Natural Resources Defense Council suggests that the Pacific Coast, including Washington, may feel the greatest impacts from North America’s major new oil production centers. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Shell financial reports about Arctic drilling are too 'rosy,' environmentalists charge
Shell has understated the financial risks of exploring for oil in the Arctic Ocean and federal regulators should investigate possible misrepresentations to investors, critics of the drilling plan said Tuesday. Oceana, an environmental organization, and the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School on Monday petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission for an investigation into what the drilling critics call “material misstatements and omissions” in Shell’s financial filings. Yereth Rosen reports. (Alaska Dispatch News)

Energy, Transportation departments to study volatility of oil moved by rail
The federal government will conduct a two-year study of how crude oil volatility affects the commodity’s behavior in train derailments, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told a Senate panel Tuesday. The Energy Department will coordinate the study with the Department of Transportation, Moniz told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. After a series of fiery train derailments, the Transportation Department concluded early last year that light, sweet crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region is more volatile than other kinds. But derailments involving ethanol and other types of crude oil have cast doubt on whether Bakken is likely to react more severely than other flammable liquids transported by rail. Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy)

The no-drone zone: How to stop UAVs spying on us from above
…. Two weeks ago, Boston police announced this year's Boston Marathon as a "no drone zone". It might have sounded like an unenforceable plea, but the police had a trick up their sleeves. They had enlisted the help of a company called DroneShield, which supplied acoustic sensors that can detect drones. Chris Baraniuk reports. (New Scientist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED APR 29 2015
TODAY
S WIND TO 10 KT...RISING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W
 SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
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4/28 Swim the Sound, coast protection, BC CG, BC pipe, quake, otters, Growlers, Vic sewer, owls, hatcheries

Wayne Kinslow swims (Patrick Robinson photo)

Swimming Puget Sound 1000 days in a row, Wayne Kinslow proves he's made of strong stuff
For some people Puget Sound is not a good choice for a swim. At 46 degrees it's very cold and frankly hypothermia will take over if you are in the water too long. But for Wayne Kinslow, it's all part of the fun. Kinslow somehow has willed himself to swim in the chilly waters 1000 days in a row, hitting that milestone on April 27. Normally he swims with a group of equally fearless swimmers but for the big number he chose to go solo. Patrick Robinson reports. (West Seattle Herald)

First Nations, province agree on plans to protect B.C. coast
The provincial government and 18 First Nations have agreed to plans for protecting and managing more than 100,000 square kilometres of B.C.’s coast, from northern Vancouver Island to Alaska. The deal covers issues that fall under provincial jurisdiction, but ignores key federal responsibilities such as fisheries and marine transportation, including tanker traffic. Lindsay Kines reports. (Times Colonist)

U.S. worried about Canada’s ability to respond to oil spills, records reveal
After the MV Marathassa spilled sticky, toxic bunker fuel into Vancouver’s harbour this month, Washington State officials noted in interviews with The Globe and Mail that the state’s oil-spill response regime was far advanced from Canada’s. One former maritime lawyer said if the U.S. Coast Guard ranked an eight or nine out of 10 worldwide, then Canada’s Coast Guard would rank a one or two. But the records obtained by The Globe under U.S. access-to-information laws show that American officials have been worried about Canada’s oil-response capabilities for years, dating back to Canada’s National Energy Board hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and the proposed Kinder Morgan expansion project. Stanley Tromp reports. (Globe and Mail)

NEB launches public review into pipeline emergency response plans
Emergency response plans submitted by companies proposing to build pipelines in Canada are to be the subject of a public consultation overseen by the National Energy Board (NEB). Peter Watson, CEO of the energy board, announced the new review in a speech delivered to business leaders in Vancouver today [Monday] . "Canadians deserve to be consulted on the transparency of emergency management information for NEB-regulated pipelines," Watson said. "There may indeed be some specific information that should be kept confidential, but I believe that we have been too conservative in our approach to this issue to date." (CBC)

Deep part of Cascadia fault so slippery sun, moon trigger tremors
New research shows that the large fault off the Northwest coast is so weak and slippery in places that minuscule tidal forces produced by the sun and moon are enough to cause tremors. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

A Tale of Two Otters: Natural History of River Otters and Sea Otters
The Whale Trail presents naturalist Leo Shaw Leo Shaw who will discuss the natural history of river and sea otters in North America, with a special focus on the river otters of West Seattle! His talk will cover human interactions, population swings, social structure, anatomy and physiology  food preferences, legal status, and current threats. Thursday, April 30th, 7PM. C&P Coffee Company, 5612 California Ave SW. $5 suggested donation. (Kids get in free!); Brown Paper Tickets.

Whidbey citizens group in court over Navy Growlers noise
A Whidbey Island citizens group has revived the legal battle over noise from Navy Growler planes, filing a motion in federal court to block use of an off-base strip near Coupeville. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Public asked for input on Victoria-area sewage-plant sites
Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay will launch an intensive public process Wednesday looking for input on where to build a sewage-treatment plant. It’s an ambitious agenda. The hope is to get public buy-in on where a sewage-treatment plant or plants should be sited by the end of June. It took four years for the Capital Regional District to settle on Esquimalt’s McLoughlin Point as a site for a regional sewage-treatment plant. That plan went off the rails last year, when Esquimalt refused to rezone the site and the province declined to overturn the decision. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Wise Guys
…. Tony Angell writes (and draws) with the absolute authority of one who has studied, rehabilitated, lived with and loved the animals his whole life. Watching owls simply being owls is his calling. Julie Zickefoose reviews Tony Angell's new book, The House of Owls. (Wall Street Journal)

Return of the fish wars: Hatchery pits environmentalists against tribe
Can anything wild still exist in a Washington river that has been plugged for 100 years? E. Tammy Kim reports. (Al Jazeera America)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE APR 28 2015
TODAY
S WIND 10 TO 20 KT BECOMING W LATE MORNING. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 9 FT AT 11 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. NW 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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4/27 Train safety, oil spill, KM pipe, Imidacloprid, Shell drill, Polley water, Padden Cr., Seattle CSO, orcas, grey whale, diversity data

(PHOTO: Mike Mercer/BirdNote)

If you like to listen: Seabirds Drink Salt Water
Seabirds have no problem drinking sea water. The salt they take in is absorbed and moves through their blood stream into a pair of salt glands above their eyes. The densely salty fluid is excreted from the nostrils and runs down grooves in the bill. As the drop gets larger, the bird shakes its head to send the salt back to the ocean. A seabird's skull has a pair of grooves for the salt glands right over the eyes. (BirdNote)

Oil Train Safety Legislation Passes In Washington
State lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a bill meant to increase oil train safety. The bill was taken up in response to the uptick in oil train traffic in the region. It directs oil taxes to help pay for oil-train spill response. It also imposes public disclosure requirements for railroad companies operating in Washington. The bill was introduced by Gov. Jay Inslee and three dozen of his fellow Democrats in the House, where their party holds the majority. But by the time it was unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled Senate Friday evening, the bill had undergone many changes. Funding and requirements for enhanced marine spill response, including an extra rescue tug to be stationed in the eastern part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, were stripped from the bill. Ashley Ahearn reports. (KUOW) See also: Rumble grows over oil trains Kimberly Cauvel and Shannen Kuest report. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Metro mayors give federal officials an earful over English Bay oil spill
Metro Vancouver mayors grilled the National Energy Board Friday on how it would prevent future oil spills, saying the Canadian Coast Guard’s “inadequate response” to the recent spill in English Bay put the city’s economy, tourism and quality of life at risk. Mayors maintain the latest spill highlighted the need for a better emergency response system across the region, noting it took the coast guard hours to respond after a sailor first reported seeing a sheen of oil in English Bay. North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton said the “the level of response was far from what our local governments would anticipate.” Kelly Sinoski reports. (Vancouver Sun)

NEB CEO Paul Watson heckled by Kinder Morgan pipeline protesters
Protesters heckled the National Energy Board's CEO Peter Watson, who was in town to meet with Metro Vancouver mayors about concerns over the consultation process for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Watson was heckled by protesters when he said he deeply cares about people, land and water.  Metro Vancouver does not have an official position on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson told Watson there is lack of public confidence in the NEB. (CBC)

Washington State Turns to Neurotoxins to Save Its Oysters
A pesticide from the group of chemicals linked to colony collapse disorder will now be sprayed in US waters. What could go wrong?…. Imidacloprid is the world’s most popular pesticide, and highly controversial. It belongs to a family of neurotoxins, neonicotinoids, that is increasingly being blamed for colony collapse disorder—the sharp die-off of honeybees that has plagued North America since 2006. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Audubon Society, and the Xerces Society, which advocates for invertebrates, have all opposed the chemical’s use on Willapa Bay. But their protests are now moot. On April 16, the Washington Department of Ecology approved the spraying of imidacloprid on 1,500 acres of Willapa Bay and 500 acres of nearby Grays Harbor. In about a month, crop-dusting helicopters will begin dousing both estuaries with the chemical. Bill Donahue reports. (Bloomberg)

Oil rig Polar Pioneer, heavy lift ship Blue Marlin now separate in Port Angeles Harbor
Two giant vessels that arrived in Port Angeles Harbor as one massive unit are now operating separately. The Polar Pioneer oil drilling rig was offloaded Sunday at about 7 a.m. from the heavy lift ship MV Blue Marlin, which carried the huge mobile rig from Malaysia starting in early March…. A 100-yard safety zone remains in place around both the Polar Pioneer and Blue Marlin, which are classified as being a single unit under the safety zone protection as long as they are moored near each other... The safety zone expands to 500 yards if either vessel is underway. Arwyn Rice reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Water near Mount Polley gold mine still tainted, tests find
Water test results following the Mount Polley mine dam failure eight months ago have continued to show periodic elevated levels of metals. The latest results from February and March show government guidelines were exceeded for copper for aquatic life on the Quesnel River near the town of Likely, downstream from the mine. Provincial officials continue to say the water is safe to drink as long as it is filtered, though there have been some exceedances of drinking water guidelines since last fall. And computer modelling by the company’s consultants predict the metals from fine sediment in Quesnel Lake should clear up by August, say provincial officials. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Work begins soon to clean polluted runoff into Padden Creek estuary
The second of two projects to improve the health of Padden Creek estuary by collecting and cleaning polluted runoff could begin as soon as June. Its design and construction is expected to cost a little more than $1.1 million. The project still must go out to bid…. People can learn about the project at an open house Tuesday, May 5, at Fairhaven library. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Channeling Capt. Kirk: We’re on board with water plan, just one little suggestion
You want our Washington state water beamed down to thirsty California? We have just the spot to tap and it comes with glowing recommendations. Ron Judd transmits. (Seattle Times)

Seattle plans $600 million wastewater overflow project
A Seattle utility unveiled a $600 million plan on Friday to stop millions of gallons of untreated wastewater and polluted runoff from flowing into the area's creeks, lakes, the Duwamish river and the Puget Sound. The plan would involve construction of a 2.7-mile, $374-million combined sewer overflow storage system along the north side of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, just miles from an unrelated headline-grabbing $3.1 billion Seattle roadway overhaul that has been fraught with delays…. The 15-year plan aims to fulfill promises Seattle made in a 2013 consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state's Department of Ecology to reduce sewer overflows to comply with state and federal law. The Seattle City Council will consider the proposal starting next week. Canal construction could begin in 2018. (Reuters)

Tagged orca makes close approach to Cape Disappointment State Park
After spending a few days on the central Washington coast north of the mouth of Grays Harbor, the L pod of Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) spent this Thursday and Friday around the southern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula. Satellite tracking of male orca L84 shows him coming within a short distance of Benson Beach in Cape Disappointment State Park. At other times in the past two days, he was zigzagging across the entrance of the Columbia River close to the Buoy 10 line, as well as due west of North Head. At 7:06 a.m. Friday he was roughly a mile west of Long Beach. (Chinook Observer) See also: Killer whale tagging and acoustic studies provide increasing details  Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

If you like to watch: Grey whale dissected on Wickaninnish Beach near Tofino
Biologists with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada have dissected the body of a young grey whale on Thursday that washed up on Wickaninnish Beach near Tofino, B.C., earlier this week. Scientists aren't sure why it died, though there is some evidence it was struck by a boat. The 10 metre long gray whale is a yearling and was making its second migration up to Alaskan waters when it died. Researchers took tissue samples from the abdominal and chest cavity of the whale to look at other possible causes. (CBC)

Top Environmental Agencies Release Diversity Data
On April 22, 2015, which marked the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, Green 2.0 released the names of over 25 of America’s leading environmental advocacy organizations who voluntarily submitted their diversity data to GuideStar.... Denis Hayes, who was national organizer of the first Earth Day, and is now president of The Bullitt Foundation, encouraged other organizations to participate in this effort. “We are all most likely to improve the things that we measure,” he said.  “At its birth, the environmental movement was a big tent, welcoming to all who shared its basic commitment to a healthy, resilient, equitable, peaceful future,” said Hayes. “We need to return to those roots.” Hayes is among the few philanthropy leaders who have already made their information available on their GuideStar profile. People of color represent 50 percent of the staff of The Bullitt Foundation and 27 percent of its board. Andrew Lam reports. (New American Media)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON APR 27 2015
TODAY
SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING E TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING SE 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

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

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told