9/19 Mussel test, starfish wasting, Salish Sea pledge, oil protest, creosote removal, Gabriola Is. bridge

Year of Light Photo Contest
Your photo of light in your life could win you fame and fortune – really. The United Nations has declared 2015 the “International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies” to help raise awareness of how important applications of light-based science and engineering are in our lives. Think  of the internet, those buoys off Sequim using lasers to gather information about the wind, the aurora borealis. Think of your camera! And bring that all together in the form of your entry in the photo contest sponsored by the optics and photonics association SPIE. The society is offered a total of $4,500 in cash prizes and placement on its website and in its print magazine, SPIE Professional, to winners of the SPIE International Year of Light 2015 Photo Contest. Don’t delay – the contest closes at the end of September.

Shellfish Tell Puget Sound’s Polluted Tale
Scientists used shellfish to conduct the broadest study to date of pollution levels along the shore of Puget Sound. And in some places, it’s pretty contaminated. This past winter the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife put mussels at more than 100 sites up and down Puget Sound. After a few months, volunteers and WDFW employees gathered the shellfish and analyzed them for metals, fossil fuel pollution, flame-retardants and other chemicals. The WDFW just released the results. Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix)

Proposed Emergency Legislation Aims To Address Starfish Wasting Syndrome
Most people who've grown up in the Northwest can remember walking on the beach as a kid, enjoying tide pools full of brightly-colored starfish. But beachcombing has become less joyful over the past year. An epidemic known as sea star wasting syndrome has devastated huge populations of starfish, especially on the West Coast. U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-Olympia, has introduced an emergency act in Congress to respond to the outbreak. The syndrome was first noticed in Washington waters last summer and has spread rapidly since. White lesions appear on the skin of affected starfish which then curl up, contort and disintegrate. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Sign the Pledge to Save the Salish Sea
Here's the pledge: "We are concerned about the export of fossil fuels through our shared waters. Tar sands pipelines, oil and LNG terminals and new coal ports proposed on both sides of the Canada/US border would have significant impacts on the air, ocean and wildlife, and would put community health and safety, our economy and our climate at risk. I  demand that new oil, coal and LNG export projects proposed for the Salish Sea be rejected, and I hereby pledge to take cross-border action to protect the Salish Sea and our climate from the threats of fossil fuel expansion." Sign the pledge. And: Rally for Salish Sea health Saturday at Peace Arch park  (Tacoma News Tribune)

Activists block tracks near oil terminal at Port Westward  (Longview Daily News) Comment period begins today for Grays Harbor terminal  (Dept. of Ecology) Councilman plans anti-crude-by-rail resolution   (Aberdeen Daily World)

Dilapidated docks, creosote piles to be removed from Chambers Creek, Steilacoom waterfronts
Work began Thursday to clean up the shoreline at Sunnyside Beach Park in Steilacoom and will start next month at Pierce County’s Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place. On the Steilacoom waterfront, the cleanup effort will remove 32 creosote piles. In University Place, it will take out two docks, including almost 800 creosote piles. The dilapidated docks and piles date to a time when gravel mining dominated the waterfront. Brynn Grimley reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Gabriola Island bridge could replace BC Ferries service
The B.C. government is going to study the idea of building a bridge to Gabriola Island to replace BC Ferries service to the Southern Gulf Island. The study, which is expected to be completed by an independent consultant this spring, will examine potential locations, provide a cost estimate, and make a cost comparison with the existing ferry service. The government says the study is a response to a petition by local residents, but the study is not intended to assess public support for the idea. (CBC) See also: Map: Where would a fixed link from Nanaimo to Gabriola Island go?

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT FRI SEP 19 2014
TODAY
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING NE TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS...BECOMING W AT 9 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
NW WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 7 FT AT
 12 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.
SAT
E WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
SE WIND 10 TO 15 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
SUN
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS IN THE AFTERNOON. W
 SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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