4/21 Shell drill, Kinder Morgan, BP spill, polluted hawk, worst commutes, Pulitzer, humpbacks, cormorant kill

Greg Whitaker, Alki Kayak (Lucas Randall-Owens/KPLU)

Seattle 'Kayaktivists' Building Ranks For Direct Action Against Shell’s Arctic Drilling Fleet
On the shore of Seaview Park in West Seattle, a group of young activists stand behind a row of bright yellow kayaks.  Most of them are new to boating. An instructor from Alki Kayak Tours gives a safety briefing before they head out for a sunset paddle.  While the excursion has the trappings of a simple evening kayak instructional class, it is anything but. This class is a training session for "Kayaktavists." And they are putting in practice time before Big Oil arrives in the Puget Sound. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Protests expected after Kinder Morgan gains access to regional parks
A deal between Metro Vancouver and Kinder Morgan to allow limited access to two regional parks for site inspections on the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline is expected to trigger a round of protests against the expansion project similar to the one on Burnaby Mountain last fall. Metro Vancouver said licence agreements had been concluded with Kinder Morgan, which would provide the pipeline company with limited access to 10 properties, including Surrey Bend and Coquitlam’s Colony Farm and five sites around the Coquitlam landfill, for “site inspections.” Kelly Sinoski reports. (Vancouver Sun)

5 Years After BP Oil Spill, Effects Linger And Recovery Is Slow
Five years ago, BP's out-of-control oil well deep in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. Eleven workers were killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig. But it was more than a deadly accident — the blast unleashed the nation's worst offshore environmental catastrophe. In the spring and summer of 2010, oil gushed from the Macondo well for nearly three months. More than 3 million barrels of Louisiana light crude fouled beaches and wetlands from Texas to Florida, affecting wildlife and livelihoods. Today, the spill's impacts linger. Debbie Elliott reports. (KUOW)

Hawk found near Langley transfer station among world’s most polluted
A male Cooper’s hawk found near Metro Vancouver’s Langley waste transfer station is polluted with more flame retardant than any other bird tested, globally. A study of the hawk’s liver fat showed 197,000 parts per billion of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, chemicals that persist in the environment and have been used in a wide array of polymer resins and plastics including in furniture, TVs, stereos, computers, carpets, and curtains. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Study shows top 10 Puget Sound areas for worst commutes
1. Vashon 2. Graham 3. Orting 4. Maple Valley 5. Bonney Lake 6. Spanaway 7. Duvall 8. Lake Stevens 9. Enumclaw 10. Snoqualmie (Nerdwallet/KIRO)

Seattle Times wins Pulitzer Prize for Oso landslide coverage
The Seattle Times has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for its coverage of the devastating landslide in Oso, Wash., which took 43 lives after a hillside above the Stillaguamish River collapsed and tore through the Steelhead Haven neighborhood at 60 mph. (Seattle Times)

Agency proposes lifting most humpback whales' protections
The federal government on Monday proposed removing most of the world's humpback whale population from the endangered species list, saying they have rebounded after 45 years of protections. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries wants to reclassify humpbacks into 14 distinct populations, and remove 10 of those from the list…. Humpbacks were listed as endangered in 1970, four years after the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling. Caleb Jones reports. (Associated Press)

Groups sue to stop plans to kill cormorants to save salmon
Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit to stop plans to shoot more than 10,000 double-crested cormorants in the Columbia River Estuary. Bob Salinger of Audubon Society of Portland says killing the birds to stop them from eating millions of baby salmon is a diversion from the real threat — the hydroelectric dams that kill adult fish on their way to spawning grounds, and juveniles migrating to the ocean. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wildlife Services. (Associated Press)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 314 AM PDT TUE APR 21 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
NW WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 9 FT
 AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
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