8/15 Thistle, orca babies, humpbacks, PSP, sockeye disaster, Rayonier cleanup; Salish Sea resilience

Canadian thistle [Greg Jordan]

Canadian thistle Cirsium arvense
The thistle (probably not this species) is the national flower of Scotland, adopted as far back as the 8th century AD. Legend has it that an invading Danish army was creeping, barefoot, towards a Scottish encampment when a soldier stepped on a thistle. He yelled so loud that the Scots awoke and defeated the Danes. The thistle was thereafter considered to be the guardian of Scotland and acquired the motto nemo me impune lacessit ('no one shall provoke me with impunity,' or in Scottish 'wha duar meddle wi me') as the emblem of that dour land. (Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast)

Both orca babies alive, all 3 southern resident pods seen in Canadian waters
Researchers documented this week that both babies in the southern resident killer whale pods are still alive. That was welcome news for the population of endangered orcas that dropped to just 73 this month, with three adults missing and presumed dead: J17, K25 and L84. The southern resident population has been in steady decline and is the lowest since the end of the live capture era in Washington waters in 1976. On Sunday, researchers with the Center for Whale Research, which tracks the southern resident population, photographed both babies, alive and seemingly well. Orca calves have a 50 percent chance of surviving their first year of life in the best of circumstances. So the persistence of the babies — J31’s new calf, J56, and L124, the calf born to L77 in January — is encouraging. Researchers have confirmed J56 is female. The gender of L124 is not yet known. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

12-year old Washington girl fights to save endangered orcas
Alison Morrow at KING reports: "While covering the Southern Resident orcas, I've met a lot of passionate people. Among all the adults, I regularly run into a 12-year-old girl who refuses to give up. London Fletcher has dedicated her young life to saving the whales. 'We can't lose such an important part of Washington, of our life, we just can't let them go without a fight,' Fletcher said."

'Humpback comeback' delights whale watchers as researchers study surge and warn of risks
Humpback whales were once so numerous in the coastal and inland waters of the Pacific Northwest, there were whaling stations near Nanaimo, British Columbia, and Grays Harbor, Washington. These closed by 1925, after the regional population of humpback whales had been largely wiped out. A century later, humpbacks are resurfacing in big numbers in the Salish Sea, the Columbia River mouth and the Northwest coast. Along with excitement over the humpbacks' return comes concern about ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. The resurgence even has a catchy moniker: the "humpback comeback." When I booked a whale watching tour from Port Angeles earlier this month, Island Adventures lead naturalist Erin Gless said I'd have a 92 percent chance of seeing these large whales. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network)

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Meets Its Match
As climate change brings more red tides, a protein from the American bullfrog might provide protection from paralytic shellfish poisoning. Casey Rentz reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Disastrous year for sockeye predicted
Fishermen of all stripes – commercial, First Nations and recreational – should brace themselves for what could be an epic bad year for sockeye. The combination of closures on chinook, a major landslide on the Fraser River that is blocking the passage of returning chinook and sockeye and drastically lower than expected returns of sockeye are building up to what could be year of idle fishing boats. This year’s sockeye return is a sub-dominant year, so it was expected to be lower than last year’s dominant year returns. But in-season forecasts, based on test fisheries, are now suggesting that Fraser River sockeye returns will be so poor this year that a full closure can be expected. That includes First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) fishing. Nelson Bennett reports. (Business In Vancouver)

Heavy equipment crews to dig test pits for soil samples
Crews will begin field surveys this month at the long-dormant Rayonier mill site for the eventual removal of the dock and jetty there and a cleanup of contaminated sediment in Port Angeles Harbor, state officials said. Rebecca Lawson, a toxics cleanup manager for the state Department of Ecology, said crews with heavy equipment will dig test pits to evaluate the subsurface conditions along the shoreline at the mill site east of downtown Port Angeles... Cleanup of the former Rayonier Inc. pulp mill site began in 2000. Rayonier operated a plant at the foot of Ennis Street from 1930 to 1997.  Rob Ollikainen reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Study tests resilience of the Salish Sea to climate change impacts
What will the ecology of the Salish Sea look like in the year 2095? It's an important question for millions of people who live along and near the shores of this intricate, interconnected network of coastal waterways, inlets, bays, and estuaries that encompasses Puget Sound in Washington state and the deep waters of southwest British Columbia. A research team from PNNL found that the inner Salish Sea is resilient, and that future response to climate change—while significant—will be less severe than the open ocean. Mike Wasem writes. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  256 AM PDT Thu Aug 15 2019   
TODAY  Light wind becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. SW swell 3 ft at 16 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SW to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 16 seconds.



--
"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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter. 

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told