5/21 Septic gaps, oil spill, B;ham cleanup, ocean acid, coal port, T rex bone, BC ferry, 'Fake Willy,' John Willits

Stubby squid (Susan Middleton/San Juan Journal)

'Spineless'... sea creatures like you've never seen 'em before, at IMA
A portrait of the a Stubby Squid (Rossia Pacifica) is one of the many provocative photographs of creatures of the deep by Susan Middleton, which will be on display as part of San Juan Islands Museum of Art's latest exhibit, 'Spineless,' opening May 23 in Friday Harbor. Scott Rasmussen reports. (San Juan Journal)

KING 5 finds gaps in septic tank inspections
After a two-year-old boy died and a 10-year-old girl was hurt in accidents involving septic tanks, KING 5 examined state and county data and discovered a trail of incomplete records and out of date inspections. The Washington State Department of Health admits it doesn't know exactly how many on-site sewage systems exist in the state. DOH estimates 934,000 exist in the state and 613,000 of those are in the Puget Sound region. Of those, only a fraction are closely monitored. The majority of those are in marine recovery areas where a failure could be catastrophic to the area's waterways. Danielle Leigh reports. (KING)

Pipeline Operator In Calif. Spill Reportedly Had History Of Infractions
The Texas-based company responsible for the undersea pipeline that has leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the sea near the coast at Goleta, Calif., has a history of federal safety violations, The Los Angeles Times reports. The newspaper reports that Plains All American Pipeline has accumulated 175 safety and maintenance infractions since 2006… a nine-mile slick is expected to have a negative impact on some wildlife. Scott Neuman reports. (NPR)

Cleanup work along Bellingham’s waterfront to start this summer
Crews could start work on a more than $35 million environmental cleanup of a polluted Bellingham waterfront site as soon as July. The Port of Bellingham Commission approved a contract for cleaning up the Whatcom Waterway with American Construction Company of Tacoma during its regular Tuesday afternoon meeting, May 19. The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Mike McAuley opposed. Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Fund the race to save marine life from souring seas
Congress must invest in research to combat acidic seawater conditions. Jay Manning and Bill Ruckelshaus write. (Seattle Times Opinion)

Army Corps: ‘We can be flexible’ in giving coal terminal time to respond
In a response sent early this Wednesday morning, May 20, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told The Bellingham Herald it won’t hold SSA Marine to a strict deadline in its response to Lummi Nation’s assertion that SSA’s coal terminal would interfere with tribal fishing. Ralph Schwartz reports. (Bellingham Heald)

First Dinosaur Fossil Found in Washington State
A large bone from a meat-eating dinosaur has been discovered in the San Juan Islands – the first dinosaur fossil ever found in Washington state. Researchers found the fossil along the shores of Sucia Island State Park in the San Juan Islands. They returned with paleontologists from the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. The fossil they pulled from the rock is from the Late Cretaceous period and is about 80 million years old. The partial thigh bone comes from a two-legged cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex. It measures 16.7 inches long and 8.7 inches wide. Scientists believe the complete bone was likely more than three feet long. Isolde Raftery reports. (KUOW)

Jack Knox: Ferry-naming contest invites spirit of scorn
On Tuesday, B.C. Ferries invited the public to take part in a contest to name three intermediate-class vessels being built in Poland. On Wednesday, the public replied … and replied … and replied. Gleefully malicious/seditious posts bearing the #NameAFerry hashtag swamped social media. How about SS ShouldveBeenABridge? Or Privatized Backfire? Or Ark of the Government? Or the Knot Pretty, Knot Cheap and Knot Maiden B.C. Jack Knox reports. (Times Colonist)

‘Fake Willy’ could haunt sea lions
A Free Willy impersonator could come to Astoria to scare off sea lions. In its efforts to get sea lions off its docks, the Port of Astoria has had to think outside the box. Thanks to a man from Bellingham, Wash., that could become a lot easier. During his report Tuesday to the Port Commission, Executive Director Jim Knight said the agency has been approached by a man — he didn’t know exactly who it was — from northern Washington with a realistic fiberglass orca whale. Edward Stratton reports. (Daily Astorian)

Shelley Fralic: River Monsters host Jeremy Wade’s excellent B.C. adventure
Jeremy Wade is on the phone Tuesday morning, apologizing for sounding so groggy because he’s still recovering from the previous night’s diving exploration in Puget Sound. In the deeps. In the dark. No, he’s not at liberty to share what he was looking for in the waters around Seattle, or what he found, because that would be giving away the surprises for viewers of the coming Season 8 of Wade’s Discovery Channel hit, River Monsters. Shelley Fralic reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Renowned Port Angeles conservationist John Willits dies at 78
John Willits, a dedicated conservationist whose passion helped preserve hundreds of acres of farmland and wildlife habitat, is dead. He was 78. He died last Friday at his Port Angeles home after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Rob Ollikainen reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU MAY 21 2015
TODAY
W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 7 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG IN
 THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 3 FT AT
 7 SECONDS.
--
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