7/19 Ringed doris, PFAS, plastics, fish passage, Capitol Lake, vibriosis, drought, hawkpocolypse,looper moths, Jerry Franklin, Suzanne Simard, fish meth, Maui water

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Ringed Doris [Reef Life Survey]

 
Ringed Doris Discodoris Sandiegensis
Oval shape. Body is creamy white to gray, with various-size, dark brown, round spots or circles in back. Covered with tiny, stiff hair-like projections. Antennae are comblike. Fees on encrusting sponges, especially Haliciona. Up to 3 inches. (Marine Life of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the Strait of Georgia)

Seattle study of breast milk from 50 women finds chemical used in food wrappers, firefighting foam
In August 2019, Vera Harrington put a quarter cup of her breast milk into the refrigerator. She gave this milk not to her daughter, Flora, but a team of researchers investigating a pervasive class of chemicals that have found their way into humans all over the world. These chemicals are called Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS — and have been used over the decades in products ranging from firefighting foams to cosmetics, nonstick pans, rain gear, stain-protected sofas, some types of fast food wrappers and even dental floss. Harrington, who lives in an Eastlake town house in Seattle, was one of 50 Puget Sound area first-time mothers who participated in the study. This past April, she got the results, which documented nine types of PFAS in her breast milk. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Cleanup crews tackle gargantuan task of cleaning B.C. beaches inundated with plastic
...In what was once a stretch of pristine Vancouver Island sand, a large piece of styrofoam had been pummeled into pieces by West Coast storms. Ben Boulton reached down and picked up a chunk of the foam, which is technically known as polystyrene plastic, widely used for insulation and packaging and apparently employed in this case for buoyancy beneath a large wooden dock...Boulton is part of a project funded under a $7 million B.C. government coastal cleanup program. It's the most ambitious attempt yet to tackle the problem — the goal is to collect debris along 1,200 kilometres of coastline. Greg Rasmussen reports. (CBC)

Fish passage projects to start on Highway 20 in east Skagit County 
The latest work to improve fish passage under state roadways in Skagit County is set to begin Monday in the Concrete area. The state Department of Transportation this summer will replace two, 2-foot diameter culverts under Highway 20 — one on Lorenzan Creek in Concrete and the other on Fish Creek in Grassmere. Transportation spokesperson R.B. McKeon said the cost of the projects is a combined $3.6 million. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

10 questions answered about the draft environmental report for Capitol Lake
At the end of June, the state Department of Enterprise Services released a key document: the draft environmental report for Capitol Lake and the adjacent areas from the end of Tumwater Falls on the Deschutes River to West Bay in Budd Inlet. The lake’s north basin, a not-so-shimmering body of water flanked by Heritage and Marathon parks, was created decades ago by a small dam on Fifth Avenue that separates it from Budd Inlet. It’s the poor quality of the lake water that has long been the focus and concern of the community, finally resulting in the draft environmental impact statement released at the end of June by DES. Rolf Boone reports. (Olympian)

Vibriosis infections on rise, state officials say
An outbreak of vibriosis in Washington has already surpassed the highest number of cases ever recorded by the state for the month of July, the state Department of Health said in a press release. Health officials say 52 cases of vibriosis have been reported in July, KING-5 reported. They blame the record-breaking high temperatures that killed millions, if not billions, of sea creatures during the Pacific Northwest heat wave. The infections are associated with eating raw or undercooked shellfish, especially oysters, that are contaminated with Vibrio. (Associated Press)

West Coast drought puts fish and forests in dire straits
Vancouver Island fish and forests are in greater peril than ever as the B.C. government issues widespread drought warnings after a record-breaking heat wave and an explosion of wildfires across the province. Drought is impacting much of southern British Columbia and the central Interior due to very low rainfall, exacerbated by the recent extreme heat wave, according to the province. Water scarcity and low stream flows are affecting Vancouver Island, the entire Thompson-Nicola region, the Cariboo, Shuswap, and the Okanagan. Rochelle Baker reports (National Observer)

‘Hawkpocalypse’: Baby birds of prey have leaped from their nests to escape West’s extreme heat
Around the West, young birds of prey have been jumping out of their nests before they can fly to escape historic heat, landing helpless on the ground and in some cases sustaining injuries so serious they are euthanized. With more scorching temperatures coming for the northwestern United States and Canada starting this weekend, experts worry extreme weather fueled by climate change is set to take a growing toll on wildlife. Hannah Knowles reports. (Washington Post)

Infestation of looper moths stresses North Shore trees for third year in a row
An infestation of hungry moths has returned to Metro Vancouver for the third straight year, threatening to defoliate coniferous trees already stressed from drought conditions. The Western hemlock looper moth is native to B.C. and sees outbreaks every 11 to 15 years on the South Coast due to environmental conditions, with outbreaks lasting one to four years...Robyn Worcester, a natural resource management specialist with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks, says the recent heat wave could have stressed native trees more than usual...ecology of our forests," she said. "We don't want to be spraying that in our watersheds, anyway, or our parks. So there are no plans for that at this point."  Akshay Kulkarni reports. (CBC)

Meet the eminent scientist, now 84, who vowed as a boy to protect Washington’s old-growth forests
Perhaps it was destiny that one of the world’s premier authorities on old-growth forest ecosystems would be Jerry Franklin, whose middle name is Forest. Franklin was among the first to discover the unique ecological value of old-growth trees, and forest ecosystems. He also was among a team of scientists whose work led to the protection of millions of acres of old growth on federal land in Washington, Oregon and Northern California with implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Finding the Mother Tree: ecologist Suzanne Simard offers solutions to B.C.’s forest woes
From eating dirt as a child to discovering the mycorrhizal network below the forest floor, Simard has spent her entire career trying to find answers about how forests work; now, armed with those answers, she’s calling for change. Matt Simmons report. (The Narwhal)

Fish can get hooked on meth, a troubling sign of how the drug can pollute water
Methamphetamine use is on the rise worldwide. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, approximately 27 million people use meth and similar drugs each year. But meth use doesn’t just take a toll on people — it can harm animals, too. A study in the Journal of Experimental Biology tracks meth’s unintended toll on fish. When researchers exposed brown trout to methamphetamine in their aquatic habitat, they showed signs of addiction and withdrawal. Erin Blakemore reports. (Washington Post)

Maui County Loses Again In Federal Court Over Pollution Discharges
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Maui County can no longer discharge treated sewage into the ocean without a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, potentially putting an end to a decade old standoff over the reach of the Clean Water Act. Nick Grube reports. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  201 AM PDT Mon Jul 19 2021   
TODAY  Light wind becoming W 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves less than 1 ft becoming 2 ft or less in the afternoon. W  swell 3 ft at 7 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft after midnight. W  swell 2 ft at 7 seconds.

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