9/12 Baker R. sockeye, VanAqua suit, Cooper's hawk, Gorge boats, coral sex, AK Dispatch News

Grunt sculpin [PHOTO: J. Nichols

Grunt Sculpin Rhamphocottus richardsonii
Grunt Sculpins are common from Alaska to Santa Monica Bay, California. They live in tide pools, rocky areas and sometimes even on sandy bottoms from the intertidal to 540 feet (165 m)…. This carnivore feeds on small crustaceans and other organisms, poking its long, pointed snout into crevices and between barnacles. Young Grunt Sculpins eat copepods, amphipods, decapods, barnacle and fish larvae. Their common name comes from the half grunting, half-hissing sound they make when removed from the water. (Oregon Coast Aquarium)

PSE, tribes cooperate to revive Baker River sockeye
Fisheries scientists say the Baker River sockeye experience can’t simply be copied elsewhere. It took the cooperation of Indian tribes, state and federal agencies, as well as Puget Sound Energy to bring the sockeye there back from their 1980s near-death experience. The sockeye returned to the Baker River by the tens of thousands during the 2017 season – enough to provide sport for recreational and tribal fishers and to provide enough breeding fish to keep the run healthy. Given that the run had dwindled to just 99 fish in 1985, the health of the Baker River sockeye run seems to provide proof that depleted salmon runs can be brought back from the brink of extinction. John Stark reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Animal rights groups allowed to join Vancouver Aquarium lawsuit
Two animal rights groups have been granted the right to intervene in the Vancouver Aquarium's lawsuit against the park board over its ban on displaying whales and dolphins. Animal Justice and Zoocheck were both granted intervener status Friday in B.C. Supreme Court. The two groups say they plan to focus on the aquarium's argument that the park board ban infringes on the Charter right to free expression. (CBC)

Lessons about Seattle from the Cooper's hawk
To visit the Queen of Seattle one must first step over empty beer bottles and condom wrappers before skidding down a dirt slope and traipsing over a massive tangle of bindweed. The Queen is not holding audience today, but her ‘kids’ are there to welcome Ed Deal. The Queen is a Cooper’s hawk, fierce, deadly and beautiful. Deal, a raptor expert, points out the Queen’s nest, a large, solid mass of branches perched near the top of a tall, scrawny alder. The tree sits in a ravine, not far from Longfellow Creek in West Seattle, and she has ruled this location for the past eight years, her current ‘kids’ as Deal refers to them, flying around the small forest. Kelly Brenner reports. (Crosscut)

Bid to evict derelict Gorge boats delayed
Victoria’s legal bid to remove derelict boats from the Gorge waterway has been delayed six weeks. The city was in B.C. Supreme Court Monday seeking a court order to remove 16 boats and four docks which it maintains are in violation of a bylaw. That bylaw, approved in 2016, limits boat owners to 48 consecutive hours of moorage in the Gorge and a maximum of 72 hours over 30 days. But the matter was put over to the week of Oct. 30 by Justice Palbinder Shergill after the boaters hired a lawyer, who asked for time to prepare. (Times Colonist)

The Sex Life Of Coral: Why Scientists Think It Could Save Us All
The crescent moon, just a sliver of silver above the palms, is starting to set on a balmy June evening as two dozen volunteers switch on their red-filtered headlamps at a restricted research facility off the windward coast of Oahu. They stand in the dark around large tanks and buckets of seawater, anxious to start collecting tiny sacks of coral sperm and eggs for scientists at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. These long summer spawning nights on the 28-acre Moku o Loe, commonly called Coconut Island, are part of a groundbreaking “assisted evolution” experiment that could save coral reefs — and, in turn, humans — from some of the most serious effects of climate change. Nathan Eagle reports. (Civil Beat)

Judge approves sale of Alaska’s largest newspaper
A federal bankruptcy judge today approved the sale of Alaska’s largest newspaper for $1 million, saving the paper from folding. Judge Gary Spraker made his decision after hearing hours of testimony over the financial liabilities of the Alaska Dispatch News. In approving the sale, Spraker said it was the best option available — better than liquidation — despite his concerns over the fast pace of the process. The new owner of the Anchorage newspaper is the Binkley Co., a family owned firm in Fairbanks. Ryan Binkley and Alaska Media’s Jason Evans are currently co-publishers of the newspaper and intend to keep it going. (Associated Press)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  258 AM PDT Tue Sep 12 2017  
TODAY  W wind 10 kt or less, rising to 10 to 20 kt this  afternoon. Wind waves 3 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 10 seconds.
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming light. Wind waves 1 to 3  ft subsiding late. W swell 6 ft at 9 seconds.
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