4/20 Swallow, Deepwater Horizon, border closure, Earth Day 50, Trump's mercury, white orca, Salish Sea of old, derelict vessels

Violet green swallow [Ken Cole Schneider]

Violet green swallow Tachycineta thalassina
A small swallow of the west, nesting from Alaska to central Mexico. Similar to the Tree Swallow in appearance and also in behavior, nesting in tree cavities and in birdhouses; it also will nest in rock crevices of cliffs in rugged terrain. Flocks are often seen flying high over mountain pine forests or over steep canyons. Migrates in flocks. (Audubon)


*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.



Report: Wildlife Impacts Persist a Decade after Deepwater Horizon
The Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010 releasing 210 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. Oil slicks from the blowout covered an estimated area of 57,000 square miles (149,000 square kilometers). A National Wildlife Federation report: 10 Species, 10 Years Later: A Look at Gulf Restoration after the Deepwater Horizon Disaster, summarizes the latest information available about 10 wildlife species that were affected by the spill as well as the restoration efforts underway. (Marine Executive) See also: Oil dispersant chemicals are causing concerns ten years after the BP oil spill  Lynn Oldshue reports. (Alabama Public Radio) And: Deepwater Horizon Ten Years On  Members of the bipartisan commission created to investigate the spill say Congress and the Trump administration have failed to take safety seriously. Lisa Friedman reports. (NY Times)

Canadian Border Restrictions Have Been Extended For Another 30 Days
The United States and Canada have agreed to keep their shared border closed for nonessential travel for another 30 days to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the extension during a briefing Saturday in Ottawa. The restrictions on the world's longest frontier took effect on March 21, while allowing trade and other travel deemed essential to continue. The partial ban was to expire soon, but the neighboring countries have decided it is not safe to allow traffic to fully resume. (NPR)

What coronavirus tells us about climate change on Earth Day's 50th anniversary
The Seattle Times headline on Seattle’s first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, was prescient. So much so, it could have been written on this year’s 50th anniversary of Earth Day. “Pollution to Overheat Earth, Says Expert” was the headline stripped across the top of Page One. “The release of increasing quantities of carbon dioxide and thermal pollution into the atmosphere threatens to change global weather and melt the Antarctic ice cap, flooding wide areas,” the story reported. Fifty years later, the pace toward warming predicted in the story by the late climatologist J. Murray Mitchell continues unchecked. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Earth Day events go online because of virus
Canceled! Canceled! Canceled! Participants in this year’s Earth Day activities won’t be rallying in large groups, participating in environmental festivals or coming together to clean up the Earth. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day — Wednesday of next week — the environmental movement will be uniquely digital, with many people celebrating from their home computers. Chris Dunagan reports. (Puget Sound Institute)

E.P.A. Weakens Controls on Mercury
The Trump administration on Thursday  weakened regulations on the release of mercury and other toxic metals from oil and coal-fired power plants, another step toward rolling back health protections in the middle of a pandemic. Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport report. (NY Times)

Rare white orca spotted in Puget Sound waters. Just don't call it albino. 
An orca pale in color as a winter moon has been wowing onlookers all over Puget Sound. Not truly an albino, as social media has dubbed it, the orca is actually gray, rather than the typically deep, dashing orca black. But the whale is a thriller nonetheless, aglow through the green waters of Puget Sound. The whale is a male and a member of the transient orca ecotype. Meat eaters, rather than fish eaters, transient orcas — not really whales at all but the world’s largest dolphins — are seen from Alaska to California and all over Puget Sound, hunting seals, sea lions and other marine mammals. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Salish Sea basin was one of continent's most densely populated areas when Europeans arrived
Vancouver has the highest population density among Canadian municipalities, according to the 2016 census, and New Westminster, the City of North Vancouver, Victoria and White Rock all make the top 10. It was like that, too, before the first Europeans arrived in the 1700s, according to a study published in the Journal of Northwest Anthropology that was co-written by Richard M. Hutchings of the Institute for Critical Heritage and Tourism. The Salish Sea Basin was one of the “most densely populated” pre-contact geographical areas, Hutchings said from his home on Gabriola Island, which is home to 98 of the pre-contact sites the study counted. Immediately after contact, indigenous populations began crashing, he said. The arrival of diseases such as measles and smallpox carried by Europeans was primarily responsible. Gordon McIntyre reports. (The Province)

Inslee signs bill to strengthen derelict vessel prevention program
The state Department of Natural Resources will receive additional funding to address derelict vessels under a measure signed by Gov. Jay Inslee this week. Senate Bill 6528, sponsored by Sen. Liz Lovelett (D-Anacortes), will strengthen the program addressing the problem of sunken or neglected boats in Washington’s waters. (San Juan Islander)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  232 AM PDT Mon Apr 20 2020   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 17 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 16 seconds.




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