7/29 Pygmy owl, J-pod, AK quake, PCB suit, heated salmon, island water, wildfire smoke, BC logging, Fairy Cr protest

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Northern Pygmy-Owl [Gregg Thompson/BirdWeb]

Northern Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium gnoma
The Northern Pygmy-Owl is a small, long-tailed owl, with yellow eyes and feet. It has only small and inconspicuous ear-tufts, which are seldom seen in the field. Its plumage is reddish-brown spotted with white. Like all members of its genus, it has false eye-spots, black outlined in white, on the back of its neck. Its belly is white, with dark streaks. It usually perches in a diagonal rather than upright position. (BirdWeb) Tony Angell suggests that "the Northern pygmy...is not a reddish-brown (the ferruginous pygmy owl is but is from the western border states and into Mexico), but rather a coffee or dark brown with cream and beige colored spotting."

J-Pod returns to Salish Sea after 'unprecedented' 108-day absence
 J-Pod is back in town. The group of endangered southern resident killer whales was spotted Tuesday near Sooke travelling eastbound on inland waters toward Victoria, according to Dustin De Gagne, supervisor of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Whale Protection Unit.  No official count was available, but it’s believed all 24 members of the pod are together, J-Pod hasn’t been seen in the Salish Sea since April 10, an “unprecedented” stretch of 108 days. Darren Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

No tsunami threat to B.C. after powerful earthquake shakes Alaska
A powerful earthquake that struck just off Alaska's southern coast caused prolonged shaking and prompted tsunami warnings that sent people scrambling for shelters. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake measured magnitude 8.2 and hit 91 kilometres east southeast of Perryville, Alaska, at about 8:15 p.m. PT Wednesday. It struck about 46 kilometres below the surface of the ocean, according to USGS. (Associated Press)

Monsanto Hit With $185M Verdict Over Teachers’ PCB-Related Brain Damage
A Washington state court jury sacked Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit with a $185 million verdict on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by teachers exposed to toxic chemicals in a dilapidated school, including an award of punitive damages resulting from the application of Missouri law. Tuesday’s verdict ends a long-running trial that began in early June over claims by three teachers who allege they suffered neurological injuries due to exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs...PCB’s are long-lasting chemicals used in a variety of industrial products, and the teachers claim their exposure occurred via PCBs in fluorescent lighting from the 1960’s and building caulk in the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington. David Seigel reports. (Courtroom View Network)

Underwater video shows heat-stressed salmon, but it could have been worse
June’s heat wave led to some unhealthy hot water for salmon. But, fish managers said it hasn’t been as devastating for salmon runs as the warm water temperatures were in 2015. Underwater video from a Columbia River tributary in south-central Washington shows sockeye salmon infected with fungus caused by heat stress. They’re hiding out in the cooler waters of the Little White Salmon River, far from their spawning grounds. Courtney Flatt reports. (OPB)

Have enough water? San Juan prepares to find out, with USGS study
Lopez Island aquifers logged some of the highest recharge rates in the county when water supply was last studied. A new study next year will provide important data for managing supply as well as planning for the future as the population continues to grow. Heather Spaulding reports. (Salish Current) Water supply on Guemes: an island paradise faces challenges  More people and rising sea levels mean continuously increasing freshwater challenges on Guemes Island, compelling action on the part of individuals — and possibly government — to ensure enough water supply to meet demand. Elisa Claassen reports. (Salish Current) Is there enough water to go around an island? Welcome to Water Watchers, a deep dive into the precious resource of fresh water on Lummi Island. This is a series of articles and resources to help us all appreciate and manage our access to safe drinking water. (Welcome to Lummi Island)

Wildfire Smoke in the San Juans
Apart from a major earthquake on the Cascadia Fault, wildfire is arguably the greatest threat to property and lives in the San Juan Islands.  Fortunately, fires of serious magnitude have been limited in our islands, and with an increasing focus on wise fire-prevention practices there is reason to hope this will continue to be the case.  But wildfires elsewhere in the United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, have increased substantially in recent decades. This increase has been most dramatic in the last five years, creating trends of larger areas burned, greater fire-season length and higher sustained wildfire-related smoke and air-pollutant impacts. Dr. Arthur Winer writes. (Orcas Currents)

Increased logging endangers southeastern B.C.'s rainforests, study says
Increased logging activities have endangered B.C. 's Interior rainforests and, if left unchecked, may lead to their ecological collapse in a decade, warns a new international study. In an article published last week in the journal Land, conservation scientists from Prince George, B.C., as well as Oregon and Australia say industrial logging has eliminated 2.7 million hectares of forest in the province's Interior wet belt bio-region over the past 50 years — including more than 500,000 hectares of the inland temperate rainforest, the wettest portion of the region. Winston Szeto reports. (CBC)

Fairy Creek protesters defend felling small trees in order to impede police
A protest group is defending the actions of its members who cut down some small trees to impede police enforcing a court injunction against blockades that have been set up to prevent old-growth logging on southern Vancouver Island. The group, dubbed the Rainforest Flying Squad, responded in a statement on Monday, saying its members cut the small, second-growth trees in order to slow police progress in reaching other protesters who were chained to structures. They say Pacheedaht First Nation elder Bill Jones, who supports the protest group, does not disapprove of their felling of small trees to protect old growth. A statement from Jones released by the group says it's common practice in logging to cut down young trees growing at the side of roadways and that's not a threat to ecology. (Canadian Press)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  254 AM PDT Thu Jul 29 2021   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW swell 1 ft at 13 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. S swell 1 ft  at 13 seconds building to 3 ft at 12 seconds after midnight.

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