11/11 Train safety, salmon volunteers, rain study, landslides, Navy testing

Atlantic puffins (Steve Gravie/BirdNote)

Restoring Bird Colonies with Social Attraction
What does relocating Caspian Terns from an island in the Columbia River have to do with luring Short-tailed Albatrosses away from an active volcano in Japan? They both use methods of social attraction pioneered by Dr. Stephen Kress. Social attraction utilizes visual cues such as decoys and audio recordings of birdcalls. Using these, scientists can entice bird colonies out of harm’s way. These Atlantic Puffins represent another successful use of social attraction: Kress and his team established new colonies of puffins on the coast of Maine! (BirdNote)

Feds reject industry challenges to oil train safety rule
The U.S. Department of Transportation has rejected several appeals by industry groups to its rule issued in May on the safety of trains carrying large quantities of crude oil and ethanol. The department also agreed with tribal groups in the Pacific Northwest that had expressed concern about proposed changes to notification requirements to states for large rail shipments of crude oil. The trade groups, which represented railroads, refiners, and chemical companies, had objected to a variety of components of the rule relating to its scope, to the timeline for completing a retrofit and replacement of tank cars used to carry flammable liquids, what level of fire protection the cars should have and whether they should be equipped with advanced electronic brakes. Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy)

Qualicum Beach couple part of Pacific Salmon Foundation's 'mosquito fleet'
A Qualicum Beach couple are good examples of the crucial fleet of locals who are making the Pacific Salmon Foundation's Citizen Science Program a success. Ryan and Nicole Frederickson are two of the many volunteers taking part in the foundation's Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, trying to understand the causes of declines in coho and chinook salmon in the Strait of Georgia and wider Salish Sea. Auren Ruvinsky reports. (Parksville Qualicum Beach News)

UW, NASA deploy scientific blitz to study rainy Olympic Peninsula
The OLYMPEX project will use aircraft, radar, weather stations and volunteers with rain gauges to improve local forecasts and ground-truth satellite data. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Washington Updates Guidelines For Landslide-Prone Slopes
Washington forestry officials have updated state guidelines for evaluating unstable slopes that, if logged, could contribute to landslides. The Washington Forest Practices Board took up the issue Tuesday. It has been a topic of some controversy following the 2014 landslide that killed 43 people in the community of Oso in Washington’s North Cascades. Land above the Oso slide zone was logged in 2004 and replanted in 2005 — prompting some critics to blame the removal of trees for the disaster. After lengthy debate and several breaks, the board unanimously approved updates to the guidelines that were favored by the timber industry. However, the board also took steps to address conservationists’ concerns before it meets in February. Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix)

Navy ends consultation on historic resources in sonar, explosives testing zone that includes Strait of Juan de Fuca
The federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is getting involved in a dispute between state and Navy officials over cultural and historical resources in a broad area, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, that has been targeted for sonar and explosives training and testing. The testing area also includes Puget Sound and the Behm Canal in southeastern Alaska. The Navy notified state Historic Preservation Officer Allyson Brooks — referred to as the SHPO — last Thursday that military officials had finished consulting with her on potential adverse effects to the resources, according to a Nov. 5 letter from Larry M. Foster, director of environmental readiness for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Brooks' response was that she was “stunned.” …. Brooks said Monday she had been consulting with Navy personnel from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, not Pearl Harbor. “It was shocking to get the letter from Pearl Harbor when all the work was being done with Whidbey Naval Air Station,” Brooks said. Paul Gottlieb reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Salish Sea News and Weather will not be posted on Thursday and Friday. Mahalo.

Now, your tug-weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 304 AM PST WED NOV 11 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
W WIND 20 TO 30 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 2 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 12 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
SW WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING S 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 12 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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