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| Stinging nettle [Wikipedia] |
The stinging hairs are hollow, and each arises from a gland containing formic acid. As the brittle tips are broken, acid is secreted causing an irritating rash on contact with the skin. Nevertheless, the leaves can be cooked and eaten as greens when young. Called 'Indian spinach,' the young leaves and stems were eaten by both coastal and interior tribes, but it is questionable whether this was a traditional use or whether it was introduced by Europeans. The plants were, however, an important source of fibre for making fish-nets, snares and tumplines. (Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast)
AG Ferguson to Navy: Don't scrape your ships' hulls in our waters
The U.S. Navy should not dump scrapings from hulls of decommissioned ships into Washington's marine waters, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Wednesday in petitioning to join a federal court suit filed by tribes and environmental groups. The Navy, in 2017, discharged an estimated 50 dump truck loads of solid materials, including toxic copper and zinc, into Sinclair Inlet as it prepared the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Independence for shipment to a recycling center in Texas. The Attorney General's Office fears the Navy will do a similar scraping on a second carrier, the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. It is arguing that such dumping violated the federal Clean Water Act and the state Pollution Control Act. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)
Vancouver Aquarium announces winning name for killer whale calf
The youngest calf of one of British Columbia's most famous killer whales has a name. The Ocean Wise Marine Mammal Research Program says in a news release that voters in a poll favoured the named "Storm" for the northern resident killer whale. Storm was born two years ago to Springer, a whale whose rescue and return home made international headlines in 2002. (Canadian Press)
Whale watching industry defends viewing endangered southern resident orcas
It was billed as a “bold action” the state could take that would have an immediate impact on our struggling southern resident orcas, but it never gained support in the Legislature. This legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee and his orca task force called for a temporary ban on whale watching activity around the endangered killer whales. Scientists say vessel disturbance is one of three threats facing these whales, along with lack of prey and contaminants in the water. The governor request bill would have required commercial whale watch vessels stay 650 yards away from the southern residents, but as the bill made its way through Olympia, legislators stripped the suspension from the text.... However, the governor's office revealed this week that not a single legislator in Olympia was on board. Even the bill's legislative sponsors have told Q13 News the measure lacked support from the start. Simone Del Rosario reports. (KCPQ)
Yakama tribal member charged with felony for fishing in the Puget Sound
State authorities allege that a man claiming membership in the Yakama Nation Indian Tribe was fishing illegally in Suquamish Tribe waters near Kingston in an unmarked boat and that a Yakama tribal official knowingly issued his invalid permit. The man is accused of selling 5,600 pounds of chum salmon he caught using a gill net. The October 2017 incident casts light on an ongoing disagreement over who has rights to harvest fish in the Puget Sound, leading back to different interpretations of a passage in the middle of the landmark 1974 Boldt Decision — officially known as U.S. vs Washington — that says Yakama tribal members had traditionally fished in the Puget Sound. Last month, prosecutors filed a charge of first-degree commercial fishing without a license, a felony, against the alleged skipper of the boat, Alexander Robert Somers, 43, of Tacoma. Somers allegedly claimed he had permission from the Suquamish Tribe, but court documents say the tribal council confirmed he did not.... When interviewed by Fish and Wildlife officers, Somers presented a permit, claiming it was issued by the Yakama Tribe, allowing him to fish in the area that is the “usual and accustomed” waters of the Suquamish Tribe. An officer wrote that the permit was invalid and that the tribe knew it was invalid because of a similar case from 2015. Andrew Binion reports. (Kitsap Sun)
‘Robust’ a tad generous in summing up science panel’s fracking report
The New Democrats chose the word “robust” in reporting this week on how a scientific panel had characterized B.C.’s regulatory framework on fracking in the natural gas sector. As in: “An independent scientific review of hydraulic fracturing in B.C. has found the regulatory framework to be robust, while also identifying areas for improvement.” The claim brought a vigorous response from the environmental watchdog Wilderness Committee. “Robust, my rear-end!” protested climate campaigner Peter McCartney. “How the ministry can characterize this report as anything but a scathing indictment of their failure to oversee this industry is beyond me.” Vaughn Palmer reports. (Vancouver Sun)
Federal judge demands Trump administration reveal how its drilling plans will fuel climate change
A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the Interior Department violated federal law by failing to take into account the climate impact of its oil and gas leasing in the West. The decision by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras of Washington could force the Trump administration to account for the full climate impact of its energy-dominance agenda, and it could signal trouble for the president’s plan to boost fossil fuel production across the country. Contreras concluded that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management “did not sufficiently consider climate change” when making decisions to auction off federal land in Wyoming to oil and gas drilling under President Barack Obama in 2015 and 2016. The judge temporarily blocked drilling on about 300,000 acres of land in the state. Juliet Ellperin reports. (Washington Post)
B.C. overreaching in bid to regulate oil and gas shipments, court told
The Canadian government says British Columbia is trying to obstruct the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion with “Trojan Horse” legislation that the province is passing off as a benign environmental measure. Lawyer Jan Brongers asked the B.C. Court of Appeal on Wednesday to reject proposed amendments to the province’s Environmental Management Act, because the changes aim to regulate interprovincial oil projects that fall under federal jurisdiction. Laura Kane reports. (Canadian Press)
Conservation group says dead sea lion found with gunshot wound in B.C
A conservation group says a dead sea lion that washed ashore in British Columbia this week had been shot in the head, amid calls from some fishermen for a cull. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says in a news release that the flippered mammal was found on Hornby Island, and it alleges its members have also observed abuse of the animals on the water.
The society says the sea lions depend on herring for food and it’s calling on the federal government to place a moratorium on commercial roe herring fisheries in the Strait of Georgia to help stocks rebound. (Canadian Press)
Researchers create hydrogen fuel from seawater
Stanford researchers have devised a way to generate hydrogen fuel using solar power, electrodes and saltwater from San Francisco Bay. The findings, published March 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrate a new way of separating hydrogen and oxygen gas from seawater via electricity. Existing water-splitting methods rely on highly purified water, which is a precious resource and costly to produce. Theoretically, to power cities and cars, "you need so much hydrogen it is not conceivable to use purified water," said Hongjie Dai, J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood professor in chemistry at Stanford and co-senior author on the paper. "We barely have enough water for our current needs in California." Hydrogen is an appealing option for fuel because it doesn't emit carbon dioxide, Dai said. Burning hydrogen produces only water and should ease worsening climate change problems. (Science Daily)
Pacific Great Blue Herons return to Stanley Park for 19th consecutive year
It's the first day of spring, and the season is clearly already upon us—flowers are blooming, the mercury’s rising, and the Pacific Great Blue Herons have returned to Stanley Park. Now in their 19th consecutive year of nesting near the park’s Beach Avenue entrance, the herons have been inhabiting approximately 40 nests in what has become one of North America’s largest urban heron colonies. And once again, the Vancouver Park Board has set up a live-streaming Heron Cam, which can be used by viewers to zoom in on different nests and observe all sorts of heron behavior. Doug Sarti reports. (Georgia Straight)
Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca- 649 AM PDT Thu Mar 21 2019
TODAY W wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 5 ft at 14 seconds.
TONIGHT NW wind 10 to 20 kt becoming N 5 to 15 kt after midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 6 ft at 17 seconds.
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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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