6/8 Baby time, Ocean Week, WA360, Fairy Cr, Pebble Mine, CO2 rise, border opening, Protection Is, old sturgeon, Reay Cr fish kill

American robin fledgling [Laurie MacBride]

 
Baby Time
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes; "It’s definitely baby time around here. I was in a hurry yesterday and almost stepped on another young robin, standing motionless in the middle of a path. Later in the day I watched a Purple finch father in rapid motion, feeding three hopping, noisy fledglings atop one or our garden trellises..."

Oceans Week Victoria offers free virtual events
Oceans Week Victoria is offering eight days of free virtual programming events centred around the celebration of Oceans Day on June 8. Over 100 events and activities are planned to cover science, technology, art, music, sustainability and conservation. Specific topics include marine biodiversity, deep sea exploration, water conservation and sustainable fishing. Evert Lindquist reports. (Vancouver Island Free Daily)

Racers paddle, harness wind to sail Puget Sound 
Under a dramatic sky, the first WA360 race launched Monday morning, sending sailors, kayakers, rowers and standup paddleboarders across Port Townsend Bay for a grand loop around. Fifty-six teams — with names such as Boogie Barge, Fingers Crossed and Fun While Lost — set out on the 360-mile course, which has Olympia as its first checkpoint. Hosted by the Northwest Maritime Center, the race is trackable at NWmaritime.org/WA360. Diane Urbani de la Paz reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Pacheedaht First Nation tells B.C. to defer old-growth logging in Fairy Creek
The Pacheedaht, Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht First Nations are requesting a two-year pause on old-growth logging in two watershed areas while they work on stewardship plans informed by Indigenous prioritie Sarah Cox reports. (The Narwhal) See also: Three First Nations call for halt of old-growth logging on territories  The Vancouver Island First Nations are calling for a two-year moratorium on old-growth logging in the central Walbran Valley and at Fairy Creek, the site of protests. Lisa Cordasco reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Alaska Native corporation to protect its land, dealing blow to massive gold mine project
The deal will make it difficult for backers of a massive open-pit gold and copper mine to carry out their project because the new protections cover a portion of a critical route the Pebble Limited Partnership plans to use to transport ore from the mine. Joshua Partlow and Juliet Eilperin reports. (Washington Post)

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fueling Climate Change Hits A Four Million Year High
The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere reached 419 parts per million in May, its highest level in more than four million years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Monday. After dipping last year because of pandemic-fueled lockdowns, emissions of greenhouse gases have begun to soar again as economies open and people resume work and travel. The newly-released data about May carbon dioxide levels show that the global community so far has failed to slow the accumulation of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, NOAA said in its announcement. Eric McDaniel reports. (NPR)

Canada eyeing multi-stage approach to reopening the border to travellers
Canadian officials are looking at a multi-phase approach to reopening the border that would begin with allowing fully vaccinated travellers to enter starting this summer. The pace of Canada-U.S. discussions about reopening has intensified lately, as more people in both countries are vaccinated and as frustration grows on the American side over the continued border closure. Alexander Panetta and Sophia Harris report. (CBC)

Protected Habitat, for a Population of One
Fifty years ago, Marty Bluewater fought to keep his home among the nesting birds of Protection Island. Now he’s fighting for the birds. Photographs and Text by Ruth Fremson (NY Times)

Researchers catch record-breaking sturgeon, thought to be nearly 100 years old
The largest Nechako white sturgeon on record was caught and released on the Nechako River near Vanderhoof, B.C., earlier this month.  Weighing in at 152 kilograms (336 pounds) and measuring 2.9 metres (9.6 feet), the huge fish was caught by staff at the Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre. (CBC)

Hundreds of dead fish found in Vancouver Island creek
Hundreds of dead fish were found in Vancouver Island's Reay Creek on Friday afternoon, and conservationists are concerned they were killed by contaminants flowing from a nearby storm drain. 318 cutthroat trout, 13 sculpins, 11 stickleback and three coho, along with crayfish, worms and other small species were counted among the dead animals within a 150-metre span of the creek. Conservationist says bleach was likely poured into a storm drain. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  302 AM PDT Tue Jun 8 2021   
TODAY  NW wind to 10 kt rising to 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of  showers in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 9 seconds. A slight  chance of showers in the evening.

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