8/28 Puffins, breeding ban, Lummi fishing, Kinder Morgan, BNSF tank cars, threatened coral, James Is.

(PHOTO: Alan Berner/Seattle Times)

Puffin chicks at the Seattle Aquarium
It's the first time in 14 years that puffins have given birth at the aquarium, and within 10 days, two chicks were born to two different mated pairs. Courtney Riffkin writes. Alan Berner's photos. (Seattle Times)

Vancouver Aquarium files legal challenge to whale, dolphin breeding ban
The Vancouver Aquarium has filed a legal challenge seeking to overturn a Vancouver Park Board resolution to ban the breeding of whales and dolphins at the popular Stanley Park tourist attraction…. In a petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the aquarium claims the board's decision falls outside its jurisdiction as a municipal body. The aquarium says the resolution interferes with its day-to-day operations. (CBC)

Lummi fishing rights south of San Juans remain uncertain
Lummi Nation won a legal battle over fishing rights that have been contested for more than 20 years, but the tribe's right to fish south of the San Juan Islands is still uncertain. A federal court of appeals on Aug. 19 reversed a lower court decision that had barred the Lummis from fishing west of northern Whidbey Island. The court ruled the boundaries of the "usual and accustomed grounds and stations" for fishing, as described in the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott, remained unclear. The case could be brought again by the S'Klallam tribes, which were challenging Lummi Nation in the case. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Trans Mountain Pipeline survey work to start today on Burnaby Mountain
Kinder Morgan plans to begin survey work at the foot of Burnaby Mountain today (Wednesday) for its planned expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. The Texas oil giant wants to triple the existing pipeline's capacity. The proposed $5.4 billion  project would mean an additional 590,000 barrels of oil passing through several Metro Vancouver municipalities each day. (CBC) See also: Give capital region a say on pipeline, says Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin  Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Top BNSF rail executive says safer tanker car can greater lower risk of oil-by-rail disasters
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s executive chairman Matthew Rose says his company wants safer ways to haul volatile oil by rail from the Bakken fields of North Dakota to refineries and terminals in Washington and around the country that have seen rapidly increasing traffic since 2011. BNSF, the nation’s largest railroad and hauler of oil by rail, has pledged to buy 5,000 future oil tank cars, which don’t yet exist. But prototypes of the third-generation tanker have been built, and await federal approval before being mass produced and deployed on a large scale, Rose said in an interview in Seattle this week. Brad Shannon reports. (Olympian)

Feds protect 20 species of coral threatened by climate change
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration looked at listing 66 species of coral but listed only 20 for various reasons. All are called threatened, not endangered. Two coral species were already listed. Seth Borenstein reports. (Associated Press)

James Island's former owner must pay $4.75M for pollution cleanup
The former owner of James Island must pay $4.75 million to the property’s current owner for work done to clean up contamination resulting from its historic use as an explosives manufacturing site. PPG Architectural Coatings Canada Inc. (previously ICI Canada Inc.) had carried out environmental remediation prior to selling the island. The present owner, J.I. Properties Inc., claimed $5.3 million to cover its 2004-2006 costs to upgrade the property, located off the east side of the Saanich Peninsula. The 780-acre island is for sale at $75 million. Carla Wilson reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 252 AM PDT THU AUG 28 2014
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 2 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
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