10/21 L120, BC LNG, Cedar River Chinook, Simushir, oil port, Dungeness River logjams, commute time

L120 and L86 (PHOTO: Carrie Sapp/KCPQ)

7-week-old baby orca missing, presumed dead
A baby orca born less than two months ago to one of Puget Sound’s killer whale pods is missing and presumed dead, according to a report on Q13 FOX. The station said that the Center for Whale Research confirmed on Monday that the orca known as L120, the first whale born to that pod since 2012, was not with his or her mother, L86, when the whales were recently in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. L86’s last calf, L112, was found dead in February in Long Beach, Wash., the station said.  She was about 3 years old. The southern resident killer whale community is now down to 78 members, the station said, as low or lower than it was in 2001.  In 2005, the group was protected under the Endangered Species Act. Linda Shaw reports. (Seattle Times)

B.C. promises world-leading emissions targets for LNG industry with new law
British Columbia can have a liquefied natural gas industry and still meet its targets to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, Environment Minister Mary Polak said Monday as she introduced a new law that she promises will foster the “cleanest LNG facilities” in the world. To achieve that difficult balance, the province will need to take tougher action around greenhouse-gas emissions in other sectors to compensate for the new industry. The government hopes to see five LNG plants built on the coast, which would increase the province’s annual emissions by 13 million tonnes – if industry meets the ambitious benchmark. Justine Hunter reports. (Globe and Mail)

B.C. LNG tax regime announcement coming today
The B.C. government is expected to unveil today how it plans to tax companies that operate liquefied natural gas plants. Both critics and investors have said the tax regime will play a big role in determining whether new B.C. LNG projects will go ahead. Minister of Finance Mike de Jong has hinted the long-awaited legislation he'll introduce today will be similar to what he talked about last February—a two-tiered tax, balanced between taxpayer benefit and affordability for companies. (CBC)

Chinook Face Final Obstacle At Landsburg Dam Before Reaching 'Shangri La'
For more than a hundred years, the aqueduct at Landsburg Park near Maple Valley was the end of the line for salmon in the Cedar River watershed. Built between 1899 and 1901 through a voter initiative to provide water for the city of Seattle after the great Seattle fire, the water system is the envy of municipalities all over the country. Two-thirds of the water supply comes from reservoirs that are surrounded by mountains and pristine lands, many of which were once logged but are now largely untouched by human civilization. The area above Landsburg Dam is some of the best fish habitat in the region. But like so much infrastructure built at the turn of the century, its construction did not take the needs of fish into account. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Simushir kept afloat by 'blind luck,' federal opposition argues  
B.C.'s northern coast dodged a bullet this week when a disabled cargo ship drifted dangerously close to the shores of Haida Gwaii, opposition critics charged Monday in the House of Commons…. NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen demanded in the Commons to know whether the Conservative government is comfortable with a marine safety plan he said is based on "blind luck" and American intervention. (CBC)

Proposal to deliver crude by rail prompts concerns over shipping
A plan to construct a new petroleum unloading system at the Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes has raised concern among islanders. The proposed rail terminal would have the capacity to unload one 102-car unit train carrying crude oil per day, with a maximum of six trains per week. The refinery is an unloading zone for crude oil, not a shipping point. According to Shell, once the oil is refined the majority is transported through the Olympic Pipeline; however, some does go onto tankers. Emily Greenberg reports. (San Juan Journal)

Jamestown builds ‘starter’ logjams on Dungeness River to aid salmon
Using helicopters to strategically place logs and to create jams on the Dungeness River, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and Olympic National Forest are working on a plan to create more rearing and spawning ponds for salmon… The plan, currently under an environmental analysis, calls for 15 log jams to be placed in the Dungeness and Gray Wolf rivers along the boundary of Olympic National Forest. Joe Smillie reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Region’s commute times worsen
Traffic congestion became much worse from 2011-13, even though the number of miles driven in Washington state barely changed. Mike Lindblom reports. (Seattle Times)

Now, your tug weather-- WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 900 AM PDT TUE OCT 21 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON
 GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 20 TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SHOWERS
 LIKELY IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
S WIND 25 TO 35 KT. SEAS 10 TO 12 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 12 SECONDS. RAIN.
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