8/5 Softshell clam, Stony Cr kill, Bowker Cr, sacrificing for salmon, sunflower sea star, Mt Polley disaster, J-pod mystery, Fairy Cr protest, fire particulates, Greenland ice sheet, car rules

 

Softshell clam {WDFW]

Eastern softshell clam Mya arenaria
Eastern softshell clams have an elongated shell that is thin, brittle, and uneven on the outer surface.  They grow to 6 inches long and are white or grey colored with dark siphon tips.  Eastern softshell clams have a periostracum, which is a thin fibrous layer, around the edge of the shells. Eastern softshell clams are buried 8 to 14 inches deep in sand and mud substrate, often in estuaries. Eastern softshell clams can be found from Icy Cape, AK south to Elkhorn Slough, CA. (WDFW)

Metro Vancouver creek contamination kills at least 300 fish
A murky discharge found flowing out of a culvert from Coquitlam into a Burnaby creek has been linked to the death of hundreds of young salmon, according to a local stream-keeper group. Stefan Labbé reports. (BurnabyNow) See also: A video, by 10-year old Luka Kovacic, outlining the July 30th Stony Creek fish kill is available in the following link - Save the Salmon - YouTube.  (Thanks to Alan C. James)

Plans underway to bring salmon back to Victoria's Bowker Creek
Victoria's Bowker Creek will host young salmon for the first time in decades thanks to the efforts of a local conservation group and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.  The eight-kilometre waterway, which runs through Saanich, Victoria and Oak Bay, is mostly underground but there is a open section in Oak Bay.  The Friends of Bowker Creek Society is partnering with the Peninsula Streams Society to restore salmon to this urban watershed. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has approved the dispersal of 30,000 chum salmon eggs. (CBC)

What would you need to give up to save salmon in WA?
Washingtonians are all for increasing fish passages to save salmon and orcas — but when action conflicts with the ways we live, things get complicated. Hannah Weinberger writes. (Crosscut)

To Save A Huge, 24-Armed Sea Creature, Scientists Become Loving Foster Parents
On an island off the coast of Washington state, scientists have resorted to breeding sunflower sea stars in a lab. It's a desperate attempt to save the endangered animals from disappearing completely.  Nell Greenfieldboyce reports. (NPR)

7 years after Mount Polley disaster, B.C. faces another mining boom — and regulations still fall short
On Aug. 4, 2014, a dam holding contaminated waste failed, causing one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history. Despite repeated promises from the province to avoid a similar disaster, communities remain at risk and on the hook for the costs of mine pollution, according to experts. Brishti Basu reports. (The Narwhal) Seven Years after Mount Polley Disaster, Mine Waste Still Flows into Quesnel Lake  A ‘temporary’ permit allows wastewater to be dumped in the water. That may not change anytime soon. Amanda Follett Hosgood reports. (The Tyee)

Mystery of the deep: Behaviour of J pod orcas confounds researchers 
Spotted after going missing for 108 days, 'they’ve gone back to we don’t know where,' says scientist. (CBC)

Six people arrested at Fairy Creek watershed on Wednesday brings total to 520 since injunction enforced
Protesters say they are trying to save the last intact watershed outside a park or protected area on south Vancouver Island. David Carrigg reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Fine particulate air pollution associated with higher risk of dementia
Using data from two large, long-running study projects in the Puget Sound region — one that began in the late 1970s measuring air pollution and another on risk factors for dementia that began in 1994 — University of Washington researchers identified a link between air pollution and dementia. In the UW-led study, a small increase in the levels of fine particle pollution (PM2.5 or particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller) averaged over a decade at specific addresses in the Seattle area was associated with a greater risk of dementia for people living at those addresses. Jake Ellison reports. (UW News)

The Greenland ice sheet experienced a massive melting event last week
Last week, a heat wave spurred Greenland’s biggest melting event of the 2021 season so far. The Polar Portal, run by Danish research institutions, stated that enough water melted to cover all of Florida with two inches of water. Kasha Patel reports. (Washington Post)

Biden, in a Push to Phase Out Gas Cars, to Tighten Pollution Rules
The president is expected to restore and strengthen tailpipe emissions regulations from the Obama era and set a target that half of all vehicles sold in the United States be electric by 2030. Coral Davenport reports. (NY Times)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  258 AM PDT Thu Aug 5 2021   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 4 ft at 10 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 4 ft  at 10 seconds. A chance of rain.

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