3/19 Herring spawn, border confusion, climate fight, whale threat, whale rescue, whale watch, BC LNG virus, plastic pollution, Seattle 2520, Venice canals

Herring spawn 3/13 Agate Pass [Brian Whitlock]

Meanwhile, in the nearshore....
Anne Shaffer at Coastal Watershed Institute writes: "Herring spawning has reached record levels in many areas of the Salish Sea over the last two weeks to the delight of EVERYONE. The spawning is marked by 'white water,' a colloquial term for the milt broadcast by males to fertilize the newly laid eggs. Scores of marine mammals and thousands of birds congregate to feed on the thick carpets of eggs laid on eelgrass and Sargassum spp. along the shore. The eggs are still developing but will soon hatch, marking the beginning the 2020 spring plankton season that in turn (literally) supports the rest of our Salish Sea food chain."

Confusion, uncertainty as officials announce U.S.-Canada border restrictions to slow coronavirus
...Confusion, uncertainty, and to some degree, resignation reigned on both sides of the border Wednesday in the wake of a joint announcement by U.S. and Canadian officials that the border would be closed to all “nonessential” travel in an attempt to slow the transmission of the novel coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2. Impacts extended beyond family ties to economic angst over border traffic that fuels U.S.-Canada trade and retail shopping. About 75% of border traffic between British Columbia and Washington state is Canadians coming south to shop, according to estimates. Ron Judd reports. (Seattle Tims)

Climate Push Loses Momentum as World Fights Coronavirus
A new study published last week in Nature Communications suggested tipping points—irreversible changes that could reshape ecosystems such as forests and coral reefs—may happen sooner than previously thought. TheWorld Meteorological Organization  also warned that about 22 million people were displaced by extreme weather in 2019, up from 17.2 million the year before. The United Nations won’t hold any face-to-face climate change talks until at least the end of April, as part of the effort to contain the coronavirus, according to Climate Change News. An EU-China climate summit due to take place at the end of the month has also been postponed. Such events are essential for governments to draft agreements in advance of the UN’s next global climate meeting,  scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November. Laura Millan Lombrana reports. (Bloomberg)

Conservationists Say Salmon Fishing Plan Imperils Whales
The government allowed salmon fishing in Alaska at rates its own reports said will push endangered Southern Resident killer whales closer to extinction, environmental groups claim in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Karina Brown reports. (Courthouse News)

If you like to watch: Killer whales hunting dolphins amaze onlookers near Powell River
A pod of 16 dolphins trying to escape hunting killer whales needed a little human help after getting stranded in the waters off the Tla'amin First Nation near Powell River two days ago. Karin Larsen reports. (CBC)

10 breathtaking spots for whale watching in Washington without a boat
....From late March to June, approximately 18,000 gray whales migrate north from their breeding grounds in Baja California up to the Bering Sea. During this annual northern migration up the coast, several pods of gray whales will turn east into the Salish Sea and stop in the calm protected waters of the Saratoga Passage to eat and rest. Callie Craighead reports. (SeattlePI)

Why Washington allows clear-cut logging in cities that don’t want it
When the community of Newcastle protected a critical salmon watershed, they didn't know state regulations would undermine them decades later. Mandy Godwin reports. (Crosscut)

$40B LNG project cuts hundreds of workers to prevent COVID-19 spread in B.C. work camps
The biggest private investment infrastructure project in Canadian history is slashing staff as it tries to prevent COVID-19 infections from getting a foothold in workers' camps in northwestern B.C.  LNG Canada says it's sending home half of its work force from the company's $40-billion export facility project in Kitimat, B.C. The company's move to lay off about 750 people and fly them home across the country is being done out of an "abundance of caution," said Susannah Pierce, the company's director of corporate affairs. Betsy Trumpener reports. (CBC)

Plastic Pollution’s Rapidly Mounting Toll
In 1938, American biologist Eugene Gudger documented an Atlantic cod with its head stuck in a syrup can. Eleven years later, he recorded a tiger shark that had horseshoes, metal cans, and rope in its stomach. Perhaps unsurprising now, but Gudger’s findings were among the first scientifically noted instances of marine animals inadvertently eating or becoming entangled in human rubbish. Today, the number of marine species affected by plastic is over 900. ames Urquhart reports. (Hakai Magazime)

What will historians make of Seattle 500 years from now?
Recent Archaeological Survey, the Seattle Archipelago, 2520 CE — Seattle was a major city on the Salish Sea in the Old United States. Evidence indicates a sprawling and largely prosperous urban area that thrived for three centuries before declining, brought on by a series of catastrophic events followed by dramatic sea level rise. Knute Berger imagines. (Crosscut)

Coronavirus: Venice canals clearer after lockdown
Residents of Venice are noticing a vast improvement in the quality of the famous canals that run through the city, which are running clear for the first time in years, and fish can even be seen in the usually murky waters. The coronavirus lockdown has left Venice streets empty, and a drastic drop in water traffic means sediment in the canals has been able to settle.



Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  247 AM PDT Thu Mar 19 2020   
TODAY  Light wind. Wind waves less than 1 ft. W swell 3 ft at  9 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 2 ft  at 8 seconds.



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