11/18 2nd beluga ill, no geoduck farm, Bowman Bay, snow geese, Cherry Pt reserve, timber towns

(PHOTO: Laurie MacBride)

Watching My Step
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "Every time I go for a walk these days, I need to tread carefully – because everywhere I look, there are mushrooms underfoot. It’s been a wet fall (even by west coast standards), so our mushroom population is booming. On our property, I’m finding all kinds of specimens: large and small, smooth and wrinkled, colourful and dull, odd and ordinary, solitary and tribal. Many, like the ones in these photos, sport a dusting of fir needles, for it’s been windy as well as wet here in the Gulf Islands…." (read more)

New blog: Safety Pins: More Than A Fashion Statement
After last week’s election, some cheered, some were in shock, some were scared, some were resigned. I was just angry, deeply pissed off, not a very good frame of mind to figure out next steps. There will be next steps but in the meantime I thought about a positive, non-partisan, non-ideological way to take a stand: wear a safety pin. (read more)

2nd Vancouver Aquarium beluga whale in distress
A day after a beluga whale died suddenly at the Vancouver Aquarium, a second beluga has fallen ill. The Vancouver Aquarium said Thursday Qila's mother, Aurora, is experiencing the same symptoms as Qila did before she died Wednesday morning. Aquarium president and CEO John Nightingale told a news conference Thursday the 29-year-old beluga is showing signs of abdominal discomfort and hasn't eaten in two days. Michelle Ghoussoub reports. (CBC)

Court rules against geoduck farm
A state Court of Appeals decision against a proposed southern Kitsap Peninsula geoduck farm is being heralded by environmentalists as a key victory against the growing shellfish industry…. The court this week affirmed a state Shorelines Hearings Board decision denying an aquaculture permit for the 5-acre site along the north shore of Henderson Bay, about 4 miles from Gig Harbor. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Group celebrates Bowman Bay beach restoration
Waves rolled onto the bay’s pebble beach Thursday afternoon as a group gathered to talk about how a 500-foot stretch of the shoreline has changed. Representatives from environment organizations and government agencies were there to celebrate the transformation of the Deception Pass State Park beach, on the southwest side of Fidalgo Island…. Northwest Straits, State Parks, the Skagit Marine Resources Committee and the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group partnered to restore the beach, which forage fish such as surf smelt use as spawning grounds. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Snow geese invade Metro Vancouver in historic numbers
The annual migration of snow geese this year is twice the size of the migration in previous years due to a "perfect storm of conditions" in their summer breeding ground on Wrangle Island, in northern Siberia.  It has resulted in viewing opportunities in unexpected places around the lower mainland…. The Metro Vancouver snow goose population may have increased by 40 per cent — perhaps even 50 per cent — in one year according to Boyd, up to to 100,000 birds. Belle Puri reports. (CBC)

State Considering Expansion Of Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve
One day is left in the public comment period on a proposal from the state Department of Natural Resources to expand one of its Aquatic Reserves. It would limit use of an additional 45 acres of the area north of Bellingham known as Cherry Point. The proposal is to incorporate the 45 acres that were reserved for the Gateway Pacific shipping terminal into the existing Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve. This so-called “cutout” is now in limbo after the Army Corps of Engineers denied the permits for Gateway Pacific because it determined it would violate the Lummi tribe’s treaty fishing rights. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Trump Victory Has Northwest Timber Towns Cheering
In this town of 1,200 people in the southwest corner of Oregon, neighborhoods end where stacks of sprinkler-soaked logs begin. The town is surrounded by four sawmills in the heart of timber country. Here in Douglas County, where about half of the land is owned by the federal government, Donald Trump won 64 percent of the county’s vote in this year’s presidential election. Trump’s victory has this community and others in the Northwest Timber Belt cheering and hoping better times are ahead. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB/EarthFix)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  244 AM PST FRI NOV 18 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT    TODAY  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. COMBINED SEAS 6 TO 7 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 11  SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT  E WIND 25 TO 35 KT...EASING TO 20 TO 30 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. COMBINED SEAS 6 TO 7 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF  11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN AFTER  MIDNIGHT.
SAT  E WIND 20 TO 30 KT...BECOMING SE 15 TO 25 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. SW SWELL 10 FT AT 11 SECONDS.  RAIN.
SAT NIGHT  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL  10 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SUN  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 11 FT AT  11 SECONDS.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told