2/18 Octopus, coal march, B'ham cleanup, DFO censor, no net pen, pesticide survey, fish on drugs, Elwha suit, derelict ships, ferry list, shark fin soup, Kulshan Creek Kids

Shilshole Bay rally (Joshua Trujillo, SeattlePI)

If you like to watch: Photographer Alan Berner documents the action at Octopus Week.  Octopus Season of Love 


A big march at Shilshole Bay by Seattle-area greens, and a much bigger environmental protest in Washington, D.C., delivered a message to President Obama as he played a Sunday round of golf with Tiger Woods in Palm City, Florida:    Walk your talk on climate change. The D.C. protest was keyed to the Keystone Pipeline, which would transport oil from Alberta’s huge, dirty oil sands project to Gulf Coast and Texas refineries in the United States.  The marchers on a raw Seattle winter day, a cold mist falling in 40-degree weather,  had a more immediate target, the proposed Gateway Pacific coal port, at Cherry Point, north of Bellingham. Joel Connelly reports. Big no-coal-train protest on cold day  But: What More Coal Trains Mean To A Railway Engineer  

Whatcom County's two state senators are political opposites in some ways but are working together to pass two toxic-cleanup bills that could benefit Bellingham's waterfront. A bill introduced by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, would speed up permitting for toxic cleanups funded through the Model Toxics Control Act. The other bill's main sponsor is Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, who wants to ensure that money set aside under the act doesn't get diverted from cleanup projects. Both bills passed out of the Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Ericksen chairs the committee, and Ranker is the ranking minority member. Ralph Schwartz reports. Whatcom senators strange bedfellows on Bellingham waterfront cleanup

Angry scientists and academics are accusing the Stephen Harper government of muzzling and censoring its scientists to the point that research cannot be published, even when there is collaboration with international researchers, unless it matches government policy. Under revised Fisheries and Oceans Canada rules, scientists working in its central and Arctic region cannot be involved in publishing research until a DFO division administrator has reviewed it “for any concerns/impacts to DFO policy.”  Judith Lavoie reports. DFO censoring federal scientists with research rules, critics say

A bill that would allow coastal counties to ban marine aquaculture net pen facilities has an “uphill battle” ahead of it after a hearing in a state House of Representative committee in Olympia last week, said the North Olympic Legislator who is sponsoring it. State Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, is sponsoring HB 1599, which would allow county governments to include outright bans of net pen fish-farming facilities proposed for shoreline areas in their state-required shoreline management plan updates. Jeremy Schwartz reports. Van De Wege's net pen bill gets hearing

More than 15,000 people who live in the Puget Sound region will be getting mailed surveys about how much they use pesticides on a day-to-day basis. The Washington State Department of Agriculture and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service are trying to gather data to learn how people in urban areas use pesticides. The three-page survey will be mailed within a week to people living in the 12 counties making up the Puget Sound region.  Survey to gauge pesticide use around Puget Sound

What happens to a fish on drugs? If it’s a wild European perch exposed to a popular anxiety medication, chances are it’s anti-social, wanders away from the safety of its group and devours food more quickly than its peers, all behaviors that could have profound ecological consequences, according to a forthcoming report in the journal Science. In a study aimed at understanding the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals that often wind up in the world’s waterways through wastewater, researchers from Umeå University in Sweden examined how perch behaved when exposed to oxazepam, a drug commonly used to treat anxiety disorders in humans. Brady Dennis reports. What happens when fish get high on discarded drugs?  

A federal judge has thrown out a suit against the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s hatchery plan, and the tribe has backed away from stocking the Elwha River with nonnative steelhead. Lynda Mapes reports. Federal court dismisses suit against Elwha hatchery; tribe drops nonnative steelhead stocking plan  

State officials would be encouraged to deal with derelict boats sooner — preferably before they sink — under a proposed law moving through the Legislature. Rep. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island, (is) the prime sponsor of House Bill 1245, would become the first major revision to the state’s Derelict Vessel Act since the law was adopted in 2002. The legislation was approved unanimously last week by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and now moves to a vote by the full House. Chris Dunagan reports. Bill in Legislature seeks early action for derelict vessels  

Washington State Ferries will soon take the lean out of its three newest ferries.  Adjustments will be made so the Chetzemoka, Salish and Kennewick will no longer list when the boats are empty. The work involves adding tons of ballast on each vessel. The boats are designed to lean when there are no vehicles because not all the weight is evenly distributed. The state plans to pour steel shot – a granular material used for sandblasting – into existing metal box-like containers on top of each boat's two fuel tanks. It's going to take about 180,000 pounds of steel shot for the vessels. Jerry Cornfield reports. State aims to stop ferries from leaning when empty  But see: Is new ferry a pricey sea-going lemon? And why?

It is, perhaps, the most contentious dish on the planet. It has divided communities, enraged activists, prompted allegations of racism and stirred politicians to action. The distinctive flavour comes from pork bones and chicken, but its infamy comes from the flavourless strands of cartilage floating at the top of each bowl. How do you solve a problem like shark fin soup? Some believe the answer might be found in the Pacific waters of British Columbia. But, much to the chagrin of a fledgling local fishery – a sustainable alternative to shark fins – no one seems willing to invest the dollars needed to find out. Andy Hoffman and Daniel Bitonti report. B.C. fishery’s answer to shark fin soup dilemma appears to be floundering  

On a drizzly midwinter afternoon, children with the Kulshan Creek Kids program found signs of spring during their nature walk on the Kulshan Creek Trail: the harmony of a warbler’s song, light green leaf buds sprouting from trees. Saturday’s excursion through the neighborhood wetland area near Bakerview Park was one of the Kulshan Creek Kids program’s monthly events. Together with the North Cascades Institute, National Forest Service, Mount Vernon Police Department, Skagit Youth and Family Services and the National Park Service, each month’s activity aims to teach low-income kids about their local environment and engage in Skagit’s natural settings. Lynsi Burton reports. Program seeks to teach children about environment  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST MON FEB 18 2013
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING SE TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 17 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING...
 THEN RAIN LIKELY.
TONIGHT
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 18 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
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