2/5 Goldeneye, GasLink, tanker ban, cruise ship ban, mining & fracking water, crab trap bust, concrete waste penalty

Common goldeneye, Whatcom Cr. [Alan Fritzberg]

 
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
The male Common Goldeneye adds a bright note to winter days with its radiant amber eye, glistening green-black head, and crisp black-and-white body and wings. The female has a chocolate brown head with the same bright eye that gives this species its name. These distinctively shaped, large-headed ducks dive for their food, eating mostly aquatic invertebrates and fish. They nest in tree cavities in the boreal forest of Canada and Alaska; look for them on large rivers, lakes, and Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts in winter. (All About Birds)

A year after Wet'suwet'en blockades, Coastal GasLink pipeline pushes on through pandemic
In the year since a high-profile conflict over Indigenous land rights led to RCMP raids on a pipeline construction route and sparked rail blockades across the country, the Coastal GasLink project has pushed ahead, with more than 140 kilometres of pipe now laid in contested ground in northern B.C.  The $6.6-billion pipeline is designed to carry natural gas, obtained by hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — in northeastern B.C., to a $40-billion LNG terminal on the province's North Coast for export to Asia. Betsy Trumpener reports. (CBC)

Conservatives’ Bid to Overturn Tanker Ban on North Coast Fails
A Conservative MP’s attempt to reverse a ban on oil tankers on British Columbia’s north coast was defeated in the House of Commons Wednesday. But Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach says the bill is a warning that a Conservative government would open up the coast to tanker traffic carrying diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands and create pressure for more pipelines. Discussion about whether vessels laden with crude oil should ply the waters off the north coast has been ongoing for decades. It includes debate over the existence of an informal tanker moratorium, outcry over the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and, finally, the passing of Bill C-48, a moratorium on oil tankers that appeared to put the conversation to bed two years ago. Amanda Follett Hosgood reports. (The Tree)

Ban on cruise ships until 2022 deals another blow to businesses relying on tourism
On Thursday, federal officials announced that the current ban on cruise ships arriving in Canada will be extended until February 2022, meaning another season will be completely wiped out. (CBC) Seattle cruise season again a victim of COVID-19 after Canada extends ban through early 2022  Paul Roberts reports. (Seattle Times)

B.C. charges mining, fracking companies very little for water use, new research finds
Some of the province’s biggest water guzzlers are paying as little as 28 cents for an Olympic-sized swimming pool’s worth of freshwater in a system that has little transparency and does little to track the overall impact of industrial water consumption. Stephanie Wood reports. (The Narwhal)

337 illegal crab traps pulled from Boundary Bay in 5 day operation
A record 337 illegal commercial crab traps have been seized in Boundary Bay in a five day joint venture between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard, potentially saving thousands of crabs from being sold on the black market...Boundary Bay straddles the Canada-U.S. border, but on the B.C. side, the commercial crab fishery closed in November. (CBC)

This project to help salmon and orcas could have caused environmental damage
A construction company working on a city of Bellingham project aimed at helping salmon and orcas was fined last fall for violating rules to prevent environmental damage...Walsh Construction Co. of Deming paid a $2,000 fine in October 2020 because it “failed to properly implement practices to prevent contamination from concrete construction waste from contaminating stormwater at the city of Bellingham’s Nooksack River diversion project.” Ecology spokesman Larry Altose told The Bellingham Herald that the infraction was minor, but could have harmed wildlife because concrete is caustic with a high pH. Robert Mittendorf reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Kodama property to be preserved for cultivation
Kodama, according to Japanese lore, are tree spirits. Both souls and guardians, they watch over the forest as it provides a home for creatures big and small. This word was perfect, then, for three young farmers’ vision of a place where birds, salmon, humans, fruits and vegetables coexist: the Kodama Farm and Food Forest. This nearly five-year-old operation on the appropriately named Tall Tree Lane has just become the site of a conservation easement purchased by the Jefferson Land Trust. Diane Urbani de la Paz reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  244 AM PST Fri Feb 5 2021   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  W wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 12 ft  at 10 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell  10 ft at 11 seconds. A chance of rain after midnight. 
SAT  SW wind 20 to 30 kt becoming W 20 to 25 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 10 ft at 11 seconds. A  chance of rain in the morning then a slight chance of rain in the  afternoon. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 20 to 30 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 12 ft at 10 seconds. 
SUN  NW wind 10 to 20 kt becoming W 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 11 ft at 10 seconds.

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