7/31 Purple crab, Olympic fire, freeing humpbacks, hypesonic weapons, Haida Gwaii travel, BC-AK travel, LNG by rail, Mazama gopher, salmon restoration, octopus

Purple (naked) shore crab [Walter Siegmund/WDFW]

Purple (naked) shore crab Hemigrapsus nudus
Purple, or naked, shore crab is commonly found under rocks in the intertidal along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. It measures up to 5.5 cm across. It can range in color from olive-spotted or dark olive to red-brown. (Biodiversity of the Central Coast)

Olympic National Park fire grows quickly
A wildland fire suspected to be of human origin exploded Thursday along the steep slopes above East Beach Road at Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. The East Beach Road fire is believed to have broken out about 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. It covered 1 acre by about 9 p.m., 20 acres by the next morning and 63 acres by late afternoon, according to an Olympic National Park press release. The fire is burning primarily on a south-facing slope in steep, heavy timber with shrub understory and is being pushed uphill by terrain-driven winds. Michael Carman reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Crews work to free humpbacks entangled in fishing gear off Island
Federal fisheries officials and conservation groups have been working to locate and free three humpback whales entangled in fishing gear around Vancouver Island and the Central Coast over the past five days. Two humpbacks dragging prawn traps and gear were reported and located over the weekend, but rescuers have since lost contact with both.Another entangled humpback was reported Tuesday on the North Coast. It was found late Wednesday afternoon and rescuers were near Gil Island trying to free the whale from several metres of seine netting and rigging. Darron Kloster reports. (Victoria Times Colonist)

Hypersonic Weapons Testing Faces a Big Problem: Killer Whales
Washington State officials want the U.S. Navy to modify a training program predicted to cause harm to killer whales and other marine mammals living in the Puget Sound area. The Navy plans to test a variety of weapons along the West Coast during a seven-year period, including what the The Seattle Times describes as a “projectile” flying at “seven times the speed of sound.” This is undoubtedly the Navy’s new Hyper Velocity Projectile, a hypersonic weapon designed to bombard enemy territory and shoot down enemy missiles. (Popular Mechanics)

B.C. bans travel to Haida Gwaii amid COVID-19 outbreak
In light of the recent outbreak on Haida Gwaii, the provincial government has banned all non-resident travel to the archipelago. The decision was made, the province says, in consultation with public health authorities, the Haida Nation and local governments on Haida Gwaii. (CBC)

Officials crack down on Alaska-bound travellers crossing U.S.-Canada border
The Canada Border Services Agency is tightening up the rules for Americans and other foreign nationals travelling through Western Canada on the way to Alaska, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Beginning Friday, foreign nationals travelling to Alaska for non-discretionary purposes will only be allowed to enter the country through five border crossings in Western Canada. Each visitor will be allowed a "reasonable period of stay" to make the journey, but will be limited to following "the most direct route" to Alaska, according to a CBSA press release. They must avoid all national parks, leisure sites and tourism activities along the way, and must report to Canadian border officers when they leave the country. (CBC)

Environmentalists threaten suit over push to transport liquefied natural gas by rail
Two environmental groups on Friday threatened to sue the Trump administration over a newly published rule allowing the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail.  The rule, which allows for the transport of LNG in rail tank cars, was finalized last month but published in the Federal Register [last] Friday. Previously, a special permit was needed to transport LNG in this way. Rachel Fraxen reports. (The Hill)

Public can comment Friday on Mazama pocket gopher status
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission plans to hear a briefing and public comment on a recovery plan and status review of the Mazama pocket gopher Friday, in what is essentially a redo of a discussion that happened in mid-June. At that meeting, a scheduled public comment period never happened due to an administrative “hiccup,” so people who had anticipated providing comment weren’t given the opportunity, said Hannah Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Diversity Division Manager. The timing of the gopher briefing was also different than what was listed on the agenda. Sara Gentzler reports. (Olympian)

Rising Seas Could Menace Millions Beyond Shorelines, Study Finds
As global warming pushes up ocean levels around the world, scientists have long warned that many low-lying coastal areas will become permanently submerged. But a new study published Thursday finds that much of the economic harm from sea-level rise this century is likely to come from an additional threat that will arrive even faster: As oceans rise, powerful coastal storms, crashing waves and extreme high tides will be able to reach farther inland, putting tens of millions more people and trillions of dollars in assets worldwide at risk of periodic flooding. Brad Plumer reports. (NY Times)

Almost $300K approved for salmon conservation work
The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners approved two similar Recreation and Conservation Office fund grants with a combined total of almost $300,000 for projects focused on salmon conservation and resiliency. The grants were unanimously approved during the commissioners’ Monday afternoon session, with $195,415 going toward a Hoh River Resilience Plan Phase 1 and $94,825 going to the Dosewallips River Powerlines Project. Both projects will be overseen by Natural Systems Design (NSD), according to commission documents. Zack Jabonski reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

$332,000 Cooke Aquaculture penalty supports habitat restoration in Skagit County and statewide
Salmon will have better habitat with help from a $332,000 penalty settlement with Cooke Aquaculture after the collapse of its floating pen near Cypress Island in 2017. The settlement required that the fine be split, part going to an environmental project for regional salmon enhancement or habitat restoration and the other part going to our Coastal Protection Fund. (WA Dept of Ecology)

Meet the real-life kraken: the octopus
Seattle’s new hockey team is named for a legendary creature of the sea, and that’s a perfect fit, according to octopus researchers at the University of Washington. David Gire, an assistant professor of psychology, studies the neuroscience of the octopus. He says their tentacles act like little brains as their arms forage for food, that one species is big and strong enough to take down a shark, and how, even though octopus are solitary creatures, they learn from each other and work together. Kim Eckart reports. (UW News)



Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  236 AM PDT Fri Jul 31 2020   
TODAY  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming 10 to 20 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 4 ft at 9 seconds. TONIGHT  W wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 3 ft  at 9 seconds. 
SAT  Light wind becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 9 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW swell 3 ft at 7 seconds. 
SUN  Light wind. Wind waves less than 1 ft. W swell 3 ft at  8 seconds.




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