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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