9/11 Orca by drone, BC agreement, BC LNG, Beard's Cove, gravel permits, quakes, eagle killer, sea plastics

L91 and calf L122 (NOAA/KOMO)

If you like to watch: Drone gets amazing pics of new baby orca near San Juans
Scientists with NOAA now have even better views of a baby orca that has been born to an endangered group of killer whales off the San Juan Islands, marking the fifth birth among the region's three pods since December. NOAA officials got a special permit from the FAA to use a drone to capture aerial views of the calf, named L122. Members of the Center for Whale Research spotted the calf on Monday. The baby was swimming with its mother, a 20-year-old orca named L91 that's part of the Puget Sound's L-pod. Molly Shen reports. (KOMO)

Kiwi mum to live in bathtub for a month to protest an orca's captivity
A Kiwi animal rights advocate wants to live in a Miami bathtub for four weeks to protest an orca's captivity. Some animal welfare groups have demanded Lolita the orca be freed from Miami Seaquarium. The killer whale was first brought to the oceanarium 45 years ago. Now, Lower Hutt mum Danielle Daals has pledged to live in a bathtub near the Seaquarium to raise attention about Lolita's situation. (New Zealand Herald)

First Nations leaders and province agree on framework for reconciliation
Hundreds of First Nations leaders have given approval in principle to a reconciliation agreement with the province of B.C. — one day after warning that court battles and protest camps loomed if B.C. did not support a meaningful reconciliation proposal. The agreement is viewed as a road map for future economic, social and legal relations between Aboriginal peoples and the provincial government. First Nations Summit Grand Chief Ed John said the road ahead may be bumpy, but all sides are willing to build a path forward. The agreement was approved Thursday morning by about 500 First Nations leaders at a closed-door meeting with Premier Christy Clark and members of her cabinet in Vancouver. (Canadian Press)

Price weakness, construction costs cast B.C. LNG projects into doubt: report
Worries are growing that B.C. liquefied natural gas projects will face delays and cancellations as high construction costs and low LNG prices erode the confidence of international energy players. “The coming 12 months will prove pivotal for LNG development on the Canadian West Coast,” Calgary-based investment dealer Peters & Co. said in a new report. Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Beard's Cove estuary restoration nearly complete 
For the past three decades, local land trusts and state agencies have worked hard at restoring and preserving more than 700 acres of estuary habitat in lower Hood Canal's Lynch Cove wetlands. Now, in partnership with the Beard's Cove Community Organization, Great Peninsula Conservancy is completing restoration on the missing link of the greater Lynch Cove estuary. When finished at the end of this year, the roughly 20-acre Beard's Cove estuary restoration project in Belfair will create 1,550 linear feet of shoreline, 1,600 feet of tidal channel for salmon to navigate and more than 7 acres of nearshore habitat, restoring the area to its pre-1884 condition. Arla Shephard Bull reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Ecology proposes sand, gravel permit changes to protect water quality
In an effort to protect the state’s lakes, rivers, groundwater and Puget Sound, updates are proposed for the water quality permit that regulates discharges from sand and gravel operations, the state Department of Ecology announced Wednesday. Untreated discharge water from sand and gravel operations may harm water quality and aquatic life. In the permit update, Ecology proposes new requirements for how to manage water that drains off piles of recycled concrete, which can affect the acidity of water and threaten fish. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Research Digs Into Mechanics Of Subduction Zone Earthquakes
Scientists know a little more about how big earthquakes happen, from research published Thursday in the journal Science. The study from the U.S. Geological Survey looked at a number of subduction zones, but not the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the Northwest coast. The research doesn't change predictions that there's a one-in-three chance of a big quake in the Northwest in the next 50 years. The research focuses on the physical mechanics of what happens when that kind of fault has an earthquake. The study's author, Jeanne Hardebeck, said subduction zones build up pressure in a way that's different from what was previously thought. Rob Manning reports. (KUOW)

Killer of eagles: ‘It is time for me to grow up’
A Marysville man who broke the skulls of two injured bald eagles before trying to sell their carcasses says it's time for him to "grow up."  Shane Moses was crabbing on Puget Sound when he came upon the injured female eagles. Hoping to make some money selling the birds to a taxidermist, Moses beat them both with a gaff. One died immediately while the other was later euthanized. Turned in to police after landing his boat, Moses, 45, was prosecuted federally in the Dec. 27, 2013, incident. He initially denied clubbing the birds but has since pleaded guilty. Prosecutors and Moses are prepared to ask for a 60-day jail term for the killings when he is sentenced Friday morning at U.S. District Court in Seattle. Writing the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Wilkinson asserted Moses destroyed two animals treasured by many. levi Pulkkinen reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Listing barge that dumped cars stabilized, sent to shipyard
A listing barge that sent crushed cars and scrap metal toppling into the Selkirk Water last month has been stabilized and moved to the Point Hope shipyard. The barge operator, Schnitzer Steel, said naval architects will continue to assess the vessel’s hull at the yard. Mike Geoghegan, a media representative for the company, said all the cars that fell into the water will be removed. (Times Colonnist)

Pacific’s worst pollution barely visible to the eye
… Captain Charlie Moore is an independent voyager and researcher renowned for his work in the eastern North Pacific Gyre, an area thick with floating plastic debris. Since 1999, Moore and his team have logged 15 voyages to the area known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” A more accurate definition of it is “Great Pacific Plastic Soup,” he says. Plastic, large and near microscopic alike, permeates the water column from ocean floor to the surface. And the problem is getting much worse, he says. Martha Baskin reports. (Crosscut)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT FRI SEP 11 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SAT
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SUN
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
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