10/18 Ancient murrelet, no plastic bags, Salish Sea Wild, 'The Moment,' climate bank risks, Skagit invasive snails, Salish Sea climate model, oil protest, Rick Perry

Ancient murrelet [Peter Tepke]

Ancient Murrelet Synthliboramphus antiquus
More pelagic and gregarious than Marbled Murrelets, Ancient Murrelets are typically found farther out, with flocks of up to 30 birds a common sight in the winter. From October through December, they are numerous in offshore areas, are often visible from shore, and are the most likely of Washington's alcids to be found inland (especially in October and November). (Seattle Audubon)

Seattle, King County to stop taking plastic bags in recycling
Seattle and King County will no longer accept plastic bags in recycling, beginning next year.  “They don’t end up getting recycled and they become an inefficient barrier to the recycling process,” said Pat McLaughlin, director of King County’s Solid Waste Division, of plastic bags and film. “The processing stream isn’t optimized to handle them.” Plastic bags can tangle recycling collection machinery and contaminate otherwise marketable recyclables, said Kevin Kelly, the general manager of Recology King County, a recycling contractor in Seattle and King County. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times)

If you like to watch: Salish Sea Wild: The Scoop on Southern Resident Killer Whales
Team SeaDoc works with scientists trying to save the Salish Sea’s most iconic and endangered species: the Southern Resident killer whale. The goal is to collect critical health and diet data from each of the 73 surviving animals. So how does a wildlife veterinarian make a house call to do non-invasive medical tests on 10-ton killer whales in the open sea? It takes sharp eyes and a fine mesh net. (SeaDoc Society)

A marmot’s final moment before becoming fox food wins an award — and tells us about climate change
“The Moment” was rare yet relatable. In a picture captured by Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao, a female Tibetan fox and a Himalayan marmot meet. The fox, hunting to feed her three cubs, crouches, ready to pounce. The marmot, upright and pivoting on one small claw, opens its mouth in a silent screech. The creatures face each other — suspended in what Roz Kidman Cox, chair of the judging panel for Wildlife Photographer of the Year, called an “extraordinary” natural moment. Katie Mettler reports.(Washington Post)

Bank Regulators Present a Dire Warning of Financial Risks From Climate Change
Home values could fall significantly. Banks could stop lending to flood-prone communities. Towns could lose the tax money they need to build sea walls and other protections. These are a few of the warnings published on Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco regarding the financial risks of climate change. The collection of 18 papers by outside experts amounts to one of the most specific and dire accountings of the dangers posed to businesses and communities in the United States — a threat so significant that the nation’s central bank seems increasingly compelled to address it. Christopher Flavelle reports. (NY Times)

More invasive snails found in Skagit County
Invasive New Zealand mudsnails first found in Skagit County a year ago are now confirmed to be in three separate waterways where they could pose a risk to fish and infrastructure. The tiny mudsnails were first found in Big Indian Slough south of Bay View in September 2018, then in August in Carpenter Creek south of Mount Vernon and in Joe Leary Slough north of Bay View in September. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

PNNL develops research model to help predict effects of climate change in Washington waterways
With climate change on the rise, scientists at PNNL [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory] are developing a model to better understand the future of the Puget Sound and how waterways in the Pacific Northwest will be impacted by this issue.  A research team set out to find out what the Salish Sea or Puget Sound will look like in 95 years and to understand how much the ecology will have changed in that time because of climate change.... Using the "Salish Sea Model" researchers found a resilient Salish Sea. This means changes in the Salish Sea because of climate change will be less severe than they are predicted to be in the open ocean...The results showed that instead of a 3° increase in sea surface temperatures like are predicted for the open ocean, the Salish Sea will only be seeing roughly a 1.7° increase...This model should be available in three years. (NBC Right Now)

Man sentenced for 2017 Kinder Morgan break-in | Local New
A 30-year-old Michigan man was sentenced Wednesday to 60 days in jail after he was convicted earlier this month on charges related to a 2017 break-in at the Kinder Morgan oil pipeline facility west of Burlington. Donald Zepeda and another person broke into the facility on Oct. 24, 2017, in an effort to perform what he called an “emergency shut off” of the pipeline, court documents state. The other person was not charged. Kera Wanielista reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Trans Mountain protesters block train tracks at Port of Vancouver
Activists with the environmental group Portland Rising Tide staged a protest Thursday at the Port of Vancouver, blocking train tracks to disrupt the transport of pipe segments bound for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project in Canada. The group began posting photos on social media at about 10:30 a.m., showing people standing on a rail crossing at Terminal 5 near the port’s western truck entrance. They held signs with messages calling for climate justice and accusing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Jay Inslee of allowing the project despite their stances on climate change. Anthony Macuk and will Campbell report. (Columbian)

Perry Tells Trump He Will Resign as Energy Secretary
Rick Perry, the energy secretary who has drawn scrutiny for his role in the controversy surrounding President Trump’s efforts to push Ukraine officials to investigate the son of a political rival, told the president on Thursday that he would resign from the cabinet. The Perry resignation had been anticipated for several weeks, even before the news emerged of his involvement in efforts to pressure the new president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate a company that had worked with Hunter Biden, the younger son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Maggie Haberman and Lisa Friedman report. (NY Times)


Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  236 AM PDT Fri Oct 18 2019   
TODAY  SW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  18 ft at 15 seconds subsiding to 15 ft at 14 seconds in the  afternoon. Rain. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  13 ft at 14 seconds subsiding to 11 ft at 14 seconds after  midnight. Rain. A slight chance of tstms after midnight. 
SAT  W wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less building to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon. W  swell 10 ft at 14 seconds. Rain likely in the morning. A slight  chance of tstms. A chance of rain in the afternoon. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SW to 10 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 11 ft at 12 seconds. 
SUN  SE wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 9 ft at  13 seconds.



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