7/16 Tick, J-pod back, BC 'cuda, JumpStart tax, traffic's back, oil industry, 'Ourtdoors Act,' national parks

Western black-legged tick [James Gathany/CDC]

Western black-legged tick Ixodes pacificus
These ticks are mainly found in western Washington and live in forested or brushy areas. They can transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.  I. pacificus typically feeds on lizards and small mammals therefore its rate of transmission of Lyme disease to humans is around 1% of adults.  It is an ectoparasite that attaches itself to the outside of its host and feeds on the hosts blood meal. I. pacificus has a four stage life cycle that takes around 3 years to complete. These stages include egg, larva, nymph, and adult. (WA Dept. of Health, Wikipedia)

Good news from Salish Sea: J pod is back in its summer haunt
The orcas are back in the Puget Sound region again. The endangered J pod has spend the past week near San Juan Island and other inland waters. Members of the endangered J pod have been swimming back and forth near the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island since July 4. The southern resident orcas have spent less and less time in the Salish Sea, where they are summer residents, due to a lack of food in recent years. Paige Browning reports. (KUOW)

Fishermen in B.C. catch a barracuda far from home
A commercial fisherman knew he was staring at a fish out of place when a barracuda landed in his net on Vancouver Island, far from its typical habitat in southern California. Tyler Vogrig, 24, said he'd seen the long, silvery body of the muscular fish with giant teeth before, but in Hawaii. Vogrig said he and his father Brian were catching sockeye at Alberni Inlet as part of their stock-assessment work for Fisheries and Oceans Canada when they hauled in the barracuda...His father has been fishing for 40 years and had never seen a barracuda in British Columbia waters, he said. (Canadian Press)

Furloughs will slow Fish and Wildlife services
Times are tough and the agency responsible for preserving, protecting, and perpetuating fish, wildlife and ecosystems, while providing sustainable fishing, hunting and other recreation opportunities is feeling the pinch. With Washington’s economy struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state department of Fish and Wildlife has implented agency-wide furloughs for the next two Fridays. While public safety-related needs will remain staffed, most other Fish and Wildlife services, including customer service, will be unavailable. Vince Richardson reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

City council fuels Seattle's Green New Deal with JumpStart tax
Sidelined by COVID-19, Seattle's climate goals are back on the table, thanks to community and city council support. Mandy Godwin reports. (Crosscut)

Puget Sound traffic returns as coronavirus pandemic continues
Heavy traffic in western Washington was nearly eliminated when the state went into quarantine. As restrictions have eased this summer, the gridlock is largely back. In March and April, vehicle counts on Interstate 5 and other major freeways dropped by half, and up to 70% in places, as residents stayed home from work and school school. But as the economy has slowly reopened, traffic has steadily crept back up to near pre-coronavirus levels. Glen Farley reports. (KING)

Oil Industry, Accustomed To Booms And Busts, Is Rocked By Pandemic
Oil prices are low, and likely to stay that way for a while. And while low prices can be brutal for oil producers, they're also an opportunity: When the going gets tough, Big Oil often gets even bigger. But will the pandemic-induced price collapse lead to dramatic deal-making and companies scaling up? Some analysts aren't holding their breath. Camila Domonoske reports. (NPR)

‘Outdoors Act’ would repair national parks, protect land and address recreation needs
It appears that the political stars are lining up for what some people are calling the most significant environmental legislation in decades. Billions of dollars have been laid upon the table for parks, recreation facilities and environmentally sensitive lands across the country. The U.S. Senate has already passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which pairs two previous spending proposals: the Land and Water Conservation Fund with $900 million to be spent annually for the foreseeable future, and a new National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Fund with $9.5 billion to be spent over the next five years. Chris Dunagan reports. (Puget Sound Institute)

National parks may become latest battleground in reopening 
....Grand Canyon, the crown jewel of America’s national park system, draws more than 6 million global visitors in a normal year and fuels the economy of Arizona. But now, with Arizona leading the nation in coronavirus infections per capita, pressure is mounting to close Grand Canyon and other national parks in states across the South and the West that face spiking caseloads. As locked-down Americans clamor to return to the outdoors and families seek out safe vacations from limited options, the national parks could become the latest battleground in the fight over reopening.  Elizabeth Williamson and Sarah Mervosh report. (NY Times)



Now, your tug weather--West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  324 AM PDT Thu Jul 16 2020   
TODAY  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft  at 10 seconds. Areas of fog in the morning. A slight chance of  showers in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  5 ft at 5 seconds.




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