3/5 Sea Monsters, waterfront fire, fuel trains, Cherry Point, Esquimalt Lagoon, electric ferry

Vancouver Aquarium’s thresher shark (Glen Kugelstadt/CBC)

If you like to watch: Vancouver Aquarium dissects 'Sea Monsters' in new display
There will be no splashing or feeding at the Vancouver Aquarium's latest show. The giant sea creatures on display are dead, dissected, and preserved in plastic, so visitors can see inside their bodies. The Sea Monsters Revealed exhibit, shown for the first time in Canada, includes a sunfish, moray eel, Humboldt squid, and thresher shark — dissected to show its last meal of fish and squid in its stomach. (CBC)

Waterfront fire contained, but health effects yet to be seen: officials
Symptoms of exposure to the chemical-laden smoke that blanketed portions of east Vancouver and carried into Burnaby could be delayed by as much as 24 hours, health officials warned after a massive container fire at the port Wednesday afternoon. Vancouver police officers in full-face gas masks helped evacuate workers and residents from the Downtown Eastside after the streets darkened with smoke fuelled by trichloroisocyanuric acid, a chemical commonly used to chlorinate pools. Brian Morton and Matthew Robinson report. (Vancouver Sun)

Northwest Officials Unite Against Coal And Oil Trains
More than 150 elected officials from across the Northwest have teamed up to speak out against coal and oil trains. Their new group, the Safe Energy Leadership Alliance, held its third meeting in Portland Tuesday. Washington's King County Executive Dow Constantine has stepped up to chair the group. It includes officials from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. The leaders have major concerns about the safety and environmental risks of coal and oil trains. But none of them alone has much power to stop them. Cassandra Profita reports. (KUOW)

Windy Cherry Point: A Terrible Place to Build a Coal Terminal
From a meteorologist’s perspective, Cherry Point is a terrible site for a coal terminal, for it endures some of the fiercest winds in Washington state. These wintry gales out of the northeast have been obvious to my wife and me ever since we purchased our house on Orcas Island’s north side, facing across Georgia Strait to this cobble-strewn promontory. From our deck we can look out over wind-whipped waters and watch the pallid plumes that normally waft above the BP Refinery north of the point stream our way instead. Michael Riordan writes. (Whatcom Watch)

Developer seeks to expand Esquimalt Lagoon project
The developer behind the $400-million Ocean Grove project bordering Esquimalt Lagoon in Colwood hopes to add more units and different kinds of homes, as well as commercial space. Vancouver-based Seacliff Properties has amended its application to the municipality, adding townhouses, duplexes and single-family dwellings to existing and planned condominiums. About 200 additional units are also proposed, bringing the total count to 870 units across the site east of Heatherbell Road, between Seafield Road and Lagoon Road. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

Electric ferry jolts discussion over powering ships in B.C.
BC Ferries aims to be on the leading edge of environmentally friendly ship propulsion by adopting liquefied natural gas to power new vessels, but some conservationists are leaning on it to push out to the “bleeding edge” with all-electric power. Adopting a more conservative approach, BC Ferries estimates that its plan to replace three intermediate-class ferries with dual natural gas/diesel-fuelled vessels alone will cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 9,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 1,900 cars off the road. However, it could hit zero emissions on shorter routes, according to the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, if it followed Norway’s lead. For one short crossing the Norwegian government has commissioned a battery-powered ferry, the Norled MF Ampere, using batteries manufactured in Richmond, B.C. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST THU MAR 5 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING N TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 15 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 14 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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