3/11 Pelican, WA transportation $s, herring spawn, gray whales, BC old-growth protection, cedar thief, week in review

Pelican [Karla Chrast/Project FeederWatch]

Birds of a feather
David B. Williams in Street Smart Naturalist writes: "They say a pelican’s beak can hold more than her or his bellican. This may be true but first I want to write about their flight. On the wing, pelicans regularly switch between flying and floating, seemingly triggered by one bird, in a sort of follow-the-leader game. When she stops or starts flapping, the entire collective—known as a squadron, pod, pouch, or my favorite, a scoop—follows suite in an avian dance of wind-borne choreography...."

New bridges and ferries, wider highways, and free fares in freshly passed WA transportation package
Majority Democrats in the Washington Legislature drove the largest transportation spending roadmap in state history across the finish line on Thursday on nearly party line votes. The revenue and spending package funds new spans over the Columbia River, wider highways, four new ferries, bus rapid transit expansions, free fares for youth, fish-friendly culverts and new bike trails and pedestrian bridges. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network) See also: 5 major things the Washington Legislature approved in 2022  Melissa Santos reports. (Crosscut)

West Coast celebrates herring spawn spectacle
Ribbons of milky turquoise green water twist and swirl along the coast of the northern Strait of Georgia each year when Pacific herring return to spawn. A natural wonder that peaks in March, the herring spawn is a herald of spring, eagerly anticipated and celebrated by humans and wildlife alike. The din echoing off the waters of Hornby and Denman islands, the epicentre of the return, is particularly loud as raucous gulls, seabirds and sea lions cry and bark while feasting on the last abundant herring return along the B.C. coast. Rochelle Baker reports. (National Observer)

'Unprecedented:' Gray whales arriving in Washington waters earlier than normal
Experts say the small population of gray whales are returning to Pacific waters earlier than usual. Each year, typically beginning mid-February to early March, the gray whales stop off Washington's coast and island areas as they head north in search of food. (KCPQ)

B.C.'s plan to protect old-growth trees is rolling out too slowly, say conservationists, First Nations 
A year and a half after the province pledged to dramatically change how B.C.'s old-growth trees were logged, conservationists and First Nations say action on the issue is lagging and details about what is being done are obscure. Chad Pawson reports. (CBC)

Sentence handed down for cedar theft
A Forks man has been sentenced to more than a year and five months in prison for the theft of cedar from a state bridge on Upper Hoh Road in West Jefferson County. Troy Crandall, 63, was sentenced on Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court to 17½ months in prison and restitution of $20,220.60 to the state Department of Natural Resources (Peninsula Daily News)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 3/11/22: Tōhoku, fish sounds, container ship debris, Duwamish Tribe, octopus houses, BC cruise ships, TM pipe conditions, buying TM pipe, seaside habitat story maps, PS oil ban, BC rescue tug, Burrard Inlet, WA transportation $s, herring spawn

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  235 AM PST Fri Mar 11 2022   
TODAY  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 2 ft at  12 seconds. A chance of rain. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell  4 ft at 11 seconds. Rain. 
SAT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt becoming E 15 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. SW swell 6 ft at 9 seconds.  Rain. 
SAT NIGHT  E wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. SW swell  12 ft at 9 seconds. 
SUN  SW wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 12 ft at  10 seconds.

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