10/17 Salish Sea News and Weather: Oil spills, jellyfish, BC PSP, Eld Inlet, Shinglemill preserve, Pebble Mine, 7B souls, shrinking species

PHOTO: AP

Mr. Grant adds his comment to the blog, “What Is A ‘Constituency’ For Puget Sound?”

Bad oil days: They’ve now assessed possible shoreline damage after removing the work barge that sank off West Seattle last Friday, Coast Guard assesses spill damage to WA shoreline. On Saturday, a mishandled fuel transfer in Tacoma’s Hylebos Waterway spilled fuel, 100 gallons of diesel spill into Hylebos.  A barge with a crane sank in Gig Harbor on Saturday, Sunken barge spills diesel fuel in Gig Harbor.

And the really big one, as reported by the Associated Press: “Salvage crews have resumed pumping oil from a stricken cargo ship teetering on a reef off the New Zealand coast a week after abandoning an earlier attempt due to bad weather. But the condition of the vessel Rena is precarious, and more bad weather predicted for Monday night could hamper or even end salvage attempts. The ship has major structural cracks and experts say it could break apart or slip from the reef at any time.” Work resumes to pump oil from listing New Zealand ship

Arwyn Rick in the Peninsula Daily News reports on the fall visits from jellyfish washed ashore on Strait of Juan de Fuca beaches. An influx of visitors -- jellyfish -- float in on currents to North Olympic Peninsula
 
No eat: Possible paralytic shellfish poisoning may result from consuming mussels harvested from the Okever inlet near Powell River by Aquatec Seafoods Ltd. and Taylor Shellfish Canada (which does business as Fanny Bay Oysters) between Oct. 2 and 14. Contamination warning issued for B.C. mussels

Congratulations to Capitol Land Trust and volunteers at Saturday’s Eld Inlet restoration work day who planted slough sedge, red alder, salmonberry, and other trees and plants. Olympia watershed workers unite

Congratulations to Vashon Maury Island Land Trust for getting a restoration grant to continue their work at the Shinglemill Creek Preserve. Land trust garners grants for work at Shinglemill preserve

2 Weeks, 7 Cities 1 Goal: Trout Unlimited Alaska’s road show to stop the Pebble Mine proposal plays in Seattle today. "Save Bristol Bay Road Show" to highlight risk to jobs in Seattle

You still counting?: Challenges loom as world population about to hit 7 billion

Honey, they shrank the species: It’s controversial but a study claims that many of Earth’s species -- cotton, corn, strawberries, bay scallops, shrimp, crayfish, carp, Atlantic salmon, herring, frogs, toads, iguanas, hooded robins, red-billed gulls, California squirrels, lynx and wood rats — appear to be shrinking in individual size. Study blames global warming for shrinking size of some animals and plants

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON OCT 17 2011
  TODAY
 VARIABLE WIND 10 KT OR LESS. WIND WAVES 1 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 13 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG IN THE MORNING.
 TONIGHT
 E WIND 10 TO 15 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

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