9/21 Whale fight, BC pipe, Peter Goldmark, debris cleanup

(PHOTO: Capt. Russ Nicks/Times Colonist)

Humpback whales save sea lion from orcas off Sooke coast
A pod of “heroic” humpback whales came to the rescue of a desperate sea lion under attack from four cunning and hungry orcas off the coast of Sooke, a phenomenon never before seen by whale-watching operators in the Salish Sea…. Capt. Russ Nicks of Victoria-based B.C. Whale Tours, was one of the first on scene. He said it was fascinating to watch the show of aggression. He and his guests marvelled at the strategy of one of the planet’s most sophisticated hunters as the orcas split into two groups — one to try to draw the humpbacks away while the other group went in for the kill on the sea lion…. The humpbacks took turns diving and slashing at the orcas for about 40 minutes, until the orcas, known as the T100 family, finally retreated.Katie DeRosa reports. (Times Colonist)

Ottawa won't appeal court decision blocking Northern Gateway pipeline
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr won't appeal a recent court decision that overturned the former Harper government's approval of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project. Earlier Tuesday, Northern Gateway also said it wouldn't pursue an appeal…. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled in June that the federal government had not adequately consulted with Indigenous peoples who will be affected by the project, which is backed by the energy company Enbridge, and which would stretch from outside Edmonton to Kitimat, B.C. John Paul Tasker and Chris Hallreport. (CBC) See also: Feds won't appeal Northern Gateway court ruling, but still open to pipeline: Enbridge exec  Peter O'Neil reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Advice For The Next Commissioner Of Public Lands: A Conversation With Peter Goldmark
Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands presides over more than five and a half million acres of state forests and aquatic lands. It’s an open seat in the upcoming 2016 election, since incumbent Peter Goldmark announced his decision not to run for a third term. One of the top priorities of the office is the constitutional mandate to fund schools through logging. But conservation is also part of it. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Huge tsunami debris cleanup operation begins along B.C.'s West Coast
Work began Tuesday to clear dozens of beaches on the west coast of Vancouver Island of debris and plastics, much of it washed ashore from the 2011 tsunami that swept Japan. Using a helicopter, a barge and a tug, volunteers are picking up cached bundles of garbage from one end of the island to the other. For months, hundreds of volunteers from seven groups have combed beaches by foot and by boat between Cape Scott in the north and Sooke in the south. They bagged a staggering array of plastic junk and stashed them above the tide line for later removal. More than 40 tonnes of material, including fishing and mooring floats, foam packaging, used oil containers and plastic drinking bottles were assembled. Now, with the last bits of money provided by the Japanese government for a multi-year tsunami debris cleanup program, members of the Vancouver Island Marine Debris Working Group hired the tug Westco Rouge out of Campbell River to pick up the junk and take it to Richmond for recycling. Jeff Lee reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  327 AM PDT WED SEP 21 2016  

TODAY  LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
TONIGHT  NW WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4  FT AT 9 SECONDS.


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