7/9 Hood Canal easement, toxic fish, BC LNG, Vic sewage, Springer's calf, low tides, guillemots, BC hedgehogs

Trident sub in Hood Canal

Wash., Navy sign Hood Canal conservation easement
The Navy and Washington state's public lands commissioner have signed a conservation easement that's designed to block future industrial development on Hood Canal. The Kitsap Sun reports that the easement covers about 4,800 acres, from the Hood Canal bridge to just south of the Jefferson-Mason County line. The Navy is paying $720,000 for the easement, which precludes commercial projects that extend out into the water. In a statement, Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said Monday that the agreement "will buffer important military operating areas in Hood Canal and ensure the long-term stability of the Navy's presence at Naval Base Kitsap." Goldmark says the agreement "will also provide new protections for sensitive marine ecosystems and safeguard public access to Hood Canal." Capt. Tom Zwolfer is the commanding officer of Naval Base Kitsap. He says the agreement will help protect the Navy's operating areas for the next 55 years. (Associated Press) See also: COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS PETER GOLDMARK SIGNS CONSERVATION EASEMENT WITH U.S. NAVY  (WDNR News Release)

Inslee to outline fish consumption plan
....Inslee spokesman David Postman was unwilling in a recent interview to reveal the direction Inslee plans to head – but he gave a hint. “The task in front of us was not to just propose a new fish-consumption rule, but what can we do to keep the water clean and prevent pollutants and toxics from getting into the water,” Postman said. That portends a long-rumored wild card in Inslee’s announcement today, one that apparently will seek to reduce the burden on industry by pledging public funds for some kind of broad pollution-reduction strategy. Robert McClure and Kim Drury report. (Investigate West)

Port Alberni, B.C., site of proposed First Nations, LNG export plant
A Vancouver-based company and a Vancouver Island First Nation announced plans Tuesday to work together to build a liquefied natural gas plant on aboriginal-owned land on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Steelhead LNG Corp., and the Huu-ay-aht First Nations signed a development agreement to build the LNG plant on treaty land located near Bamfield at the southern end of Alberni Inlet about 90 kilometres west of Port Alberni. Dirk Meissner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Kilmer urges EPA to seek end to Victoria dumping untreated sewage into Strait of Juan de Fuca
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer has urged the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to stress with the Canadian government the importance of a quick solution to the continued dumping of untreated sewage near Victoria into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Kilmer, a Port Angeles native and Gig Harbor Democrat whose 6th Congressional District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties, sent a July 3 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy asking that she raise with the Canadian government the need for “a speedy resolution” to Victoria dumping about 34 million gallons of raw sewage per day into the Strait directly across from the North Olympic Peninsula. Jeremy Schwartz reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Vancouver Aquarium seeks name for killer whale Springer’s calf
Whale researchers are asking for help in naming the recently spotted one-year-old calf of Springer, a northern resident killer whale who was rescued, rehabilitated and reunited with her pod a decade ago. Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

For your use and reference: Washington Sea Grant writes: "We are pleased to share with you a new Ocean Acidification fact sheet, Ocean Acidification in the Pacific Northwest, that summarizes our growing understanding of the causes and consequences of ocean acidification in Pacific Northwest marine waters." Available online.

Lowest tides of summer coming up this week leading to prime shellfish gathering
The next upcoming low tide series in Puget Sound and Hood Canal for gathering clams and oysters begins Wednesday, and this will be some of the most extreme leading to widespread beach exposure of the summer even for the elusive geoduck. Mark Yuasa reports. (Seattle Times)

Guillemot surveys are important reminders
Summer time and the living is easy, well at least for us humans. It’s the most demanding month for our avian friends. Eggs have hatched, babies are begging for food and their predators are looking for their own dinner. While we lounge on the beach, pigeon guillemots are busy finding and delivering small fish to their young, sequestered in burrows high up on our steep erosional bluffs. Frances Wood reports. (South Whidbey Record)

Tiny hedgehogs roamed B.C. 50 million years ago
Tiny, ancient hedgehogs and prehistoric tapirs once roamed the Bulkley Valley in northern British Columbia, many millennia ago when the area was a temperate oasis from the surrounding tropics, a new study says. An expedition of scientists found fossils of the estimated 50-million-year-old mammals in Driftwood Canyon near Smithers, B.C. – the first mammal remains found preserved in the well-known fossil beds of the provincial park. Dene Moore reports. (Globe and Mail)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 839 PM PDT TUE JUL 8 2014
WED
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT...THEN 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. NW SWELL
 6 FT AT 7 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
WED NIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 7 FT AT 8 SECONDS.

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