12/16 Burke dry skeletons, Swinomish clam gardening, who owns water?, world climate change, Sumas Prairie, TMX shutdown, SRKW, Denman conservation, stuck barge

Dry Skeletons [Burke Museum ]

Burke Museum Ichthyology: Dry Skeletons
The Skeleton Collection contains approximately 950 lots, representing 150 species in 50 families. Many are disarticulated specimens in boxes, but there is a large collection of Columbia River fish skeletons displayed partially embedded in clay in petri dishes. This preparation allows for easy comparisons of bone shape and size between species.  (Ichthyology at the Burke Museum)

Swinomish Tribe wants to resurrect U.S. clam gardening
With climate change threatening culturally important foods, a Puget Sound tribe pushes to build the country's first clam garden of the modern era. Hannah Weinberger reports. (Crosscut)

As West withers, corporations consolidate land and water rights
With farms, ranches and rural communities facing historic drought, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water?  Eli Francovich reports. (Columbia Insight)

Opinion: Climate Change’s Effects on 193 Countries
These 193 stories show the reality of climate change. In every country in the world. (NY Times)

Washington's floodwaters revived a Canadian lake wiped out 100 years ago
At the bottom of an old, dry lake bed are farms that supply British Columbia with a lot of its milk, butter, and cheese. Recent flooding throughout the region could cost hundreds of millions of dollars while raising complex questions about whether Canada or the United States is responsible for the damage. The Sumas Prairie spans the U.S.-Canada border. It’s shaped like a bathtub, with mountains on all sides. The bottom of the bathtub slopes down to Canada. Joshua McReynolds reports. (KUOW)

21-day TMX shutdown a warning of how vulnerable the fuel supply is to climate change disasters
After the longest shutdown in its 70-year history, the Trans Mountain pipeline restarted Sunday, but won't be at full capacity or pressure until January, according to engineers. Trans Mountain Corp. (TMX) chief operations officer Michael Davies says the fact the 1,150-kilometre pipeline withstood unprecedented flooding, as a series of atmospheric rivers deluged the province, is a testament to the line's resilience but also serves as a warning about B.C.'s tenuous energy supply. Critics of the pipeline expansion say flooding exposed the vulnerability of fossil fuel infrastructure and the need to shift to solar or other alternatives. Yvette Brend reports. (CBC)

B.C.'s 'southern resident' orcas have been wandering far from home. Could this be the end?
The orca family known as J pod have been swimming far away from their Salish Sea digs. Will they return in 2022? Bill Donahue writes. (MacLeans Magazine)

Denman conservation charity buys 80 acres of forest and wetlands
It is home to the red-legged frog and habitat for many other species at risk, likely including the wandering salamander, little brown bat and western screech owl. Louise Dickson reports. (Times Colonist)

Park board installs 'Barge Chilling Beach' sign next to Vancouver's runaway barge
The Vancouver Park Board has bestowed the city a holiday gift (its words, not ours) in the form of an official sign commemorating the barge that crashed into the seawall after becoming unmoored during the storms of Nov. 15.  The sign — which reads 'Barge Chilling Beach' — appeared on Sunset Beach on Wednesday morning. The barge, which had not budged from its spot over the past month despite multiple attempts to move it, has become an unlikely source of joy — or distraction... Roshini Nair reports. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  255 AM PST Thu Dec 16 2021   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING   
TODAY  NW wind to 10 kt becoming W in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 10 ft at 13 seconds subsiding to 8 ft at  13 seconds in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SE after midnight. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 11 seconds.

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