7/30 Saw-whet owl, Lummi totem pole, Cherry Pt, Hood Canal steelhead, AK sockeye, plastic reycling, minke whales, BC mining, week in review

 
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Northern Saw-whet Owl
[Gregg Thompson/BirdWeb]

Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus
Named for the resemblance of one of their calls to the sound of saw teeth being sharpened, Northern Saw-whet Owls are small, chestnut-brown owls with prominent white markings on the folded wings and brown-and-white striped chests and bellies. They have no ear-tufts. Their eyes are yellow, and their white eyebrows connect in a 'Y' over their beaks. Throats are white. Fledglings are solid brown above with light buffy bellies and a well-defined white triangle on their foreheads. (BirdWeb)

Lummi Nation totem pole arrives in D.C. after journey to sacred lands across U.S.
A 25-foot totem pole, intricately hand-carved and painted by Native Americans, arrived in the nation’s capital Wednesday afternoon after a two-week cross-country journey from Washington state, as part of a campaign to protect sacred tribal lands. Dana Hedgpeth reports. (Washington Post)

Years in the making, amendments ban new fossil-fuel industries, new shipping terminals at Cherry Point
No new oil, natural gas or coal-based industries will be allowed at Cherry Point west of Ferndale under Whatcom County’s latest — and groundbreaking — Comprehensive Plan amendments, following a unanimous vote by the county council. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Salish Current)

if you like to watch: Hood Canal native steelhead
Live feed from a steelhead rearing pond at a conservation hatchery on Hood Canal. These steelhead (or rainbow trout, the freshwater variant of the same species) are part of an innovative conservation program that Long Live the Kings manages to support the recovery of Hood Canal’s native steelhead. Hatched from wild-spawned eggs, they are being raised here to help give natural populations a boost. When they are mature, they are released to spawn in the rivers and migrate to sea.

As sockeye runs struggle elsewhere in North America, a record run in Alaska’s Bristol Bay
Amid a fierce June storm that whipped up 8-foot waves, Robin Samuelsen told his four young crew members to let out the gillnets behind his 32-foot boat in the Nushagak district of Bristol Bay...In the weeks that followed, storms often returned to make fishing miserable, and at times dangerous. Through it all, the salmon kept surging back from their ocean feeding grounds in what — by this week — developed into a record return of more than 65.5 million sockeye to the Bristol Bay region. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Steveston recycling plant aims to transform plastic ocean debris into useful products 
A new plastic-processing plant that opened Wednesday in Steveston aims to turn plastic found in B.C.'s oceans into useful products...The new specialized recycling facility, operated by the Ocean Legacy Foundation, transforms the material into pellets that can be used to create new plastic products.  Brittany Roffel reports. (CBC)

Solitary minke whales lurk in the waters of Puget Sound
A resident population of minke whales is catching the attention of scientists who want to learn if the elusive mammals are found here year-round. While small compared to their cousin the blue whale, minkes are still among the largest creatures in the Salish Sea. Eric Wagner reports. (Salish Sea Currents Magazine)

How a fight against a Vancouver Island rock quarry became a battle to modernize B.C.’s mining laws
Residents of the Highlands, just outside Victoria, were told that according to the Mines Act the climate impacts of a hotly contested aggregate mine were irrelevant to the project’s approval — catalyzing a campaign for new mining rules that is now being brought to Canada’s Supreme Court. Braela Kwan reports. (The Narwhal)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 7/30/21: Friendship Friday, BC rainforest, Biden's enviro justice, Big Bar, heat-stressed salmon, PCB suit, J-Pod, Cherry Pt, Lummi totem pole

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  255 AM PDT Fri Jul 30 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 9 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 1 ft at 9 seconds building to 3 ft  at 10 seconds after midnight. 
SAT  W wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less building to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon. W  swell 3 ft at 10 seconds becoming SW 2 ft at 12 seconds in the  afternoon. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 2 ft or less after  midnight. W swell 2 ft at 11 seconds. 
SUN  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming 10 to 20 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 2 ft at 9 seconds.

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