3/27 Ice melt, orca travels, dairy sued, ocean warming, Vic sewer, flatfish fishing, walkabout

(Reuters/Landov, Mariano Caravaca)

Big Shelves Of Antarctic Ice Melting Faster Than Scientists Thought

The Antarctic is far away, freezing and buried under a patchwork of ice sheets and glaciers. But a warming climate is altering that mosaic in unpredictable ways — new research shows that the pace of change in parts of the Antarctic is accelerating. Many of the ice sheets that blanket Antarctica run right down to the land’s edge and then out into the ocean, where they form floating ice “shelves.” Some of those shelves have been shrinking lately. Now, a team of scientists has discovered that shelves in the West Antarctic are shrinking a lot faster than they realized. Christopher Joyce reports. (NPR)

L-pod and K-pod whales continue their travels along the West Coast
L-84, a 25-year-old male killer whale named Nyssa, continues to transmit his location and that of his traveling companions who keep moving north and south along the West Coast, going as far south as Eureka, California. Here’s a quick update, going back to when the orca was first tagged…. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Lynden dairy fined $7,500 for manure runoff
A Badger Road dairy farm was fined $7,500 for violations of the Clean Water Act. The R. Bajema Farm at 792 E. Badger Road was hit with the fine for a manure runoff incident in 2013, according to a news release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During an inspection of the farm, EPA staff observed the discharge of water polluted with manure to a ditch that flows into Fishtrap Creek and the Nooksack River. That ditch empties in waters off Whatcom County near shellfish beds. Dave Gallagher reports. (Bellingham Herald)

How warmer waters will affect our swimming creatures
Scientists nicknamed it “the blob” last summer. Since then the mass of water penetrating the North Pacific has become persistent in waters from Alaska to Baja, showing up as red and orange when scientists map it.  A new report by NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Southwest Fisheries Science Center notes record-high sea surface temperatures characterized by as much as 5.4 degrees F higher than average. Martha Baskin reports. (Crosscut)

We’re not stalling on sewage … just incompetent
Stumbled across a YouTube video from Poland today: 12 burly men in a dragon boat, half of them facing one way, half the other, madly paddling in opposite directions in a wacky kind of swimming pool tug-of-war. It looked just like a CRD sewage committee meeting. The Americans are mad at us again — or rather, still — over Victoria’s lack of sewage treatment. Jack Knox reports. (Times Colonist)

Hood Canal flatfish proposal closer to fruition
Last year, Jefferson County Parks and Recreation District 2 (Brinnon Parks and Recreation) gathered more than 1,000 signatures in a bid to expand fishing opportunities in the healthier section of the canal.  The list of names was presented to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and after a underwater reconnaissance of the area, the state put forth a proposal to allow fishing for numerous species of flatfish, but not halibut, in waters shallower than 120 feet in Quilcene and Dabob bays, north of a line stretching east from Point Whitney to the Toandos Peninsula.Fishing for a variety of species, including flatfish, has been closed in Hood Canal since 2004 to provide additional protection for fish populations that are susceptible to low-dissolved oxygen events, said Craig Burley, manager of Fish and Wildlife’s fish management division. Michael Carman reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Office workers 'too sedentary'
Office workers need to get off their backsides and move around more, according to a new campaign. On Your Feet Britain says sitting for long periods at work is linked to a host of health problems, which are not undone by working out in the gym. It is calling on people to stand regularly, walk around more and embrace ideas such as standing meetings or standing desks. James Gallagher reports. (BBC) So: Five favorite hikes on San Juan Island  Brian Cantwell reports. (Seattle Times) And: 3 Places To Visit In B.C., Far Away From Vancouver  Ed Ronco & Matthew Brumley report. (KPLU)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 301 AM PDT FRI MAR 27 2015
TODAY
S WIND 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
SW WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING W 10 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN
 IN THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SAT
SW WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
SAT NIGHT
S WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS...
 BUILDING TO 8 FT AT 9 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SUN
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 11 SECONDS.

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