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| Bigg's killer whales [Monika Wieland Shields] |
Officially known as West Coast transients but increasingly referred to as Bigg’s killer whales, these marine mammal-eating orcas (Orcinus orca) are spending increasing time in the Salish Sea to consume their marine mammal prey including harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and harbor and Dall’s porpoise. They range from Southeast Alaska to California, but over the last 15 years more members of the population are spending increasing time in the inland waters of Washington State and British Columbia. (Monika Wieland Shields and Scott Veirs: Encyclopedia of Puget Sound)
*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.
Green groups sue over Trump rollback of Obama-era waterway protections
Two separate coalitions of environmental groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, challenging a rollback of protections for the nation’s waterways. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January limits federal protections for smaller bodies of water, a move critics say risks contamination of larger ones used for drinking water. Rebecca Beitsch reports. (The Hill)
Federal Environmental Policies During Pandemic Raise Concerns Across Northwest
State agencies and advocates have been alarmed by federal environmental policy rollbacks that continue unabated by the global coronavirus pandemic. Amid the COVID-19 national emergency, the Trump administration has finalized rules that scale back the regulations for fuel efficiency in cars and trucks, air pollution coming from power plants and water pollution in streams and wetlands. Meanwhile, federal agencies announced they would suspend enforcement of some environmental regulations for industries that can’t comply during the pandemic. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB)
Pacific oysters in the Salish Sea may not contain as many microplastics as previously thought
University of Washington researchers at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Department of Materials Science and Engineering used advanced methodologies to accurately identify and catalog microplastics in Pacific oysters from the Salish Sea. They have discovered that the abundance of tiny microplastic contaminants in these oysters is much lower than previously thought. The findings were published in January in the journal Science of the Total Environment. (UW Today)
Read Island folks might buy a forest for the third time
The tree loving, forest-buying, self-sufficient members of the community of Read Island are back to buy more forest land to preserve, a month after buying 20 acres of land. Recently the Surge Narrows Community Association, consisting of members from the the islands of Read, Maurelle, Rendezvous, and Owen Bay on Sonora Island, raised funds to buy 20 acres of forest land on Read Island, which is located at the top of the Strait of Georgia near Quadra and Cortes. Binny Paul reports. (Campbell River Mirror)
Coast Guard discourages Canadian boaters from visiting U.S. waters during coronavirus
....Canadian Coast Guard Regional Superintendent Susan Pickrel said plans are in the works to prevent visits from American boaters...The U.S. Coast Guard is doing the same to prevent Canadian boaters from venturing south into American marinas, 13th District Pacific Northwest spokesperson Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier sais. David Rasbach reports. (Bellingham Herald)
WA Invasive Species Council looks to get rid of Scotch broom plants
The Washington Invasive Species Council along with other state agencies and researchers have called for a census to be conducted this month to help determine the location of Scotch broom throughout the state. (My Ferndale News)
COVID-19: Vancouver Aquarium's revenues drop to zero from $3 million a month
The closure of the Vancouver Aquarium six weeks ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic was a bit more complicated than that of most businesses, there were still 70,000 creatures — otters, sea lions, seals, jelly fish, birds, bats and insects — that still needed to be fed and cared for...The closure meant the loss of between 1,000 and 2,000 visitors a day and an abrupt end to $3 million a month in admission and other revenues. Susan Lazaruk reports. (Vancouver Sun)
The manmade threat growing beneath Mount St. Helens
Forty years after the mountain’s eruption, the weakened Spirit Lake tunnel could flood nearby towns if it collapses. Eric Wagner reports. (High Country News/Crosscut)
Washington has received big money from federal wetlands grants program
Over the past five years, Washington state has received $26.9 million to purchase and restore wetland properties as part of the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. That’s a surprising 28 percent of the $95 million made available to 20 states situated along the U.S. coasts and Great Lakes. Not only has Washington state received more money than any other state every year for the past five years, it has also had more projects funded every year but one. In 2016, California was granted funds for nine projects totaling $5.5 million, compared to Washington’s seven projects totaling $5.6 million...This year, seven Washington state projects received a total of $5 million. The seven projects were among 23 approved nationwide totaling $17 million. Chris Dunagan reports. (Puget Sound Institute)
SE Alaska Chinook controversy attracts more user groups
A controversy over whether NOAA Fisheries is properly managing Chinook salmon stocks in Southeast Alaska, with consideration for a hungry whale population in decline, has been joined by sport and charter fishermen who say Alaska is not the problem. The environmental organization SalmonState, along with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association and Alaska Trollers Association said on Monday, April 27, that sport and charter harvesters have joined them in support of NOAA Fisheries in a lawsuit brought by Wild Fish Conservancy, of Duvall, Washington. The group characterizes as misguided the decision of WFC to sue NOAA Fisheries in federal court to halt Chinook salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska effective July 1. Margaret Bauman reports. (Cordova Times)
‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet
Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations. Mike Baker reports. (NY Times) And: Murder Hornets vs. Honeybees: A Swarm of Bees Can Cook Invaders Alive While the Asian giant hornet massacres honeybees in their hives, some bees have developed a remarkable defense: cooking the hornets alive. Mike Baker reports. (NY Times)
Port of Port Angeles approves $1.6 million dredging contract
Port of Port Angeles commissioners have approved a $1.6 million low-bid dredging contract that exceeds the budgeted amount by more than 50 percent — but could be far less depending on transportation costs. When completed, the deeper waters will make ship captains less hesitant about the possibility of hitting bottom at Terminal 3 in Port Angeles Harbor, a Port of Port Angeles official said Tuesday...Port commissioners learned the project at Terminal 3 already has cost $300,000 for design, sediment-core testing and permitting not included in the agreement that they unanimously approved Tuesday with Stayton, Ore.-based Legacy Contracting. The cost also could range between $1.3 million and $1.8 million depending upon the amount of polluted sediment that must be trucked to a landfill — likely the privately held Roosevelt Regional Landfill south of Yakima — as opposed to depositing it as fill for the port’s Marine Trades Industrial Park. The sediment, which contains polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, dioxins and metals, includes tributyltin, aromatic hydrocarbons and dioxins/furans that exceeded the Dredged Material Management Program, administered by state and federal agencies. Paul Gottlieb reports.(Peninsula Daily News)
Skagit festival can draw 400K tourists. This year? Nearly 0.
Rows of snipped red blooms lay crumbled on the ground at RoozenGaarde Tuesday — remnants of a Skagit Valley Tulip Festival that never happened. With sunnier-than-average weather, third-generation tulip farmer Brent Roozen thinks 2020 would have been a record-breaking year for the event, which annually draws roughly 400,000 people from all over the world to rural Skagit County. This year, the acres of vibrant pink, yellow and red flowers, normally buzzing with tourists and selfie-takers, lay silent. The festival was called off last month amid the coronavirus outbreak. Julia-Grace Sanders reports. (Everett Herald) See: Tulip Town launches virtual reality app Tulip Town has launched a mobile phone app that offers an immersive experience of the tulips fields even when the flowers aren’t in bloom. The app, called Tulip Town 360 Tour, is available for free download on iPhone and is coming to Android soon. (Skagit Valley Herald)
Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca- 204 AM PDT Mon May 4 2020
TODAY SE wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 7 ft at 11 seconds subsiding to 5 ft at 11 seconds in the afternoon. A chance of showers in the afternoon.
TONIGHT SE wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 10 seconds building to 7 ft at 10 seconds after midnight. A chance of showers in the evening then a slight 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.
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