7/12 Blue whale, canoe journey, plastic ban, Pebble Mine, mussel power, old-growth trees, flying ants, 'fried egg' jelly, 'ghost nets,' salmon pens

Blue whale [Andrew Sutton]

Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whale parvorder, Mysticeti. At up to 29.9 metres in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 173 tonnes, it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. (Wikipedia) See: 'In the presence of greatness': Rare sighting of blue whale off B.C. coast  Cathy Kearney reports. (CBC)

2019 Canoe Journey underway for Peninsula tribes
Washington’s Coastal tribes this week have started a two-week cultural experience as they participate in the 2019 Intertribal Canoe Journey. The Paddle to Lummi will include stops — including welcoming ceremonies of songs, dances and potlatches — on North Olympic Peninsula beaches. The journey for Washington’s coastal tribes started in Queets and stops were planned for Wednesday at the Hoh Tribe, today at the Quileute Tribe, Friday at the Makah Tribe, Saturday at Pillar Point, Sunday and Monday at the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Tuesday at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and Wednesday, July 17 in Port Townsend, according to the Paddle to Lummi website. Jesse Major reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Victoria's plastic bag ban quashed by B.C. court
The City of Victoria has lost a battle in B.C.'s court of appeal over its ban of single-use plastic bags. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that because Victoria's primary aim in enacting the ban was the environment, it required approval by the Minister of Environment — something it failed to receive. The city argued the bylaw was "a valid regulation in relation to business," but in her ruling, Madam Justice Newbury wrote that wasn't the case. Justin McElroy reports. (CBC)

Trump administration pushes for new look at proposed Alaska mine near sockeye spawning grounds
In Alaska’s Bristol Bay, North America’s biggest wild salmon harvest is in full swing, a bonanza of gill-netted sockeye that comes amid renewed concerns about a proposed open-pit mine that fishermen fear would imperil this resource.... The Pebble Mine project would tap into a world-class deposit of gold, molybdenum, silver and copper within the remote Bristol Bay headwaters region, where salmon spawn and their offspring may linger for several years before heading out to sea. Pebble was first proposed more than a decade ago, and because of the sensitive location, has emerged as the most contested mine development in Alaska’s history. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times) See also: What Alaska's Pebble Mine fight means for Seattle Bristol Bay is a cornerstone of Washington's seafood industry. But many say a mine 20 years in the making could threaten all of it. Hannah Weinberger reports. (Crosscut)

Could Mussels Teach Us How To Clean Up Oil Spills?
Mussels may be popular among seafood lovers, but many boaters consider them pests. They colonize ship bottoms, clog water pipes and stick to motors. To chemical engineers, though, those very same properties make mussels marvelous. They can stick to just about any surface, and underwater, no less. The study of practical applications for mussel biology is so widespread that there's a special term for it: mussel-inspired chemistry. And now, researchers believe that studying how mussels stick to things may help them address water pollution, according to a review of recent mussel-inspired chemistry published this week in the journal Matter. While most of the technologies studied still aren't widely applicable, research in the area of mussel-inspired water cleanup shows great promise, the review says. Susie Neilson reports. (NPR)

B.C.’s old-growth trees produce mutations over time to thrive: UBC
Researchers collected DNA from the tops of some of Canada’s tallest trees to search for mutations that could provide evidence of how the ancient forest giants evolve to survive. It involved ascending 20 Sitka spruce trees on Vancouver Island, averaging 80 metres tall and ranging in age from 220 years to 500 years old, to reveal that the old-growth trees developed mutations to their genetic code as they grow and age. Dirk Meissner reports. (Canadian Press)

Flying ants swarming over the Lower Mainland
Flying ants are swarming across the Lower Mainland more than usual this week. UBC zoology professor Judith Meyers says on warm and humid days, they come out with their wings. "They do a lot of good by feeding on all sorts of dead vegetation … they sort of keep our world clean. We have this period of time where we become aware of them," Meyers said. (CBC)


Massive 'fried egg' jellyfish spotted in B.C.
A massive jellyfish spotted near Sechelt, B.C., which looks almost exactly like a fried egg has got social media buzzing. Donna Harrison, who works as a kayak guide, took the viral photo which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook. She spotted the jelly this week while on a tour in Porpoise Bay in Sechelt Inlet.... Mackenzie Neale, a jellyfish specialist with the Vancouver Aquarium, says the jelly was likely a Phacellophora camtschatica, commonly known as a fried egg jellyfish. (CBC)


'Ghost nets': How lost and abandoned fishing gear is destroying marine wildlife
The sight of an abandoned fishing net trapping fish or strangling seals never comes as a surprise for B.C. commercial diver Bourton Scott. Scott's day job is beneath the ocean's surface, inspecting underwater structures for different clients. But during nearly every dive, he comes across lost or discarded fishing material — or "ghost gear" — that is still snaring wildlife....After years of witnessing the damage first-hand, Scott decided to launch a cleanup program with his close friend Gideon Jones. It's called the Emerald Sea Protection Society (ESPS), and the group's effort to remove nets along the Gulf Islands — located between Vancouver Island and B.C.'s south coast — is featured in a new documentary called Ghost Nets. Jon Hernandez reports. (CBC)

Here’s how Ecology hopes to prevent a repeat of the 2017 Atlantic salmon pen collapse
The Washington Department of Ecology has a plan to prevent an incident similar to the 2017 pen collapse that allowed 250,000 Atlantic salmon to escape into the Puget Sound from ever happening again. According to a release sent out on Thursday, July 11, Ecology will strengthen the environmental protections for remaining net pen operations in the Puget Sound, updating permits to require salmon farms to step up their monitoring, inspections and reporting and to have emergency response plans. This plan is in place until a law to phase out non-native species of marine fish farming begins in 2022. David Rasbach reports. (Bellingham Herald)


Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  302 AM PDT Fri Jul 12 2019   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW swell 2 ft  at 13 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  2 ft at 12 seconds. 
SAT  NW wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 2 ft at 11 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 1 ft at 10 seconds. 
SUN  Light wind becoming NW to 10 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves 1 ft or less. W swell 1 ft at 12 seconds.



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