6/3 Orca month, marine protection, Elwha Love, ag pollution, BC trees, beach survey, coral, BC ferries

Orca Awareness Month includes many activities
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways writes: "June is Orca Awareness Month in the Salish Sea. And, as we’ve seen in recent years, the Southern Resident killer whales are not around to help kick off the month-long celebration. J pod, one of the three Southern Resident pods, typically moves in and out of Puget Sound through the winter and into spring, but none of the whales have been seen in inland waters since May 18, according to Orca Network. On May 24, the same groups were seen off the West Coast of Vancouver Island…."

North America far off from ocean preservation targets, report finds
North America is far from reaching national and international targets for protecting oceans, according to a first-of-its-kind report released on Wednesday. The Dare to Be Deep report, created by a coalition of NGOs in the US, Canada and Mexico, finds that less than 1% of these countries’ oceans are protected like national parks – with only four years left to reach the 10% protection goal set in the multilateral Biodiversity Convention. The US is not a signatory to the agreement, but Barack Obama affirmed his commitment to reach the goal in a joint statement with Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, in March. Amanda Holpuch reports. (Guardian)

If you like to watch: After Largest Dam Removal in U.S. History, This River Is Thriving  Conservationists can now point to the largest dam removal project in the U.S. as a success story. (National Geographic) If you prefer to read: River Revives After Largest Dam Removal in U.S. History  Fish are thriving and the environment has been reshaped following a major dam removal project in Washington State. Brian Clark Howard reports. (National Geographic)

Clean water through agricultural accountability
Andrea Rodgers and Brian Cladoosby write, in an opinion piece: "Agriculture doesn’t have to be sacrificed to achieve the goal of clean water. What’s needed is basic accountability from the largest source of stream pollution…." (Seattle Times)

Some say the fate of British Columbia's old-growth forests rests in the balance
The Douglas fir Andy MacKinnon leans against is 40 metres tall. It’s likely more than 500 years old and its fire-scarred trunk is almost two metres in diameter. In most other countries, the tree would be the largest in the land, says MacKinnon, a forest ecologist who spent three decades with British Columbia’s government researching old-growth forests. At Francis/King Regional Park, minutes from Victoria, the park’s trees are protected from logging, but about 150 kilometres west of Victoria, old-growth forests with 1,000-year-old trees twice the size of those in the park are being cut down every day, said MacKinnon. The world’s largest trees face dangers similar to elephants, whales and bison that have been hunted to the brink of extinction, he said. Dirk Meissner reports. (Canadian Press)

College students, citizen scientists survey area beaches for debris
A group canvassed parts of a beach near Cap Sante Marina last week. While some walked slowly back and forth with their heads down, looking for out-of-place items, others sat in groups with buckets and strainers, sifting sand as if panning for gold. “We’re picking up anything on the surface that doesn’t belong,” Salish Sea Steward Kim McCary said. “We’re getting mostly plastic and glass.” McCray is one of the citizen scientist volunteers who worked with Western Washington University students this spring on a survey of plastics and other debris on area beaches. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Scientists find coral graveyard around isle in Pacific marine reserve
El Nino’s super warm water has turned what had been one of the world’s most lush and isolated tropical marine reserve into a coral graveyard, federal scientists said today (6/1). Researchers finishing an emergency undersea expedition found 95 percent of the coral dead around Jarvis Island in the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument . In November, much of the coral had bleached white but was alive. (Associated Press)

Christening ceremony for Salish ferries being built in Poland
Champagne bottles smashed against the hulls of Salish Eagle and Salish Raven as the vessels marked another step toward their entry into the B.C. Ferries fleet, the Crown corporation said Thursday. The maritime tradition, believed to bring good luck to the ships and its crews, took place at Remontowa Shipbuilding SA in Gdansk, Poland as part of an official naming ceremony. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  259 AM PDT FRI JUN 3 2016  

TODAY  E WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING W IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF  SHOWERS IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND  WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
SAT  E WIND TO 10 KT IN THE MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT  LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT  10 SECONDS.
SUN  LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND  WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT...BECOMING 2 TO 4 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL  4 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

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