1/9 Elephant seal, legislating orca recovery, pipeline blockade, rising carbon dioxide, climate change

Northern elephant seal [Marine Mammal Center]

Northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris
Elephant seals are well named because adult males have large noses that resemble an elephant's trunk. Males begin developing this enlarged nose, or proboscis, at sexual maturity (about three to five years), and it is fully developed by seven to nine years. Adult males may grow to over 13 feet (4 m) in length and weigh up to 4,500 pounds (2,000 kg).... Northern elephant seals are found in the North Pacific, from Baja California, Mexico to the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands. During the breeding season, they live on beaches on offshore islands and a few remote spots on the mainland. The rest of the year, except for molting periods, elephant seals live well off shore (up to 5,000 miles, or 8,000 km), commonly descending to over 5,000 feet (1,524 m) below the ocean's surface. (Marine Mammal Center)

This legislative session is make or break for saving orcas
Daniel Jack Chasan writes: "We'll soon know how the state Legislature responds to Gov. Jay Inslee's proposal to budget $1.1 billion for orcas, to the modest orca goals pushed by a coalition of 20-plus environmental organizations’ (one of the coalition's four priorities for the new Legislature is labeled “Orca Emergency Response"), and to the recommendations of Inslee's Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery Task Force. His task force’s recommendations both include and fail to mention things government could have started doing long before. (The task force report mentioned that we should “apply and enforce laws that protect habitat.” Do you think?)..." (Crosscut)

Hundreds rally across B.C. in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en pipeline blockades
A day after RCMP officers in Northern B.C. arrested 14 people at a fortified checkpoint blocking access for Coastal GasLink pipeline workers near Houston, B.C., hundreds of people across the province took to the streets. Rafferty Baker reports. (CBC)  See also: Pipeline protesters block Trudeau speech with drums, chants  (Canadian Press) And also: Five things to know about the LNG pipeline protest in northern B.C.  (Canadian Press)

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Are Once Again On The Rise
Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. are on the rise again after several years of decline, and a booming economy is the cause. That’s according to a report out today from the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm that tracks CO2 emissions in the U.S. “It appears based on preliminary data that emissions in the U.S. grew by the highest rate since 2010 when we were recovering from the great recession,” says Trevor Houser, a partner at Rhodium and an author on the new estimate. Emissions rose roughly 3.4 percent in 2018, he says. The big drivers were increased electricity demand and growth in trucking and aviation. Geoff Brumfiel reports. (NPR)

Climate Sense: The last four years are the warmest four on record
Christopher Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways shares five items about climate change...



Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  900 PM PST Tue Jan 8 2019   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING   
WED  E wind 25 to 35 kt. Combined seas 13 to 14 ft with a dominant  period of 14 seconds. Rain. 
WED NIGHT  E wind 25 to 35 kt becoming SE 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Combined seas 13 to 16 ft with a dominant period of 13  seconds. Rain.


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