4/17 Gartersnake, Roberts Bank, KeystoneXL, Navy jet noise, research freeze, Chehalis dam, seismic survey permit, sturgeon, megadrought, The Stranger, marine pandemics

Puget Sound Gartersnake

Puget Sound Gartersnake Thamnophis sirtalis
In Washington, two subspecies can be found. The Puget Sound Gartersnake can be found near water—marshes, ponds, streams, and other moderately moist habitats with tall grasses. It is the only animal known to be capable of harboring resistance to tetrodotoxin (TTX), a potent neurotoxin produced by the rough skinned newt and Japanese pufferfish. Frequency of TTX resistance in gartersnake populations is often proportional to the toxicity levels of rough skinned newt populations in the same area. (Burke Museum]


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



Expanding Canada’s Biggest Port Will Be a Blow to Wildlife
The long-awaited federal assessment of the contentious Terminal 2 expansion of the Roberts Bank shipping terminal, 30 kilometers south of Vancouver, British Columbia, is finally ready, and it cites a daunting list of problems, including the potential for serious harm to the region’s killer whales and salmon. Amorina Kingdon reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Federal judge cancels Keystone pipeline permit
A federal judge has canceled a key permit for the construction of the controversial Keystone pipeline, stating it was issued without proper assessment of the project's environmental impact. U.S. Chief District Judge Brian Morris ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to properly analyze the project's effects on endangered species when it approved a key water crossing permit for TC Energy's 1,210-mile tar sands pipeline that is to run from Steele City, Neb., into the Canadian province of Alberta. Darryl Coote reports. (UPI)

Navy plans to monitor jet noise
The Navy submitted a plan to Congress in March to monitor jet noise around Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and a base in California. That plan, submitted March 19, outlines general terms for the monitoring, including using guidance from the American National Standards Institute and the Acoustical Society of America, and using 10 or more sound level monitors in the vicinity of usual flight paths...When monitoring is complete, the Navy will submit a report to Congress including the results, comparisons of the results to previous noise modeling, and any changes to operations being considered because of the analysis.. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Coronavirus freezes scientific research, threatening endangered species
As the coronavirus pandemic takes tens of thousands of human lives, grinds society to a halt and tears a hole in its financial and social safety nets, the natural world continues to persevere around us. But with the majority of environment-focused scientists, natural resource managers and field technicians who study and maintain the natural world working remotely to flatten the curve, the flow of crucial data yielded by fieldwork has essentially been frozen. Hannah Weinberger reports. (Crosscut)

Quinault Indian Nation opposes new dam on Chehalis, seeks alternatives
The Quinault Indian Nation on Thursday came out in opposition to a proposed dam on the Chehalis River, citing findings by the state Department of Ecology that the project would significantly harm salmon, including spring and fall chinook...The dam is proposed in the Upper Chehalis River near the town of Pe Ell in Lewis County. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to a Marine Geophysical Survey in the Northeast Pacific Ocean
Public comment is being taken through May 7 by the National Marine Fisheries Service for a permit to conduct a high-energy seismic survey in the northeast Pacific Ocean beginning in June 2020. The seismic survey would be conducted at the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada. The survey would use a 36-airgun towed array as an acoustic source, acquiring return signals using both a towed streamer as well as ocean bottom seismometers and ocean bottom nodes. The study would investigate the Cascadia Subduction Zone and collect data that would provide essential constraints for earthquake and tsunami hazard assessment in this heavily populated region of the Pacific Northwest. The permit assesses the potential effects of the survey on marine mammal species, their activities and their habitats as required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. (Federal Register)

Saving a Prehistoric Fish
What tracking the 300 million-year-old sturgeon through the Fraser can teach us about the ocean — and ourselves. An excerpt from The Imperilled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea by Laura Trethewey. (The Tree)

The western U.S. is locked in the grips of the first human-caused megadrought, study finds
A vast region of the western United States, extending from California, Arizona and New Mexico north to Oregon and Idaho, is in the grips of the first climate change-induced megadrought observed in the past 1,200 years, a study shows. The finding means the phenomenon is no longer a threat for millions to worry about in the future, but is already here. Andrew Freedman and Darryl Fears report. (Washington Post)

For ‘Seattle’s Only Newspaper,’ glimmers of hope in more than strange times
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on many businesses: restaurants, retail and the service industry as a whole. It has also had a major impact on journalism, especially smaller newspapers like The Stranger here in Seattle, which laid off 18 employees back in March. Here's an interview with Tim Keck, is president of Index Newspapers, the parent company of The Stranger and The Portland Mercury. Kim Malcomb and Andy Hurst report. (KUOW)

How Starfish, Snails and Salmon Fight Pandemics
They are resilient and immunologically cunning in ways we’re continuing to discover. C. Drew Harvell writes. (NY Times)



Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  203 AM PDT Fri Apr 17 2020   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 16 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt in the evening becoming light. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 14 seconds. 
SAT  Light wind becoming SW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves less than 1 ft becoming 2 ft or less in the afternoon. W  swell 5 ft at 13 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SW to 10 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 13 seconds. 
SUN  SW wind to 10 kt becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 16 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