10/25 Malibu Rapids, Greta Thunberg, indigenous rights, sea urchins, geoduck market, Appletree Cove sewage, Big Beef Creek protection, Fawn Sharp, Anacortes bag ban, Trump's climate

Malibu Rapids [Wikipedia]

Malibu Rapids (British Columbia)
The Malibu Rapids forms the entrance to Princess Louisa Inlet and is also connected to the Jervis Inlet. The tidal flow of both inlets pass through this narrow and shallow passage that creates a fast moving (approximately 9 kn or 17 km/h) and strong tidal rapids during the peak flows. At slack tide, the entrance is virtually flat calm similar to the Skookumchuck Narrows near the entrance of the Jervis Inlet...This was the site of the Malibu Club, formerly a private resort which is today a Young Life camp. (Wikipedia)

Greta Thunberg set to speak at climate rally in Vancouver
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is expected to attend a rally in downtown Vancouver on Friday, an event billed as a post-election demonstration to push Canadian leaders to take action on the climate crisis. Thunberg, 16, is expected to speak and appear at the march late Friday morning.  She began her weekly school climate strikes in her native Stockholm more than a year ago and her following has grown to tens of thousands in recent months. The Vancouver rally coincides with the filing of a lawsuit from 15 youth across Canada, who say the federal government's policies have contributed to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and "dangerous" contributions to climate change. (CBC) See also: ’Utterly fearless:’ Greta Thunberg visits glacier in Jasper National Park  Climate change activist Greta Thunberg braved a blizzard on a snow-covered glacier in Jasper National Park to learn from the scientists who study the ice. (Canadian Press)

B.C. tables historic Indigenous rights bill in move to implement UN declaration
B.C.'s promised bill on Indigenous rights has been tabled in the legislature, and if passed, the province will be the first in Canada to legally implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Since the province committed to the legislation more than a year ago, a team from the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation has been working with the First Nations Leadership Council to draft the historic bill. Chantelle Bellrichard reports. (CBC)

Swarm of sea urchins wreaks destruction on US West Coast
Tens of millions of voracious purple sea urchins that have already chomped their way through towering underwater kelp forests in California are spreading north to Oregon, sending the delicate marine ecosystem off the shore into such disarray that other critical species are starving to death. A recent count found 350 million purple sea urchins on one Oregon reef alone — more than a 10,000% increase since 2014. And in Northern California, 90% of the giant bull kelp forests have been devoured by the urchins, perhaps never to return. Vast “urchin barrens” — stretches of denuded seafloor dotted with nothing but hundreds of the spiny orbs — have spread to coastal Oregon, where kelp forests were once so thick it was impossible to navigate some areas by boat. Gillian Flaccus and Terence Chea report. (Associated Press)

Export markets cool for Washington's giant clam, the geoduck, as tariffs mount and Chinese consumers get picky
Some 40 feet down, diver Walter Lorentz Jr. groped along the bottom of Puget Sound, searching in the weak undersea light for small dimples that mark the site of a buried geoduck. He wielded a “stinger” — a high-pressure water wand — to help pry these giant clams loose from the sand and cobble where they may have resided for decades....By the next day, these geoducks — still alive — would be on sale in China. There, they are a costly delicacy viewed by some as an aphrodisiac and often served — simmered in a hot pot — at weddings, business banquets and high-end restaurants, where a 2-pound geoduck may fetch more than $100. For more than a decade, surging demand in China and high prices have fueled black market as well as legal harvests. But this year, the Asian market has cooled, and U.S. producers are finding it’s more difficult to wrest big profits from the Chinese geoduck market. That also means a sharp cut in revenue for the state of Washington, which has earned millions of dollars annually by auctioning off geoduck harvest rights. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

No-contact advisory issued for Appletree Cove after sewage spill dumps more than 6,000 gallons of waste
A no-contact advisory has been issued for Appletree Cove after a sewage spill dumped more than 6,000 gallons of waste in Kingston. The Kitsap Public Health District is warning residents to avoid contact with the water —  including swimming, wading, or recreation where water could be swallowed or get in the mouth, nose or eyes — according to an advisory announced Wednesday. The advisory is in place through Nov. 12...The spill happened on a sewage line that connects a pump station in the area to the Kingston Wastewater Treatment Plant, said Kitsap County Public Works sewer utility manager Stella Vakarcs.   Austen Macalus reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Purchase of Big Beef Creek property preserves habitat, research projects
Nearly 300 acres along Big Beef Creek near Seabeck will be protected from development and could maintain its research facilities, thanks to a $3.5-million land purchase arranged by the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group. The property, owned by the University of Washington, contains the Big Beef Creek Research Station, known for its studies of salmon and steelhead. The UW purchased the land, including most of the estuary, in 1965. Various research projects have continued there, despite the university’s decision to sell the property. Chris Dunagan reports (Watching Our Water Ways)

Quinault leader is elected president of Indian Country
Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Indian Nation, is the new president of the National Congress of American Indians. She won by a landslide with 61 percent of the vote. She is the third woman to lead the organization, which was founded in 1944. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Anacortes looking at plastic bag ban 
Anacortes is considering banning single-use plastic bags at grocery and retail stores, something at least 25 other jurisdictions throughout the state have done. An ordinance presented Monday night to the Anacortes City Council proposed a ban on single-use plastic bags used for transport or carry-away purchases at grocery or retail stores larger than 10,000 square feet. About a dozen people gave public comments in support of a ban, and two stated they opposed a ban. Jacqueline Allison reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Justice Dept. Sues California to Stop Climate Initiative From Extending to Canada
The Trump administration took another legal shot at California on Wednesday, suing to block part of the state’s greenhouse gas reduction program and limit its ability to take international leadership in curbing planet warming emissions. In a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of California, the Justice Department said that a regional system created by California’s air resources board, which caps planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions but lets corporations trade emissions credits within that cap, was unlawful because it included Quebec, Canada. The Justice Department cited the constitutional prohibition on states making their own treaties or agreements with foreign governments. Lisa Friedman and Katie Penner report. (NY Times)


Now, your weekend tug weather--West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  227 AM PDT Fri Oct 25 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 5 AM PDT EARLY THIS  MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING   
TODAY  S wind 10 to 20 kt becoming W wind 20 to 30 kt. Wind  waves 1 to 3 ft building to 3 to 5 ft. W swell 5 ft at 11 seconds  building to 10 ft at 8 seconds in the afternoon. Rain in the  morning then a chance of showers in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  NW wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft after  midnight. W swell 13 ft at 10 seconds. 
SAT  N wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SE 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 9 ft at 11 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  E wind to 10 kt rising to 10 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft after  midnight. W swell 6 ft at 11 seconds. 
SUN  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft  at 11 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