1/8 Dead orca, Shell drill, fish farms, Ballard pollution, coal trains, Swinomish dredge

Nooksack eagle (PHOTO: Traci Walter)

San Juan Island photographers Chris Teren and Traci Walter spotted a rare sight while photographing eagles feeding on the Nooksack River on Sunday. One of the eagles has white spots on its feathers, a condition known as "leucism." According to  the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, leucism is the unusual condition in which the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. Susan Wyatt reports. Rare bald eagle with white spots seen on Nooksack River  

A newborn orca was found washed up on a Dungeness Spit beach Monday morning, according to the Orca Network. The 7.5-foot male calf was found about a day or two after its death, Brad Hanson of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration told the non-profit. Its body has been taken to Seattle so that DNA testing can reveal whether it was a transient or resident orca. Newborn orca found dead on Dungeness Spit beach  

A giant floating drill rig that ran aground a week ago on a remote Alaska island arrived as planned Monday in the shelter of a Kodiak Island bay after being towed about 45 miles through swells as high as 15 feet, officials said. The Royal Dutch Shell PLC vessel was lifted off rocks late Sunday and towed away from the southeast side of Sitkalidak Island, where it sat exposed to the full-on fury of Gulf of Alaska winter storms since going grounding near the beach there on New Year's Eve. Dan Joling reports.  Inspections planned for drill rig pulled off rocks 

Paul Kingsnorth writes in Orion Magazine a long and challenging piece well worth reading, thinking about and discussing. Dark Ecology, Searching for truth in a post-green world

BC activist Alexandra Morton writes: "In the 1980,’s British Columbia’s 1st salmon feedlot developers decided it would be good for them to import Atlantic salmon. Atlantic salmon were the money fish, known to survive intensive feedlot operations. The Steelhead Society of British Columbia, United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, BC Ministry of Environment, even members of the federal fisheries salmon transplant committee, and the Director General of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Region strongly opposed import of Atlantic salmon eggs. They all cited concern that exotic diseases would accompany these shipments. It would appear they were right, but now as this evidence mounts – everyone has fallen silent. There are now just a handful of individuals still standing and I have no doubt we will also be silenced unless others take a visible stand...." Silenced

If you like to watch: The National Geographic Photo Contest Winners 2012

If there's one thing that Ballard is good at, it's polluting the Puget Sound. During November, sewer overflows occurred for more than 486 hours in Ballard. There are only 720 hours in a month, meaning for almost 68 percent of the month, Ballard pumped polluted water into the otherwise pristine looking Sound. More than 27 million gallons overflowed during the month, contributing more than 27 percent of the citywide total for the month. Zachariah Bryan reports. When it comes to polluting Puget Sound, Ballard takes cake  

Puyallup and Sumner leaders are voicing concerns about traffic congestion and other problems that proposed increases in coal trains through East Pierce County could cause. The cities are adding to regional worries that at least 18 trains per day will be added to Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks for exporting coal from Montana and Wyoming to Asia through a proposed terminal in Whatcom County. Steve Maynard reports. Coal train issue draws scrutiny in Puyallup, Sumner

Fishermen, boaters and businesses that rely on the Swinomish Channel will be breathing a sigh of relief Sunday, as a long-awaited channel dredging project is set to wrap up. The $2.68 million project, funded and led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is on schedule and slightly under budget. It is expected to relieve dangerously high sediment buildup and create a safer 12-foot channel depth. Mark Stayton reports. Revitalizing a marine economy  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST TUE JAN 8 2013
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING S 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 14 SECONDS. RAIN.
TONIGHT
SW WIND 20 TO 30 KT...BECOMING W 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 14 SECONDS. RAIN.
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