12/30 Coal train petition, Samish Bay closure, Mission Creek restoration

If you like to watch: Rocky the octopus predicts some BCS (Bowl Championship Series) bowl winners. Can An Octopus Pick The BCS? Take It To The Tank

John Stark in the Bellingham Herald blogs on plans by Rick Dubrow and a new political action committee called No Coal! which in January will make public its draft of a proposed new city ordinance that would prohibit any transport of coal through Bellingham by rail or any other means. Bellingham group plans initiative to ban coal trains  

The state Department of Health has temporarily closed Samish Bay for commercial and recreational shellfish harvest. The closure is due to a rise in the Samish River level and anticipated rise in fecal coliform bacteria levels. Samish Bay closed to commercial and recreational shellfish harvest

The Port of Olympia has received grant funds from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for its habitat restoration project at Mission Creek in Priest Point Park. The port is collaborating on the project with the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and the City of Olympia. Port gets funds to restore park habitat

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 837 PM PST THU DEC 29 2011
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST FRIDAY
FRI
SW WIND 20 TO 25 KT...BECOMING W 25 TO 35 KT IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT...BUILDING TO 4 TO 7 FT IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. W SWELL 14 FT AT 12 SECONDS... BUILDING TO 18 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. SHOWERS.
FRI NIGHT
W WIND 25 TO 35 KT...BECOMING NW 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 7 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 5 FT LATE. W SWELL 18 FT AT
 12 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 15 FT AT 12 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
SAT
W SWELL 13 FT...SUBSIDING TO 11 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
SAT NIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 8 FT...SUBSIDING TO 6 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SUN
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT.
SUN NIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 6 FT.

--
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12/29 Redistricting, sport crabbing, bag-ban vote, Thurston CAO, Greg Good, tsunami debris

Great history lesson— and interesting, too. The Cornwall Landfill in 1963  

Joel Connelly at SeattlePI.Com reports on how lines have been drawn for Washington’s 10 congressional districts. Some surprises. Radical changes in U.S. House district boundaries  

Rich Childers of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says that, with an estimated 2.1 million pounds of crabs harvested in the summer season and with additional harvest coming during the fall and winter, this year’s sport crab season could break records. Record year likely for Puget Sound sport crabbing  

Craig Keller, a Republican activist who gathered signatures to repeal a plastic-bag fee two years ago, has launched a petition drive to put Seattle’s plastic bag ban to a vote. Petition seeks vote on Seattle plastic-bag ban

Is the Voluntary Stewardship Program, a voluntary program for environmental and habitat protection for agriculture uses and farmlands, the answer to ending years of legal and political battles over protecting agricultural activities while also protecting critical areas found on those lands? Thurston board faces decision on program for critical areas  

North Olympic Land Trust executive director Greg Good leaves join the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission, and Michele d’Hemecourt, conservation director, will be acting executive director. North Olympic Land Trust’s first executive director leaving


Beachcombers in Tofino have noticed a significant uptick in debris of Japanese origin on their shores, a sign that items swept out to sea by the tsunami in Japan may have found their way to B.C. earlier than expected. Japan tsunami debris believed to be reaching B.C. Shores  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 226 AM PST THU DEC 29 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PST THIS MORNING GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM PST FRIDAY
TODAY
SW WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING S 5 TO 15 KT LATE IN THE MORNING...THEN BECOMING SE AND RISING TO 20 TO 30 KT IN THE
 AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...BUILDING TO 3 TO 6 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 13 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 25 TO 35 KT...BECOMING SW AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 7 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN.

--
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12/28 Everett sewage, redistricting, Pleasant Harbor resort, Vancouver bag ban, watershed grants, eco-friendly farmed fish

New blog: “The Art of the Year-End Donation”

Read two comment on yesterday’s blog post "Smokin’ and Talkin’ and Textin’ While Drivin’   

Eyew, yuk and shame shame: Gary Chittim reports that during Thankgiving week, Everett Public Works dumped an estimated 25 million gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater into the Snohomish River and Puget Sound. Penalties for polluting, anyone?   Millions of gallons of raw sewage dumped into Snohomish River  

We find out this morning what the agreed-upon new congressional district maps look like — and have until Friday to comment. Deal reached on new election districts

The draft supplemental environmental impact statement is due in about two months on the proposed 257-acres, $300 million Pleasant Harbor Marina and Golf Resort at Brinnon on Hood Canal. Paul Gottleib of the Peninsula Daily News brings us up to date on the project. Revamped plan for Pleasant Harbor mega-resort looks to the environment  

Vancouver B.C. plastic bags must not pollute the same way plastic bags in Bellingham, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Seattle and Portland do. Used to hear that about Victoria sewage— that it’s different. Metro Vancouver won't join Seattle and Portland in plastic bag ban
 Federal watershed grants include $500,000 awarded to The Nature Conservancy to identify what floodplain areas in Puget Sound have the best potential for storing floodwaters and providing fish and wildlife habitat and $480,584 awarded to Washington State University to test new methods to treat stormwater and conduct research on permeable pavement materials. EPA grants state $3.6 Million; 18 projects awarded funds for land, water conservation

Doesn’t make much difference whether you certify farmed fish as eco-friendly or not, it’s still farmed fish. Eco-labelled farm fish offer little environmental benefit, University of Victoria study concludes  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 247 AM PST WED DEC 28 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST THURSDAY
TODAY
SW WIND 20 TO 25 KT...BECOMING 20 TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 11 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 12 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS IN THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.
--
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12/27 Stormy weather, B.C. streams, Oly water, SF oil spill, mercury rule, "Twilight Zone" life

New blog: “Smokin’ and Talkin’ and Textin’ While Drivin’”  

It does take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Cliff Mass on The Christmas Day Storm.

Globe and Mail reporter Mark Hume writes about stream steward Ron Gruber and the work done to bring Spanish Bank Creek, an urban Vancouver stream, back to health from its near death 50 years ago. The stream that spawned a comeback    Hume also profiles hockey star Willie Mitchell, fighting to protect the Kokish River in northern Vancouver Island. Good stuff. A high-profile hockey player fights for the river he loves

Olympia's artesian well near Fourth and Jefferson has been preserved by the city as a place where you can fill your bottles with untreated but tested water. In Olympia, it’s still the water

The thousands of gallons of bunker oil that spilled into San Francisco Bay in 2007 from the cargo ship Cosco Busan has been cleaned up but the long-term effect has been found by scientists to be devastating to the herring population that feeds seabirds, whales and the bay's last commercial fishery. Oil from 2007 spill surprisingly toxic to fish, scientists report

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on the science and politics of regulating mercury: "Here’s what I wanted for Christmas: something that would make us both healthier and richer. And since I was just making a wish, why not ask that Americans get smarter, too?"  Springtime for Toxics  

Richard Pyle, an ichthyologist and database developer at Bishop Museum in Honolulu, blogs on his work in the tropical Pacific documenting reef habitats at depths of about 200 to 500 feet — an ecoregion referred to as deep coral reefs, mesophotic coral ecosystems and the coral-reef “Twilight Zone.”  A Visual Feast in an Undersea Twilight Zone  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST TUE DEC 27 2011
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST WEDNESDAY
TODAY
SW WIND 20 TO 25 KT...BECOMING S 15 TO 25 KT LATE IN THE MORNING...THEN EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT...SUBSIDING TO 3 FT OR LESS IN THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON...THEN... BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 12 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN.
TONIGHT
S WIND 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN.

--
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12/26 King tides, BNSF, Cornwall cleanup, nuke sub near-miss, Redfish Rock Reserve, BC debris, Nahwitti Windfarm

PHOTO: David Anderson

King tides are higher-than-usual tides that occur when the sun and moon’s gravitational pull reinforce one another. Experience them this week. King Tides Offer a Chance to See a Climate-Changed Future  

Congratulations to Puget Soundkeeper Alliance for suing Burlington Northern Santa Fe for runoff pollution at its Balmer Yard facility.  BNSF will pay $1.5 million to the California-based Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, which will then award local grants to improve the water quality of Puget Sound.  BNSF agrees to pay $1.5 million to settle water suit  

Cleanup begins at Bellingham’s Cornwall Avenue shoreline formed by garbage dumped in the bay in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The cleanup is part of the bay’s waterfront renovation.  Bellingham marina dredging, waterfront cleanup under way  

The October 12 near-miss collision of a freighter and the submarine USS Kentucky in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is reported in Navy Times. Nuclear sub narrowly avoids collision with freighter off B.C. coast: report

Coming soon: Redfish Rocks Reserve, south of Port Orford, has brought fishermen and conservationists together in an attempt to bring back the fish. Researchers, Fishing Fleets Ready For Oregon’s First Marine Reserve

British Columbia is naming members to its Provincial Tsunami Debris Working Group to see which agencies will deal with tsunami debris when it hits the B.C. Shores. B.C. launches task force to manage coming tsunami debris  

Cleanup work has begun on a Northlake Community Wharf near Gas Works Park, a long-discussed project to better connect the Fremont and Wallingford neighborhoods to Lake Union through a facility operated as a second location of the nonprofit Center for Wooden Boats.  Work begins on community wharf near Gas Works Park

The proposed Nahwitti Windfarm Project north of Port Hardy plans to erect as many as 50 wind turbines with a goal of producing 100 megawatts of wind energy got its environmental assessment certificate-- along with a long list of conditions.  Wind farm on north Island clears hurdle

The City of Snohomish will install a biological filtering system in its wastewater treatment plant to reduce pollutants and decrease the levels of nitrogen in the river. City of Snohomish works to reduce pollution in river

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 837 AM PST MON DEC 26 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON
 GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 AM PST TUESDAY
TODAY
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT THIS AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...BUILDING TO 3 TO 6 FT THIS AFTERNOON. W SWELL 14 FT AT 13 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 12 FT AT 13 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN.
TONIGHT
S WIND 25 TO 35 KT...BECOMING SW 20 TO 30 KT LATE. WIND WAVES 3 TO 6 FT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE EVENING... THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

--
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12/23 Snowy owl, DSP, salmon disease, bag ban, cleanup grants, Seal Sitters, Poulsbo shores, recycling, Ariel the octopus

Mystery and Magic: Snowy Owl and Friend

Best wishes to all for whatever way you choose to celebrate the season this weekend. Be warm. Be safe. Be merry.

But a pox on the House of Republicans and their Senate cohorts for logrolling into the payroll tax and unemployment bill the poison pill requiring the President to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada through our nation’s breadbasket. Say it, Mr. President: The pipeline is not in the nation’s interest.

New blog: “Thoughts on Sewage, Shellfish and the Partnership’s Action Agenda”

Get to know your friendly laser: Remote sensing technologies are applied in ways you might not have imagined to organic crops, wetlands monitoring, coal mining, oil spills, polluted runoff... Photonics for a Better World 

Listen up: It’s Hedwig in the magical world of Harry Potter. For us muggles, Martha Baskin reports on Visitors from the Arctic: The Nomadic Life of the Mysterious Snowy Owl    Also, Ralph Schwarz reports: Birders flock to Sandy Point to glimpse snowy owl

If you like to watch: Barbara King shares NPR picks: Best animal video clips of 2011

Uh, oh. It’s back-- diarrhetic shellfish poisoning —in Sequim Bay.  Baffling biotoxin again closes bay on Peninsula  

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans big tests aimed at detecting any signs on the West Coast of infectious salmon anemia, infectious pancreatic necrosis or infectious hematopoietic necrosis. Intensive probe to test nearly 8,000 B.C. salmon for disease
Who’s next? Step right up.  Bainbridge considering ban on plastic bags

Federal grants worth more than $6 million are going out to agencies trying to protect the Puget Sound from pollution. See who got the money here.  Puget Sound cleanup grants announced
Robin Lindsey of Seal Sitters reports 618 hotline calls and a busy past year for the volunteer group educating folks about leaving young seals alone on the beach. West Seattle wildlife: Seal Sitters’ record-breaking 50-pup year

Meanwhile, up north: Two men fined for throwing objects at sea lions, exceeding daily halibut limit

Poulsbo City Council members are reviewing their shoreline goals, policies and use regulations for all shoreline property within city limits, the estuary portion of Dogfish Creek north of Lindvig Way and associated tidal wetlands and upland areas. Poulsbo City Council reviewing shoreline plan

According to city officials, the City of Olympia’s new stormwater complex at the south end of Yauger Park has passed its first rainy season test.  Yauger Park stormwater complex passes test

Go online to access Pierce County Public Works and Utilities’ monitoring data for local streams at their new website.   Learn About Pierce County's Water Quality Via New Website

The national average rate for recycling in 34 percent. Here, our men, women and children are all above average. In Kitsap County and statewide, recycling rates nearing 50 percent

The giant Pacific octopus on display at the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center got an early Christmas present — a bigger house— and a name. She’s beautiful. Her name is Ariel and she has a new home

Now, your weekend holiday weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 253 AM PST FRI DEC 23 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST SATURDAY
TODAY
SW WIND 10 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SE 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 13 SECONDS... BUILDING TO 12 FT AT 13 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
TONIGHT
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 14 FT AT 14 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY.
SAT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 12 FT AT 13 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN LIKELY.
SAT NIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT.
SUN
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING SW IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 6 TO 8 FT... BUILDING TO 10 FT IN THE AFTERNOON.
--
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12/22 La Nina, FEMA & ESA, coal port, Action Plan, WSF, LOTT, coal-plant rules

PHOTO: Candace Emmons

OOPS: The correct number of Southern resident orcas is 89, not 98 as mis-keyed yesterday.

Might turn out to be one of the driest Decembers on record. Climate scientists Cliff Mass asks, then answers: Where is La Nina?

Suit was filed in federal court yesterday asking the government to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency from allowing development in flood-prone areas until it can be demonstrated that development won’t harm endangered fish or whales.  Battle escalates over building in flood plains

Proponents of a coal-export facility at Cherry Point have been granted their second 90-day extension for submitting their project permit and shoreline development permit. The formal environmental assessment of the project can only begin after the permits are submitted. Gateway Pacific Terminal gets extension on permit deadline

Chris Dunagan at the Kitsap Sun reports on how the new draft action agenda for saving Puget Sound by 2020 has been improved to link how millions of dollars worth of restoration projects would actually meet goals for restoring the Sound. Puget Sound Partnership offers a more detailed plan of action

Increase in average body weight has required Washington State Ferries to reduce passenger capacity to comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations. For example, if a ferry carried 2,000 passengers, it would only carry 1,750. Lifeboats, anyone?  Obesity Rise Prompts Wash. Ferry Capacity Change

Redevelopment of Tumwater’s Olympia Brewing property begins with the Lacey Olympia Thurston Tumwater (LOTT) Water Alliance purchasing a parcel to build more treatment plant. It’s the water, apparently.  LOTT buys brewery land for future treatment plant  

Courtnery Flatt and Bonnnie Stewart at EarthFix unpack how EPA’s rules on coal-fired plant emissions of mercury and toxics affect the TransAlta plant in Centralia and the Boardman plant in Oregon— and the region’s importing of coal-fired electricity. What the EPA’s New Rules On Coal-Plant Toxics Mean for the Northwest  

Take a cruise on the last day of the year and help the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.  New Year’s cruise to view Protection Island  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 251 AM PST THU DEC 22 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM PST FRIDAY
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING SW AFTER MIDNIGHT...THEN EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT LATE. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
--
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12/21 Joe Gaydos, J-Pod calf, park rangers, coal facts

Oak and Holly Kings

Celebrate the Winter Solstice. In a few hours, we’ll begin to have more daylight minutes. Hang in there.

Congratulations! SeaDoc Society director Joe Gaydos elected chair of Puget Sound Partnership Science Panel  

Orca Network says J-Pod has a new calf, brining to 27 the number of J-Pod members and 89 the members of the Southern resident pods. Southern Resident Orcas Have a New Calf! (12/20/11)

Sad that 83 of the state’s 189 full-time rangers stand to lose their current jobs. To stay on, most would have to take a major pay cut and work as little as five months of the year in one of 63 new seasonal jobs being created.83 park rangers will get pink slips next week

Your homework for the week: Eric de Place of Sightlines gives a basic tutorial about coal exports. Some Basic Facts About Coal Exports

Now, your tug weather---
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 831 AM PST WED DEC 21 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST THIS EVENING
TODAY
W SWELL 11 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SE WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING E 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

--
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12/20 Bag ban, Kalakala, PA NRDA, Cohen Commission, oil pipe, blackmouth, Madison Park fence, king tides, seven fishes

Still of Morning (Laurie MacBride)

New blog by Laurie MacBride. Blew my mind.  “Reflections on the Origin of Totem Poles”

If you like to watch: Eric Becker’s “SOUND & VISION: Lobby Day”

Finally stopped chewing and swallowed. Seattle Officials Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags

Owner Steve Rodrigues says he doesn’t own the late, great ferry any more. Kalakala sold for $1 to person who will return ferry 'to her full glory'

State Ecology manager declares that the request by Port Angeles to participate formally in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council “doesn’t make sense.” Ecology rejects Port Angeles’ bid for seat on council assessing natural resource damages at former Rayonier site  

B.C.’s Cohen Commission yesterday completed 18 months of hearings and the filing of 2,145 exhibits. Mark Hume of Globe and Mail reports on what might be expected next. Hardest work still to come as Cohen hearings conclude

The oil pipeline business is booming and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said subscriptions on the portion of the system delivering to refineries in British Columbia and Washington were 69 percent over capacity. Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Oversubscribed by 63%

Where there are herring, there will be blackmouth (immature Chinook salmon). Dave Chorett goes deep into herring. Herring spawns a prelude to blackmouth success  

Vanessa Ho at SeattlePI.Com reports on the decision to remove the old fence along the Lake Washington shoreline at Seattle’s North Beach park in Madison Park. Residents in the affluent neighborhood don’t like that. Madison Park fence to come down; will masses invade?  

Above-normal tides, “king tides,” will hit Puget Sound shores from Dec. 27-29 and again from Jan. 13-17. Take your pix and share on the Washington King Tide Photo Initiative's Flickr page   State encourages public to photograph 'king tides'  

Kitsap County road crews will be working under a new type of blanket construction permit which expedites work repairing culverts and bridges, maintaining natural water courses, removing beaver dams and repairing washed-out roads near waterways.  New program to streamline environmental permits


If you like to eat: Cassandra Profita at Ecotrope/OPB learned about the Italian feast of seven fishes to celebrate Christmas Eve and came up with her list of local, sustainable fishes to feast on: Oregon Dungeness crab; Oregon pink shrimp; oysters, mussels and clams; Pacific sardines; albacore tuna; and farmed rainbow trout. A Northwest Feast of Seven (Sustainable) Fishes

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 859 AM PST TUE DEC 20 2011
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT PST TONIGHT
 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM PST WEDNESDAY
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 14 SECONDS. A
 CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
NW WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.
--
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12/19 Elwha dams, Fraser sockeye, Tacoma soil, enviro justice, Derek Hayes, heavy metals

Elwha River (National Park Service)

Saturday’s memorial service for environmental activist and mentor Joan Thomas was touching and heartfelt. Many fine words were spoken by Martha Kongsgaard, Ron Sims, Estella Leopold, and governors Gregoire, Lowry and Evans. Washington Environmental Council executive director Joan Crooks reminded us that Joan Thomas would not have let the occasion of such a group gathering pass without taking the opportunity to organize. So, Joan Crooks said, let’s not let our elected officials use the excuse of hard financial times to roll back our environmental protections. Fight back. Here are ways if you can take a day: Legislative Workshop is Jan. 7,  Environmental Lobby Day is Jan. 25. See Environmental Priorities Coalition

The “fish window,” a time when in-water construction needs to stop due to salmon migration, has ended two weeks early and allows demolition of the two Elwha dams to resume today. Dam demolition to resume as fish window closes early

Today is the last day of B.C.’s Cohen Commission hearings into the declining health of wild Fraser river sockeye salmon. Then what? Last day of hearings on dwindling B.C. salmon stocks to focus on deadly virus

The City of Tacoma is pre-approving nearly 30 million square feet of development in south downtown but cleanup of contaminated soil is one of the leading concerns of property owners.  Soil cleanup will need to precede development downtown Tacoma

Four groups— Beyond Toxics and Josiah Hill III Clinic in Oregon and the Center for Human Services and the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition of Washington— have received federal grants to educate and engage non-English speaking and at-risk communities. Bonnie Stewart of EarthFix reports on EPA Selects Four Pacific Northwest Groups For Environmental Justice Grants

Book editor Mary Ann Gwinn of the Seattle Times writes about Derek Hayes’ love of maps and his latest gem, Historical Atlas of Washington and Oregon. Derek Hayes has a passion for mapping our history

Snohomish County Beach Watchers launch free evening lectures featuring “Our Puget Sound, In Depth” on the first Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 4. Free lectures detail wonders of local waters

Industrial and manufacturing practices, from textile factories to metalworking operations, is the release of heavy metals in waterways. Science Daily reports on how Brown University engineers have developed a system that reduced cadmium, copper, and nickel concentrations, returning contaminated water to near or below federally acceptable standards. Novel Device Removes Heavy Metals from Water

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-830 AM PST MON DEC 19 2011
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 10 KT...BECOMING SW AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 14 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.

--
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12/16 Drought, salmon virus, shellfish initiative, wood smoke, orca alerts, seed-to-plate, tugs, oil pipelines and tankers, Bud Anderson

Dixy Lee Ray (WA Archives)

Out of Iraq. Thank you, soldiers. Thank you, Mr. President.

New blog: ‘Sewage Is Good For You’  Oh, Dixy.

Climate scientist Cliff Mass checked out the rainfall records at Sea-Tac Airport and, as of Wednesday, we’ve had the “DRIEST FIRST TWO WEEKS ON RECORD at that site.” The Driest First Half of December in Seattle History!

B.C.’s Cohen Commission, looking into the collapse of the Fraser River salmon run, heard testimony that infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus has been present in B.C. For 25 years and that B.C. sockeye salmon have tested positive in a federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans lab.  B.C. sockeye test positive for potentially deadly virus, inquiry told   Is there a coverup? Scientist claims early evidence of salmon virus, feared lab would be closed

Sierra Club isn’t joining the folks jumping up and cheering for the National and Washington Shellfish Initiatives. Ashley Ahearn at Earthfix talks to Laura Hendricks about why. What’s Wrong With Gov. Gregoire’s Washington State Shellfish Initiative?

Robert McClure at Investigate West and Katie Campbell at Earthfix team up to reveal the threats of a substance “known… to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.” Where There’s Smoke There’s Sickness: Woodsmoke a Big NW Pollution Source

$15 a year will get you a text or email message from Preserve Our Islands’ “Orca Blasts” whenever orcas or other whales approach Vashon Island.  Orca alerts will help Islanders see whales

If you like to eat: Martha Baskin at Green Acre Radio reports on Seattle Culinary Academy’s ‘seed to plate’ cuisine, one of the nation’s first programs to teach culinary sustainability. Savory and Sustainable Seed to Table Cuisine at the Seattle Culinary Academy  

If you can build new ferries in Washington, why not new tugboats?  Tulalips lobby Navy to give tug contract to state shipyard

Some of the thousand or so litres of heating oil that leaked from a Saanich home and entered the Colquitz River in late November is still on plant material in the upstream portion of Swan Creek.  Predicted rain could affect Swan Creek oil spill

Chris Genovali, executive director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and Misty MacDuffee, chairwoman of the Gulf Islands Alliance, address in a guest editorial the risks associated with Kinder Morgan tripling the amount of crude oil being shipped from Vancouver's Burrard Inlet through Georgia Strait, the Fraser estuary, Gulf Islands, Haro Strait and Juan de Fuca Strait. Tanker and Tar Sands Oil Threaten the Salish Sea 


Meanwhile, a School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary study found that moving Canadian heavy oil to the West Coast, where it can be shipped to markets in California and Asia, could add up to $131-billion (U.S) to Canada’s GDP between 2016 and 2030, translating to $27-billion in federal, provincial and municipal tax receipts. Blocking pipelines to B.C. would entail loss of billions: study  

And, finally for the week, Whitney Pipkin at the Skagit Valley Herald profiles Bud Anderson, head of the Bow-based Falcon Research Group. Go bird, go Bud.  Birding with Bud

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 843 AM PST FRI DEC 16 2011
TODAY
S WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 15 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
E WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
SAT
W SWELL 9 FT AT 15 SECONDS. SE WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
SAT NIGHT
W SWELL 10 FT. SW WIND 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
SUN
W SWELL 9 FT. LIGHT WIND...BECOMING E 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
SUN NIGHT
W SWELL 9 FT. E WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.

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12/15 State budget, new ferry, fish funds, Japan debris, Duwamish grants, mobile use

John Bohannon

New blog: “Well, sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world"

If you like to watch: This might help you see the world differently... John Bohannon: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal

Puget Sound Partnership has posted its complete draft Action Agenda update, including the Biennial Science Workplan, and asks for comments by Jan. 20. Click here.

Home for the holidays. The legislature voted to close $480 million of the state’s $2 billion budget hole and is leaving the hard work until they return Jan. 9 for their scheduled 60-day session. Legislature adjourns 17-day special session in Olympia  

The new 144-car state ferry will be built by a Washington industry “team” consisting of Vigor Industrial and its US Fab shipbuilding division and subcontractors Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island, Jesse Engineering of Tacoma, Vigor Marine of Everett and Eltech Electric of Seattle. Vigor announces "build in Washington" team for ferry

Recreational fishers are calling ‘foul’ over the Governor using recreational dollars from the state’s Wildlife Account to pay for General Fund salmon hatchery production that benefits commercial and tribal fishing.  Angling groups: Budget shift a betrayal

Oceanographers Curt Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Jim Ingraham — a.k.a. “DriftBusters Inc.” -- say the first piece of debris that could be identified as washing up on the West Coast from the March 11 tsunami in Japan — a large black float — was found on a Neah Bay beach two weeks ago. First debris from Japanese earthquake/tsunami reaches Olympic Peninsula

Marine Lumber Services, Toth Enterprises, Puget Creek Watershed Alliance/Garden Cycles, People for Puget Sound, Environmental Coalition of South Seattle and the South Park Area Redevelopment Association each have received $25,000 in grants for projects that help control combined sewer overflows and support cleanup of the Lower Duwamish River.  $150,000 in grants for the Duwamish

The market research firm eMarketer says that in 2011, the average adult consumer said they were on their mobile device for 65 minutes a day versus 44 minutes with print media — 26 minutes with newspapers and 18 minutes with magazines. Are you an “average adult consumer?” Mobile use surpasses print for first time

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 858 AM PST THU DEC 15 2011
TODAY
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. NW SWELL 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 14 SECONDS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

--
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12/14 Salish Sea News and Weather: Eat crab, overfishing, bag ban, black bear, coyotes, Edmonds streams, Discover Pass, ocean debris, liveaboards, HB 1904

PHOTO: Nancy Leson, Seattle Times

If you like to eat: Nancy Leson blogs, “When I was a kid, we ate a lot of crab. Blue crab. I'd hang out with my siblings on the docks at the Jersey shore, catching those puny crustaceans using a simple hook-and-line baited with squished-up Wonder Bread. We'd slowly reel in our catch, praying the creatures wouldn't fall back in the drink. Then, we'd toss the crab into a bucket of seawater until they'd meet their maker -- our mother -- who'd throw in a big hit of Old Bay seasoning and steam them for us. Today, my siblings eat those crabs by the dozen alongside pitchers of beer at crab joints "down the shore" and at taverns throughout Philadelphia. But now that I'm a hard-core Pacific Northwesterner, there's only one crab for me: Dungeness.” Got crab? (Dungeness, that is.) Well, get cracking! 

Oceana filed suit in U.S. District Court contending that NOAA Fisheries Service violated provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens fisheries management act by failing to account for the needs of the ecosystem when setting the harvest limits for sardines, anchovies, mackerel and squid. Sadly, much of the harvest goes for bait and feed used on fish farms. Lawsuit: Overfishing leaves salmon, whales hungry  

Is Seattle ready to join Edmonds, Bellingham and Mukilteo in green? The Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee of the Seattle City Council Tuesday approved an amended plastic bag ban that will go to the full Council Monday for final action. Seattle's proposed plastic bag ban clears committee  

Thank goodness, they didn’t shoot. The adventurous dumpster-diving black bear who was discovered in downtown Vancouver Monday afternoon has been given a new home in Squamish. Black bear gets new home in Squamish area after downtown Vancouver foray  

Meanwhile, the population of coyotes on Fox Island isn’t just dense, “it’s out of whack,” says wildlife biologist Matt Stevens.  Fox Island Residents Host Meeting to Discuss Coyote Concerns  

Adopt-A-Stream Foundation surveyed streams at Perrinville, Lunds Gulch and Picnic Point and reports that each has good habitat supporting fish but barriers remain that prevent salmon and trout from traveling to the streamhead to spawn. Three Edmonds streams in good health but few hurdles remain for salmon  

Fixing the new Discover Pass: Washington State University’s November survey showed that the one-pass for one-car policy has a negative effect on people purchasing the Discover Card. A clause in the program that limited transferability between vehicles will become a thing of the past under legislation proposed by state Senator Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island. Ranker proposes new legislation for Washington Park Discover Pass  

Know the difference between cleaning up debris in the open ocean and cleaning it up once it’s reached the shore? Open ocean cleanup efforts require hands, boat and supplies which can cost more than $35,000 per day to operate, because the composition of the debris makes it difficult to clean. Tsunami debris 'difficult to clean' and most must come up by hand  

Vanessa Ho at SeattlePI.com reports on Seattle’s update of its shoreline master plan and its effects on “liveaboards.” What’s a “houseboat” and when is a vessel a “floating home?” When are you living on a “house barge” and not on a “vessel?” Seattle cracks down on houseboat-like boats

One of the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s legislative priorities is HB 1904 which would allow visiting boats to stay in Washington longer, making it easier for boatyards to install water treatment systems and protecting boaters from additional taxes. Boat battles brewing in Oly  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 242 AM PST WED DEC 14 2011
TODAY
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 6 TO 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 4 TO 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service.

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12/13 Salish Sea News and Weather: Coal suit, state budget, poop fines, no to Kyoto, restoration funds, Thurston CAO, Frankenfish, seafood diet

Blue whale (The Olympian)

Congratulations! Mukilteo council bans plastic bags

For only the third time in 50 years in state, researchers saw the world’s largest mammal off Westport. 6 blue whales spotted off coast  

RE Sources in Bellingham filed suit yesterday against SSA Marine for violations of the Clean Water Act associated with grading and tree-clearing at its Gateway Pacific coal export terminal at Cherry Point. SSA says the suit serves no purpose.  RE Sources files lawsuit against coal port developer's ground disturbance last summer

Round One: The state faces a $1.4 billion budget deficit; the legislature in special session thus far has come up with some cuts, fund transfers and delayed payments.  Legislators unveil $479M in initial budget cuts

Department of Last Resort:
The state Department of Ecology fined two livestock operators in Skagit County $14,000 each for allowing livestock waste to pollute waterways flowing into the Samish River. More than 20 agencies are involved in the Clean Samish Initiative, which aims to remove sources of the fecal coliform bacteria that pollutes Samish Bay. Ecology fines two livestock owners $14,000 each

"The Kyoto Protocol does not represent the path forward for Canada," Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent said Monday. Canada to formally withdraw from Kyoto accord

Department of Big Money:
$100,000 to study the feasibility of uncovering Willow Creek, $177,557 to remove Suiattle River rip-rap, $200,000 to install woody materials in the south fork of the Stillaguamish River, $144,502 to restore the lower Skykomish River, $750,000 to restore the Smith Island Marsh, $369,152 to enhance the Middle Pilchuck River habitat, $300,000 to place logjams in the north fork of the Stillaguamish River, $206,280 to protect Tree Farm Hole, and $249,906 to restore Jim Creek Snohomish County gets nearly $2.5 million in state salmon recovery grants

The Nooksack tribe was awarded nearly $1.13 million in three separate grants to improve conditions in the north and south forks of the Nooksack River. The money will pay for artificial log jams designed to improve areas where salmon grow, rest or spawn. The Whatcom Land Trust received $375,000 to help buy 60 acres along the north fork to protect salmon habitat.  Nooksack tribe, Whatcom Land Trust get $1.5M for salmon protection in Nooksack River

Restoration of surf smelt spawning grounds, removal of  190 derelict fishing nets and development of materials for a neighborhood salmon conservation easement program in San Juan County are possible with the awarding of $405,830 in  grants from the Salmon Recovery Board. SJC receives $405K salmon recovery grant

Skagit County agencies received grants to construct engineered logjams at the south fork of the Nooksack River, purchase 105 acres for salmon protection by Seattle City Light, assess the risks of removing an old bank hardening along Robinson Road and to begin restoring Illabot Creek near Rockport. Skagit salmon restoration efforts net $2.3 million

The Olympian reports on Saturday’s Thurston County public hearing on proposed changes to its critical-areas ordinance. About 30 property owners and representatives of different groups attended. The county has not updated its critical-areas ordinance since 1994 and is proposing changes including increased buffer distances and protections for prairie habitat. Critical-areas meeting draws crowd in Olympia

NPR’s Joe Palca explains why the long-running regulatory saga of AquaBounty's application to sell salmon with a growth hormone gene from one fish plus an antifreeze gene from another — which help it grow twice as fast as typical farmed salmon — does not seem headed toward a conclusion. Safety concerns linger around genetically modified salmon

Ashley Ahearn at EarthFix explains why the amount of seafood people eat may require the state to adjust water quality standards. How Much Seafood Is the NW Eating? The Answer Impacts Water Quality

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 832 AM PST TUE DEC 13 2011
TODAY
E WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 12 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING SW 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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12/12 Salish Sea News and Weather: Bag ban, shellfish initiative, dog poop, Hood Canal, Fisheries and Oceans, Bob Hooton, burn ban, closing fishing, sea turtle, Colquitz spill, sewage power, Whaling People

Zoolights (Peter Haley/News Tribune)

Bring on Jaws. New draw at Zoolights this year: Santa swimming with the sharks

Go Mukilteo. Mukilteo could decide Monday to ban plastic grocery bags

More money and a new initiative to increase jobs, clean up the environment and provide more "healthy, tasty food." $4.5 million from the National Shellfish Initiative and the Washington Shellfish Initiative. State, federal governments work together to increase shellfish populations

Skagit Leeks blogs on following the money in the Samish watershed with the Acronym Gang (CSI, PIC, EPA, DOE, DOH, CD, SCEA), Acronym Gang Holds Taxpayers Hostage

Maybe this will help: Samish Bay continues to close to shellfish harvesters routinely after heavy rains, so Skagit County government has proposed declaring the entire Samish watershed a marine recovery area, which would require everyone in the watershed to have an annual or every three year septic system inspecting, depending on the type of system. County seeks extra watershed protection

Real scoop on the poop. Officials in New Taipei City say that more than 4,000 people have collected 14,500 bags of excrement. For each bag they turned in, they were given a lottery ticket. A woman in her 50s won the top prize - a gold ingot worth $2,200 (£1,400). A Taiwanese city is keeping dog mess off its streets by offering prizes to owners who clear up after their pets.

More money for salmon. Chris Dunagan of the Kitsap Sun reports that restoration of the Dosewallips River estuary on the west side of Hood Canal continues next year with a $506,000 grant approved by the state's Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Restoration grants have been given to the Dowewallips, Union River Estuary and 12 other Hood Canal projects. Hood Canal salmon projects total nearly $4 million

About 400 of Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans employees will be affected by reductions coming out of a strategic review. More than 200 are biologists and scientists working in ocean management, fish habitat management, hydrography and aquaculture. Fisheries and Oceans employees bracing for cuts

Retired Skeena steelhead biologist Bob Hooton made a lot of enemies as a staunch advocate for reducing steelhead take and retired in 1999. Now he’s back with a book, Skeena Steelhead – Unknown Past, Uncertain Future, naming names. Mark Hume reports, Steelhead’s plight brings retired B.C. biologist back in the game

We are what we breathe. For the past four years, air quality officials have been using the carrot approach to bring Pierce County’s wood stove polluters into compliance with national health standards. Now they’re getting ready with the sticks.  Tacoma-Pierce County group looks to toughen burn-ban regulations, crack down on violators

Low halibut stocks have led the International Pacific Halibut Commission to cut combined commercial fishing catches by 17 percent in 2012. Guided sport fisheries saw a catch-limit decline of 15 percent. In southeast Alaska limits may be set at one fish per person.  Tightened catch limits alarm halibut fisheries  Meanwhile, New England cod fishing may be shut down from Cape Cod to Canada because of population declines but fishermen say the cod population is recovering.  Scientists Say Cod Are Scant; Nets Say Otherwise

For the third time in the past two weeks a green sea turtle has washed ashore on the west side of Vancouver Island. Third sea turtle in three weeks washes up on Vancouver Island  

The cost of investigating and cleaning up the spill of 1,000 litres of heating oil from a home into the Colquitz River in Saanich has cost $20,000 thus far. Who pays and who is really responsible? Oil spill turns homeowner's life into a 'nightmare'

Like holiday lights? The West Sound Utility District has installed a small turbine generator at the sewage treatment plant and it spins from the flow of treated wastewater and powers Christmas lights. Pilot project lit by sewage waterfall in Port Orchard

Dave Obee in the Times Colonist reviews the book, The Whaling People of the West Coast of Vancouver Island and Cape Flattery, by Eugene Arima and Alan Hoover, about the 20 First Nations who live along the sea-- - Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht, Pacheedaht and Makah among them  Book revisits the history of West Coast First Nations  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 837 AM PST MON DEC 12 2011
TODAY
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 13 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service.

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12/9 Salish Sea News and Weather: PIC grants, Skagit fecals, Everett mill, plastics, Gulf songbirds, Orton Junction, geoducks, tsunami debris, Nisqually award

Taiyangbao.ca

Get up before 5 AM tomorrow morning and, if the sky’s clear, enjoy a total eclipse of the moon.  There's a large lunar eclipse coming bright and early Saturday

Meet the future; it’s arrived. Vancouver Sun launches new Chinese-language website Taiyangbao.ca

Kitsap, Pierce, Thurston, San Juan and Skagit counties get the first round of funds under the new Puget Sound Pollution Identification and Correction Program to lower high levels of fecal coliform from failing septic systems, livestock and pet waste, urban stormwater and boats in marinas. State adopts Kitsap's pollution program

Maybe more money will help clean up the Bayview and NoName watersheds of Padilla Bay. Rabbits’ Guy forwarded findings presented earlier this week from volunteer water quality sampling of 19 sites for fecal coliform from October 2010 thru August 2011. “As you will see from the data, it is pretty bad when it rains,” he comments. Bay View/NoName Watershed water quality data  2010-2011

700 employees will be out of work as a result of Everett’s pulp mill not being sold. Kimberly-Clark won’t discuss where the negotiations broke down with Atlas Holdings LLC but mention disagreement over cleanup responsibilities in the East Waterway, polluted with dioxin, a cancer-causing toxin produced in chlorine-based pulp making. Kimberly-Clark's Everett mill to close after talks fail; Negotiations break down over environmental issues; mill to be closed by March 2012 

Martha Baskin at Green Acre Radio reports on the progress of Seattle --The Emerald City — attempting to prove its green credentials by banning plastic bags like Washington DC, Portland, Edmonds and Bellingham. What’s Ubiquitous But Microscopic, Useful But Harmful And Used by Two Billion in the State and Two Ninety Million in the City?
 
Clare Leschin-Hoar in Grist goes deep on how washing your fleece jacket can put thousands of mjcroplastic polyester fibers down the drain and into our waterways and ocean food chain. Fleeced again: How microplastic causes macro problems for the ocean

A decades-long study of songbirds on Portland Island and several other small Gulf islands find birds are under stress and sometimes dying because they're frightened of predators. Meanwhile, deer populations are booming because they have no predators to be afraid of.  'The fear effect' threatens survival of our songbirds 

Futurewise,  American Farmland Trust, the Friends of Pierce County, the Tahoma Audubon Society and the PCC Farmland Trust have appealed Pierce County’s decision to let Sumner expand its growth boundaries into 182 acres of protected soil. The Orton Junction plan would allow a mixed-use development south of Sumner with shops, medical facilities, homes and a YMCA. Groups appeal urban growth expansion near Sumner 

The Case Inlet Shoreline Association and the Sierra Club Washington State Chapter have petitioned the Washington Department of Ecology to amend geoduck aquaculture rulemaking. The petitioners charge that the rule adopted by Ecology allows a permit exemption for geoduck aquaculture not authorized by the Shoreline Management Act. Citizens Petition Ecology To Change Geoduck Aquaculture Rulemaking 
 
Oceanographers Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Jim Ingraham talk at 6:30 PM on Tuesday at Peninsula College. Oceanographers study what will wash up on beaches after Japan's March tsunami
 
The Nisqually Estuary Restoration Team receives the Coastal America Partnership Award for outstanding efforts to restore and protect the coastal environment on Saturday at the Refuge. Nisqually Estuary Team To Be Honored

Climate scientist Cliff Mass reports that there’s been unusual high pressure this week and, as a result, unusual low tides along the Pacific coast. You notice anything?  High Pressure Produces Low Sea Level

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 837 AM PST FRI DEC 9 2011
  SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON
  TODAY
 E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 18 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
 TONIGHT
 E WIND 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING SW AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 TO 6 FT AT 16 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG
 AFTER MIDNIGHT.
 SAT
 W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 6 TO 7 FT AT 15 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
 SAT NIGHT
 W WIND 5 TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 TO 8 FT.
 SUN
 LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 7 TO 8 FT.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter. 

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