7/26 Dike breach, ton of nukes, Chickamauga, white whale Migaloo

Dawn departure (PHOTO: Laurie MacBride)

Dawn Departure
Laurie MacBride in Eye On Environment writes: "I’m not really a morning person, so it was tempting to turn over and go back to sleep when the alarm sounded at 0530. But I knew that if we missed the narrow window at Malibu Rapids we’d be in trouble, for there are no decent anchorages anywhere near that part of the long, deep fjord that leads to Princess Louisa Inlet, our destination that day…"

Nature Conservancy, WDFW to breach dike on Fir Island
Aug. 1, the afternoon high tide will bring water into a former estuary on Fir Island that has been dry for 100 years. The project, which began in 2009 as a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will demolish an existing dike on WDFW’s Fir Island snow goose reserve, returning 131 acres to saltwater estuary. A new 5,800-feet setback dike has been built over the past year, along with a pump station, tide gates and a retention pond. Estuary habitat is critical for juvenile Chinook salmon, which the federal government listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1999. (Stanwood-Camano News)

Reminder: Puget Sound has a ton of nuclear weapons
The ad pierces your consciousness and catches you by surprise. Plastered on the side of King County Metro buses, it hurls you momentarily back in time, to a time when nuclear weapons were an immanent threat to our survival. Or did the era never end? The ad — sponsored by activists from the Poulsbo-based Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action — reads: “20 miles west of Seattle is the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons in the U.S.” Martha Baskin reports. (Crosscut)

Chickamauga tug owner may do jail time over sinking of historic tugboat
The former owner of the historic tugboat "Chickamauga" may serve 20 days in jail after admitting he let the 100-year tugboat fall into disrepair and sink in Eagle Harbor in late 2013. The Washington State Attorney General's Office announced Monday that Anthony R. Smith, the owner of the Chickamauga, entered a guilty plea on charges of allowing the tugboat to become derelict, and polluting state waters. The 100-year-old tugboat Chickamauga sank in Eagle Harbor in October 2013 and leaked approximately 200 to 300 gallons of diesel fuel into Puget Sound. Brian Kelly reports. (Bainbridge Review)

White humpback Migaloo spotted off Australia's Byron Bay
A famous white humpback whale has been spotted on his annual migration to Australia's north. Migaloo is known for his distinctive colouring and for many years was the only documented all-white humpback whale in the world. He has been sighted off the coast of New South Wales state, including the resort town of Byron Bay. Migaloo's journey up Australia's east coast has attracted large numbers of whale enthusiasts. (BBC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  246 AM PDT TUE JUL 26 2016  

TODAY  W WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING NW 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 4 SECONDS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 7 SECONDS.

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