6/19 Pyrosomes, 'normal' Sound, eeelgrass, BC climate, water rights, Daisy, orca video, pipelines, Papahanaumokuakea

Pyrosomes, Nootka Sound [Matt Stabler/CBC]

Massive Bloom Of Pickle-Shaped Sea Creatures Fills The Pacific
Millions of tubular sea creatures called pyrosomes have taken over the Pacific Ocean in an unprecedented bloom that has scientists baffled. These bumpy, translucent organisms look like sea cucumbers that range in size from six inches to more than two feet long. But they’re actually made up of hundreds of tiny animals knit together with tissue into a filter-feeding cylinder. And they’re everywhere, filling the waters off the West Coast all the way up to Alaska, and washing up on beaches. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB/EarthFix) See also: Millions of tropical sea creatures 'blooming' off B.C. coast  Ash Kelly reports. (CBC)

Everything 'normal' in Puget Sound after disastrous wastewater spill
Four months after a disastrous wastewater spill in Puget Sound, water quality levels are normal. Hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage and stormwater spilled from the West Point treatment plant near Discovery Park. Local lawmakers called it a disaster, and it cost King County millions of dollars in repairs. King County's Wastewater Treatment Division has been checking the water quality every week, watching bacteria levels, the amount of solids, nutrients, dissolved oxygen and more. Paige Browning reports. (KUOW)

Eelgrass declines pose a mystery
Scientists want to know why eelgrass is on the decline in some areas of Puget Sound and not others. The answer will affect future strategies for protecting one of the ecosystem’s most critical saltwater plants. Rachel Berkowitz reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

Climate change cost: What will be B.C.'s price tag?
Studies suggest that climate change could cost Canada billions by 2020, while a recent UN report says for many countries, the cost of adapting to climate change could hit $500 billion per year by 2050. B.C.'s portion could be hefty — but there will be variables. For example, the cost of living for average British Columbians could go up if agricultural crops that the province typically imports from elsewhere fail. Infrastructure costs might rise due to new climate events, like rising sea levels. (CBC)

Dems, GOP sit down for serious talks on water rights law
Negotiations on new state rules for drilling wells began this week, ending the longest political stand-off in the Legislature this year. Representatives of the Democrat-controlled House, Republican-led Senate and governor’s office sat down Wednesday for their first face-to-face talks on a response to the Supreme Court ruling effectively ending the ability of homeowners to drill a well without a permit. Jerry Cornfield reports. (Everett Herald)

Daisy, harbour porpoise rescued in 2008, dies at Vancouver Aquarium
Preliminary necropsy results indicate that Daisy the harbour porpoise had pulmonary disease, Vancouver Aquarium officials said Friday as they dealt with the death of one of the aquarium’s three remaining cetaceans. The death, announced late Thursday night, comes in the midst of ongoing debate over the future of cetaceans at the facility, and on the same day the aquarium launched a legal challenge against a recently enacted bylaw banning cetaceans like Daisy. Stephanie Ip reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Curiosity and openness distinguish new video on captive killer whales
British broadcaster Jonny Meah assumes an attitude of natural curiosity as he takes a close look at the question of whether killer whales should be kept in tanks for public display. In a video he produced and edited, Meah visits Marineland of Antibes in the French Riviera, where he lays out the best case possible for each side of the argument. “Inside the Tanks” is Meah’s first-ever documentary production, and he is not afraid to put himself in the middle of the debate, expressing his own feelings as he weighs each side. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Trans Mountain pipeline's necessity questioned as tanker traffic slumps
Crude exports via supertanker from the Port of Vancouver fell 40 per cent between 2014 and 2016, a decline that has led critics of the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to challenge the need for the project. In its report last year recommending approval of the Kinder Morgan project, the National Energy Board cited the company's figures when it said the terminal typically loads five crude tankers a month. It forecast that, with the proposed pipeline expansion, that number could climb to 34 a month depending on demand from shippers. Shawn McCarthy, Justine Hunter and  Kelly Cryderman report. (Globe and Mail)

Judge won’t allow Trump to be added to pipeline lawsuit
A judge says he’s inclined to let a group of individual members of American Indian tribes join a lawsuit over the Dakota Access oil pipeline, but only if they agree to not add President Donald Trump as a defendant. Any action against the president whose administration pushed through the pipeline’s completion would need to come in a separate lawsuit, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said. The group’s lead attorney said that’s still a possibility. The pipeline began shipping oil to customers on June 1. (Associated Press)

Oil’s pipeline to America’s schools
…Decades of documents reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity reveal a tightly woven network of organizations that works in concert with the oil and gas industry to paint a rosy picture of fossil fuels in America’s classrooms. Led by advertising and public-relations strategists, the groups have long plied the tools of their trade on impressionable children and teachers desperate for resources. Jie Jenny Zou reports. (Center for Public Integrity)

535 Scientists Want Trump To Leave Hawaii's Marine Monument Alone
Responding to an executive order from President Donald Trump, 535 marine scientists, climatologists and others have signed a letter in support of marine reserves, citing the role they play in protecting fish populations and other marine life. The letter sent Wednesday to U.S. senators highlights the extensive scientific literature that the scientists say has provided compelling evidence that strongly protected reserves conserve biodiversity while boosting the economy. Mark Hixon, a University of Hawaii biology professor, was among the scientists who signed the letter. He pointed at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the biggest of all the reserves that Trump has ordered the Department of Interior to review. Nathan Eagle reports. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  250 AM PDT Mon Jun 19 2017  
TODAY  E wind to 10 kt becoming N in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 9 seconds. Patchy fog.
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 5 ft at 10 seconds. A slight chance  of rain after midnight.

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