3/31 Sand dollar, Roberts Bank terminal, tangled ships' anchors, Trump's tailpipe rollback, plastic wars. Klamath dam, classroom fish

Sand dollar [Wildcat Dunny/WikiMedia]

Eccentric Sand Dollar Dendraster excentricus
One of the most characteristic animals of clean sand bottoms in quiet bays everywhere on the Pacific Northwest coast is this flattened relative of the sea urchins. Sand Dollars move slowly across and through the sand by the action of their spines rather than their tube feet, which might not find much purchase on sand grains. The animal can literally slice its way into the sand by slowly moving its anterior edge back and forth. It remains partially exposed, and detritus that falls onto the aboral side is carried by tracts of cilia to and around the margins, then to the mouth by more cilia on the oral side. (Slater Museum)


*EDITOR'S NOTE: Access updates on the COVID-19 virus at national and regional print publications like the CBC, the Seattle Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.


Proposed B.C. container terminal would threaten endangered orcas: review panel
A federally appointed panel has found the development of a new shipping container terminal south of Vancouver would result in "significant adverse" effects on endangered southern resident killer whales. In its 627-page report, released Monday, the environmental assessment panel points to the negative impacts of marine shipping associated with the proposed terminal at Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C. (Canadian Press)

Gulf Island residents concerned after cargo carrier ships' anchors entangle
Residents of the southern Gulf Islands are extremely worried after a windstorm pushed two large commercial carriers next to each other in Plumper Sound Monday morning, causing their anchors to entangle. Transport Canada said in a statement that one of the ships was "reported to have dragged anchor and struck the [other], as a result of which the vessels' anchors became tangled." It said no injuries have been reported from both vessels. Adam van der Zwan reports. (CBC)

Trump Administration, in Biggest Environmental Rollback, to Announce Auto Pollution Rules
The Trump administration is expected on Tuesday to announce its final rule to rollback Obama-era automobile fuel efficiency standards, relaxing efforts to limit climate-warming tailpipe pollution and virtually undoing the government’s biggest effort to combat climate change. The new rule, written by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation, would allow cars on American roads to emit nearly a billion tons more carbon dioxide over the lifetime of the vehicles than they would have under the Obama standards and hundreds of millions of tons more than will be emitted under standards being implemented in Europe and Asia. Coral Davenport reports. (NY Times)

Plastic Wars: Three Takeaways From The Fight Over The Future Of Plastic
For decades, Americans have been sorting their trash believing that most plastic could be recycled. But the truth is the vast majority of all plastic produced can’t be or won’t be recycled. In 40 years, less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled. In a joint investigation, NPR and the PBS series Frontline found oil and gas companies – the makers of plastic – have known that all along, even as they spent millions telling the American public the opposite.  Laura Sullivan reports. (NPR)

Largest US dam removal stirs debate over coveted West water
California’s second-largest river has sustained Native American tribes with plentiful salmon for millennia, provided upstream farmers with irrigation water for generations and served as a haven for retirees who built dream homes along its banks. With so many demands, the Klamath River has come to symbolize a larger struggle over the American West’s increasingly precious water resources, and who has claim to them. Now, plans to demolish four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath’s lower reaches — the largest such demolition project in U.S. history — have placed those competing interests in stark relief. Tribes, farmers, homeowners and conservationists all have a stake in the dams’ fate. Gillian Flaccus reports. (Associated Press)

Annual salmon project cut short
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an early end to an annual program hosted by the state Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group at area schools. The program, which began in 2012, teaches students about salmon. This year, eight schools and the Children’s Museum of Skagit County took part, with each getting a tank to hold coho salmon eggs and eventually small coho. Vince Richardson reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  301 AM PDT Tue Mar 31 2020   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON   
TODAY  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming S in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 10 ft this morning, subsiding to 9 ft  this afternoon at 12 seconds. Showers likely and a slight chance  of tstms. 
TONIGHT  S wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  9 ft at 11 seconds. A chance of showers and a slight chance of  tstms.




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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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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3/30 Kinglet, orca visit, egg mass survey, relaxing enviro rules, ban reusable bags, bad flushing, Tulip Town, River's Edge, Montana power buy, Lk Sammamish trespass, "Survive the Sound"

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet [Alan Fritzberg]

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Ruby-crowned Kinglets are fast-moving but quiet little birds that you might overlook at first. If you’re scanning roadside bushes or watching a flock of warblers, you might see one dart into view and keep moving through the foliage, almost too fast for you to keep up. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny bird that lays a very large clutch of eggs—there can be up to 12 in a single nest. Although the eggs themselves weigh only about a fiftieth of an ounce, an entire clutch can weigh as much as the female herself. (All About Birds)


*EDITOR'S NOTE: Access updates on the COVID-19 virus at national and regional print publications like the CBC, the Seattle Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
 

Pod of killer whales spotted in Indian Arm near Metro Vancouver's North Shore
Jim Hanson was stacking wood with his 24 year-old son early Friday evening in the northern part of Indian Arm northeast of Vancouver, B.C. when he heard what he thought was "the puff of a whale." He disregarded it, thinking there was no chance he was really hearing the sound of whales exhaling on the surface of the water. In his 59 years visiting the area, he'd never once seen a whale in the fjord — until his son alerted him. "We ran down to the water ... it was a mother and a father and two juveniles," said Hanson. Cathy Kearney reports. (CBC)

Annual egg mass surveys reveal frogs, salamanders
Heads down, eyes trained on the water and walking sticks in hand, Hal Lee and Jim Johnson made their way one sunny March morning along an old side channel of the Skagit River...The two are among 16 volunteers surveying amphibian egg masses this spring on eight Skagit Land Trust properties throughout Skagit County. “We’re looking for amphibian eggs basically because they are an indicator species,” Lee said. Indicator species are particularly sensitive to changes in the environment, so they can be used to gauge the health of the environment. Tracking amphibians can also reveal ways the land trust could improve habitat on its properties, and improve knowledge of invasive species. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

E.P.A., Citing Coronavirus, Drastically Relaxes Rules for Polluters
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced a sweeping relaxation of environmental rules in response to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing power plants, factories and other facilities to determine for themselves if they are able to meet legal requirements on reporting air and water pollution. The move comes amid an influx of requests from businesses for a relaxation of regulations as they face layoffs, personnel restrictions and other problems related to the coronavirus outbreak. Lisa Friedman reports. (NY Times)

No reusable bags, say B.C. health officials in advice to grocery stores amid COVID-19
Grocery stores and other food retailers shouldn't allow customers to use their own reusable bags or boxes, according to new guidance from the B.C. Ministry of Health on how retailers should help curb the spread of COVID-19. That's part of three pages of guidance released by the ministry, along with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, to food retailers. In particular, a ministry statement said, there have been a lot of questions from the sector about whether Dr. Bonnie Henry's order prohibiting more than 50 people from gathering applies to grocery stores. (CBC)

Stop flushing wipes, facial tissue, paper towels, cities beg
People swept shelves of disinfectant wipes and toilet paper as the COVID-19 outbreak spread. When those ran out, they reached for other sanitary wipes, napkins and paper towels. But only toilet paper is meant to be flushed. Everything else can wreak havoc on sewer and wastewater systems, a problem now playing out across Snohomish County. Ben Watanabe reports. (Everett Herald)

As coronavirus wilts the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, a farm adapts
Faced with massive financial loss, Tulip Town makes a play for virtual strolling. Agueda Pacheco Flores reports. (Crosscut)

River’s Edge purchase step in Dungeness River preservation project
While dozens of projects throughout the region have been postponed, a collaborative push to conserve more than 100 acres of farmland in Sequim was completed this March. On March 20, North Olympic Land Trust and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe purchased 104 total acres of farmland and habitat — dubbed “River’s Edge” — adjacent to the Dungeness River and Dungeness Valley Creamery. The Land Trust now owns 64 acres of farmland along Towne Road, and the tribe 40 owns acres of riverbank, as the groups look to preserve farmland and restore floodplain habitat. In total the project cost an estimated $1.4 million, with the tribe securing state grants for its portion of the purchase. Michael Dashiell and Matthew Nash report. (Peninsula Daiy News)

Washington utility to buy power from Montana tribal group Washington utility to buy power from Montana tribal group
A Washington state electric utility signed a contract to purchase hydroelectric power from a Montana tribal company. Puget Sound Energy Inc. signed the 15-year contract to draw power from a project operated by Energy Keepers Inc., owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, The Billings Gazette reports. The Selis Ksanka Qlispe hydroelectric project, which includes a Flathead River dam, will provide 40 megawatts of power to Puget. (Associated Press)

'They're telling us we're trespassers': King County vs. longtime Lake Sammamish waterfront homeowners
King County has asked nearly 150 homeowners to remove their personal property from a rail corridor along Lake Washington so the Sammamish River Trail construction can begin next year. The pending lawsuit says eight owners of other properties along the lake had taken “without permission” an abandoned railway line in front of their homes. This wasn’t their land, the county says. The lawsuit says “docks, boat lifts, cabanas, decks, walkways, landscaping, fences and other structures” should be “ejected and payments made for remediation and restoration of the public lands, along with the payment of back rents.” The property owners disagree.Eric Lacitis reports. (Seattle Times)

Time to play "Survive the Sound"
Pick your fish! Long Live the Kings has transformed real fish tracking data into a fun competition to raise awareness about salmon and steelhead populations in peril around the Pacific Northwest. Play "Survive the Sound"  and after a 5-day  migration (May 4-8), the team with the most surviving fish wins bragging rights.



Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  310 AM PDT Mon Mar 30 2020   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON   
TODAY  SW wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. SW swell 8 ft  at 8 seconds building to W 10 ft at 9 seconds in the afternoon.  Rain likely and a slight chance of tstms. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 10 ft at 11 seconds.  Showers likely in the evening. A slight chance of tstms. A chance  of showers after midnight.




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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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

3/27 Camellia, island virus, media layoffs, plastic bags, Trump's green rollbacks, sustainable seafood, ocean changes, fish school, GBR bleaching, Takaya

Camellia

Symbolism of the camellia
The camellia is native to China where it has a rich national history, particularly in the southwest region. Here, camellia flowers grow wild and during the early spring entire fields will be covered in colorful camellias. Camellias are also a highly respected flower in Japan, and is often referred to as the Japanese rose. In China, the camellia represents the union between two lovers. The delicately layered petals represent the woman, and the calyx (the green leafy part of the stem that holds the petals together) represents the man who protects her. The two components are joined together, even after death. Typically when the petals of a flower fall off, the calyx will stay intact. With camellias however, the calyx and petals fall away together, which is why the camellia also represents eternal love or long-lasting devotion. (FTD)


*EDITOR'S NOTE: Access updates on the COVID-19 virus at national and regional print publications like the CBC, the Seattle Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.


Virus versus visitors: San Juan Islanders weigh health risks of tourism amid pandemic
On a typical March day, Jim Passer might serve up to 250 customers at his Orcas Island restaurant, The Lower Tavern. Yet, since Washington state started restricting gatherings to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, Passer is lucky to serve 100 customers to-go orders a day. “Every single hour of every day we talk about whether or not we’re doing the right thing,” said Passer about remaining open. “It’s a serious situation we’re in, so the closure and everything we’re doing are certainly necessary.” Hayley Day reports. (Salish Current)

As advertising dries up amid coronavirus shutdown, Washington news outlets lay off staff
Coronavirus has infected Washington’s media ecosystem. The statewide shutdown of most businesses and a halt to events, ordered to slow the virus’s spread, have dried up advertising revenues at news outlets across the state. Layoffs and furloughs have followed, putting additional pressure on the remaining reporters and editors, who are already working overtime — and usually working from home — to feed the public’s need for news about the virus. Katherine Khashimova Long reports. (Seattle Times)

In Coronavirus, Industry Sees Chance to Undo Plastic Bag Bans
They are “petri dishes for bacteria and carriers of harmful pathogens,” read one warning from a plastics industry group. They are “virus-laden.” The group’s target? The reusable shopping bags that countless of Americans increasingly use instead of disposable plastic bags. The plastic bag industry, battered by a wave of bans nationwide, is using the coronavirus crisis to try to block laws prohibiting single-use plastic. Hiroko Tabuchi reports. (NY Times) See: Bag bans lifted across Kitsap as grocery stores work to keep employees healthy  Jessie Darland reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks Find Opposition Within: Staff Scientists
President Trump has made rolling back environmental regulations a centerpiece of his administration, moving to erase Obama-era efforts ranging from landmark fuel efficiency standards and coal industry controls to more routine rules on paint solvents and industrial soot. But all along, scientists and lawyers inside the federal government have embedded statistics and data in regulatory documents that make the rules vulnerable to legal challenges. These facts, often in the technical supporting documents, may hand ammunition to environmental lawyers working to block the president’s policies. Coral Davenport reports. (NY Times)

If you like to watch: Sustaining Seafood and Communities of the Salish Sea
Tele Aadsen, of Nerka Sea-Frozen Salmon, and Jake Hacker, of Aslan Brewing Co. talk about fresh, locally-sourced salmon and seafood. (Northwest Straits Foundation)

Understanding Ocean Changes and Climate Just Got Harder
A new study shows that two important indicators for understanding and predicting the effects of climate variability on eastern North Pacific marine ecosystems are less reliable than they were historically. This finding has important implications for fisheries and ecosystem management from Alaska to California. Until recently, oceanographers and fishery biologists summarized and understood complex and
long-term relationships between regional fish stock productivity and ocean climate patterns using the Pacific Decadal Oscillation index (PDO) and the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation. (Alaska Fisheries Science Center)

If you like to watch: Why Do Fish School?
A swirling mass of fish swims past, as if a single organism was moving in unison. Who gets to be in the middle? How do they not bump into each other? And why are they schooling in the first place? (Hakai Institute)

Great Barrier Reef suffers third mass bleaching in five years
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered another mass bleaching event - the third in just five years. Warmer sea temperatures - particularly in February - are feared to have caused huge coral loss across the world's largest reef system. (BBC)

Takaya, world-famous lone wolf, shot and killed on Vancouver Island
A wolf that lived alone for years on a tiny island near Victoria was shot and killed by a hunter this week. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said in a statement that the male wolf, named Takaya, was killed on Tuesday near Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island, approximately 50 kilometres away from where it was released in late January. Adam van der Zwan reports. (CBC)



Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  255 AM PDT Fri Mar 27 2020   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW swell  4 ft at 17 seconds. Rain. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt becoming S 10 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. SW swell 4 ft at 16 seconds. A  chance of rain in the evening then rain likely after midnight. 
SAT  S wind 10 to 20 kt becoming SW 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. SW swell 4 ft at 14 seconds. A  chance of rain in the morning then rain in the afternoon. 
SAT NIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW  swell 4 ft at 11 seconds. 
SUN  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft  at 7 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