1/14 Sea cuke, runoff protection, orca hunting, sewage spills, Site C dam, Trump's owl, sage grouse, mircroplastics

White sea cucumber [Slater Museum]

 
White sea cucumber Eupentacta quinquesemita
The white sea cucumber is a common species in rocky areas in the middle intertidal zone and below. Up to about 10 cm in length when relaxed, it is easily recognized by its whitish color and long oral tentacles. The animal is often partially hidden in a crevice with only the feeding apparatus sticking out. (Slater Museum)

Settlement agreement says state must protect endangered species from polluted runoff 
Endangered species in Washington will get a much-needed boost following the settlement of a major lawsuit about runoff and water quality.  The case is about what’s known as non-point water pollution. This is mostly runoff that comes typically from farms and cities when it rains. Nitrogen from fertilizers or oily remnants from fossil fuel-burning engines are carried into streams and major waterbodies. Leaky septic systems are another problem. The pollution also includes logging practices that cause water to warm up, when shorelines and streambeds are denuded...Part of the problem, says Nina Bell with Northwest Environmental Advocates, which brought the suit, has been political interference from powerful lobbying groups...The agreement lays out a timeline for the state Department of Ecology to regulate farming practices and implement other specific rules, such as replanting trees in streamside buffers that keep water cool, in consultation with the EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Salish Sea Killer Whales Have a Surprising New Way of Hunting
Bigg’s, or transient, killer whales use stealth and teamwork to hunt their marine mammal prey. For a seal hightailing it from an attack, the best bet for survival is to get out of the water. But now, even dry land is not safe. Demonstrating a dramatic behavior previously only observed in some killer whales in the southern hemisphere, Bigg’s killer whales in the Salish Sea have now been seen deliberately running aground to ambush prey. The behavior, witnessed at Protection Island, a national wildlife refuge near the mouth of Discovery Bay in Washington State, in August 2016, was described in a recent study. Carolyn Cowan reports. (Hakai Magazine)

11 million gallons of stormwater, sewage flow into Puget Sound from King County plant
The West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle sent 11 million gallons of untreated stormwater and sewage into Puget Sound on Wednesday, King County's wastewater treatment division announced, blaming the release on widespread power outages. Additionally, heavy rainfall overwhelmed the capacity of the county's Shoreline pump station, while flow volumes did the same at its Medina facility, sending overflows of 165,000 gallons and 80,600 gallons, respectively, into Puget Sound. Nathan Pilling reports. (Kitsap Sun)

BC Hydro granted $171 million in no-bid Site C dam contracts as project troubles were kept secret from public
Documents obtained by The Narwhal show BC Hydro’s former chief engineer and SNC Lavalin are among the recipients of lucrative and previously undisclosed direct-award contracts, fuelling calls for a public inquiry into the behind-schedule and over-budget hydro project. Sarah Cox reports. (The Narwhal)

No-contact advisories issued for Dyes Inlet, Port Washington Narrows and Sinclair Inlet after 35,000-gallon sewage spill
An almost 35,000-gallon combined sewage spill led the Kitsap Public Health District to issue no-contact advisories for Dyes Inlet, the Port Washington Narrows and Sinclair Inlet on Wednesday afternoon. Bremerton Public Works reported a 2,000-gallon spill in Sinclair Inlet and a 32,350-gallon spill in Dyes Inlet and Port Washington Narrows. The spills come after a month of heavy rains across Kitsap and the region. Christian Vosler reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Trump administration slashes critical habitat for northern spotted owl by 3.4 million acres
The Trump administration has cut designated critical habitat for the northern spotted owl by millions of acres in Oregon, Washington and California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it would remove 3.4 million acres of critical habitat protections for the bird, including all of what’s known as the O&C Lands, which is big timber territory in Western Oregon. It’s the latest jab at the northern spotted owl on the president’s way out the door. Bradley W. Parks reports. (OPB)

Sage grouse review done, but scant time for Trump’s changes
The Trump administration has completed a review of plans to ease protections for a struggling bird species in seven states in the U.S. West, but there’s little time to put the relaxed rules for industry into action before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The ground-dwelling, chicken-sized greater sage grouse has been at the center of a long-running dispute over how much of the American West's expansive public lands should be developed. Matthew Brown report.s (Associated Press)

Microplastics are permeating the Arctic Ocean and the culprit could be our own clothes 
A new study shows that the synthetic fibres found throughout the Arctic Ocean are threatening wildlife and Indigenous ways of life. Peter Ross writes. (The Conversation/The Narwhale) See also: A bucket of water can reveal climate change impacts on marine life in the Arctic  (Science Daily)

Now, your tug weather--West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  251 AM PST Thu Jan 14 2021   SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  SE wind 20 to 30 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 9 ft at 12 seconds  subsiding to 7 ft at 12 seconds in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming SW after midnight. Wind  waves 2 to 4 ft. SW swell 6 ft at 11 seconds. Rain.

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