3/28 Whidbey slide, poor folk health, Kitsap streams, land fish farm, fish budget, mason bee, Glines Canyon dam

(PHOTO: Ted Warren, Associated Press)

It is a part of the Puget Sound geology, a legacy of the glacier that formed this area: Massive chunks of shoreline hillsides just slide off. Early Wednesday morning, just such a 1000-foot-wide swath fell off in the Ledgewood Beach development on the west side of this island. The slide was so powerful, it pushed one home at the bottom of the cliff some 200 feet out into the water, said Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue Chief Ed Hartin, and it took out 300 to 400 feet of Driftwood Way, the road that led to the shoreline. Erik Lacitis reports. Whidbey landslide: 'Where I had been standing was no longer there'

Ginny Broadhurst and Bill Dewey write: "Chemistry is not always easy to learn or communicate about, but it is at the very root of the problem our oceans face today. The chemistry of the world's oceans and inland marine waters, such as Puget Sound, is changing significantly and with unprecedented speed. The most serious of these radical changes is ocean acidification. We must pay attention to this problem and act to reduce the threat it poses..." Threatened Puget Sound marine life shows global threat of ocean acidification  To learn more tonight: Ocean Acidification Seminar features local experts from the WA State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification. 6 pm, Bellingham Cruise Terminal Dome Room, free.

New blog: “I’m going to the workshop in Bellingham this evening at the Cruise Terminal to hear local experts talk about ocean acidification. I don’t expect to come home feeling very cheerful...”  Drinking Ocean Acid

A new study claims that people living in the Duwamish Valley are exposed to more pollution and live shorter lives than residents in other parts of the Seattle.  Two local nonprofits – Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC) and Just Health Action – helped to create The Duwamish Valley Cumulative Health Impacts Analysis in an effort to influence the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently released plan to clean up the Duwamish River. The study compared the 98108 zip code, which includes South Park, Georgetown and part of Beacon Hill, to 10 other zip codes in Seattle. Researchers looked at all exposures to toxic substances that affect health – such as air pollution and contaminated soils – as well as things known to make people more vulnerable to illness, such as stress or lack of health insurance. They found the average life expectancy in the Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods is 73.3 years, eight years shorter than the Seattle average. Rose Egge reports. Study: Duwamish residents have short life expectancy

Efforts to track down and clean up sources of pollution in Kitsap County continue to pay off, as revealed in the latest water-quality report issued by the Kitsap Public Health District. Kitsap County streams showing long-term improvements in water quality reached 22 last year — the greatest number in the 17-year history of the health district’s monitoring program. That’s about one-third of the 58 streams targeted for monthly testing of bacterial pollution. Chris Dunagan reports. Kitsap water quality continues to improve

B.C. seafood firm Willowfield Enterprises will begin harvesting next week the world’s first commercial supply of sockeye salmon raised on a land-based farm. The Langley fish farm expects to produce up to 500 kilograms of sockeye a week under the West Creek brand for wholesaler Albion Fisheries, according to company president Don Read. It will be sold at Choices Markets. Randy Shore reports. World's first land-based-farm sockeye salmon ready for harvest in B.C.

Money in this year's federal budget for aquaculture has critics wondering when Ottawa plans to speak up for wild salmon on the west coast. The government gave the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) $57.5 million over five years "to enhance regulatory certainty" in the aquaculture industry, but it has yet to respond to the final report of the $26-million Cohen Commission, which was set up to look into the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River. Money for aquaculture, but not wild salmon, critics note

The remaining 60 feet of Glines Canyon Dam will linger until at least July because of sediment clogging a water treatment plant on the Elwha River. Demolition of the dam, originally set to resume two months ago after a fish window closed, won't restart until after repairs are completed on Elwha Water Treatment Plant intakes, the National Park Service announced this week. Jeremy Schwartz reports. Glines Canyon Dam removal postponed by water plant woes

Researchers, federal fisheries officials and employees of a Vancouver Island salmon farm are trying to figure out what caused the death of a humpback whale found floating near some of the company's nets. The whale was discovered by workers before first light Wednesday morning at Mainstream Canada's Ross Point farm, located northwest of Tofino on Vancouver Island's west coast, said company spokeswoman Laurie Jensen. Researchers probe death of whale found at B.C. salmon farm

When gardeners talk about bees, the buzz is usually about honeybees. After all, honeybees pollinate fruit blossoms and produce sweet amber honey. But with colony collapse disorder decimating their numbers, gardeners are turning to an unsung heroine, the native mason bee. These gentle, solitary bees are pollinating powerhouses. One mason bee can do the pollinating work of 100 honeybees. A local mason-bee entrepreneur has taken note. All he needs are bee-raising partners to help increase their population and ensure the nation’s food supply. Martha Baskin reports. Mason Bees to the Rescue: Gentle Pollinators Emerge to Solve Food Crisis

Illegal construction and landscaping work done in defiance of a stop-work order triggered a landslide and dump of sediment into fish-bearing Rodgers Creek last week, according to the District of West Vancouver. The slide happened at 2785 Chelsea Close west of Panorama Village, just above the Trans-Canada Highway. Brent Richter reports. Illegal work triggers landslide into fish-bearing creek in West Vancouver

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 232 AM PDT THU MAR 28 2013
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 KT...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 3 FT AT 9 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

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