3/18 Chipmunk, COVID testing, GasLink protest, Tofino plastic, Emily Howe, Whale Trail gathering, space telescope, week in review

Townsend's chipmunk
[Walter Siegmund/WikiCommons]

Townsend's chipmunk Tamias townsendii
Townsend's chipmunks are found in the northwestern United States. Their distribution ranges from the the Rogue River in southern Oregon to southwestern British Columbia along the Pacific coast. Thus they are found in an oceanic, or marine west coast climate. Townsend's chipmunks are solitary and demonstrate fairly aggressive behavior toward conspecifics or other chipmunks. They are said to be territorial. An individual lives in a single burrow that can reach up to 10 m in length. (Animal Diversity)

No more COVID testing to enter Canada
Vaccinated travellers will no longer need to show a COVID-19 test to enter Canada beginning April 1, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos officially announced Thursday. The change comes at the very beginning of the tourist season and the tail end of the Omicron wave in Canada, as new reported cases of COVID-19 have declined since mid-January. Laura Osman reports. (Canadian Press)

Celebrities Call on RBC to Stop Funding Coastal GasLink Pipeline
More than 65 Hollywood celebrities and Indigenous climate activists have signed a petition asking the Royal Bank of Canada and its subsidiary City National Bank to stop financing fossil fuel projects and defund the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C. The petition, called “No More Dirty Banks,” includes high profile signatories such as Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Jane Fonda, Brandon Boyd, Edward Norton, Ben Stiller and Patti Smith who say they are City National Bank clients. Binny Paul reports. (The Tyee)

Tofino bans plastic eating utensils for takeout food
Of all the plastic waste that washes ashore around the Pacific Rim, Tofino Mayor Dan Law says plastic utensils — forks, spoons, knives and coffee stir sticks — are among the most common. Now the tourist community on the edge of the Pacific is taking the lead to get rid of them — and make a small dent in the amount of plastics that end up in the water and on the beaches. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

Deep in the marsh, an ecologist untangles aquatic food webs
Aquatic ecologist Emily Howe catalogs plant species in hopes of restoring the rich ecosystems between land and sea. Sarah Hoffman reports. (Crosscut)

Whale Trail Spring Gathering 2022
Welcome Spring with special guests Rachel Aronson (Quiet Sound), researcher Mark Sears and Whale Trail Director Donna Sandstrom on March 24, 7 p.m., in West Seattle. Rachel will introduce us to Quiet Sound, a new program to protect whales by reducing noise and disturbance from large vessel like tankers, container ships and ferries. Mark will share photos from recent field research, including encounters with southern resident orcas. Donna will recap news around The Whale Trail, including upcoming events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Springer's rescue! Attendance limited; masks optional but recommended. Register here.

James Webb Space Telescope working as well as astronomers dreamed it would
A supersharp image of a bright star — released by NASA — shows that the optics seem to be working perfectly on the James Webb Space Telescope. The $10 billion infrared telescope launched in December after decades of development and construction, and it thrilled astronomers when it successfully unfolded itself out in space. Now scientists say that its 18 separate mirror segments have been precisely aligned so that they can act as one giant mirror that's about 21 feet across. Nell Greenfieldboyce reports. (NPR)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 3/18/22: Sleep, old growth, port expansion, heat dome, caffeine, North Shore sewage, Nooksack flooding, Capitol estuary, perpetual drought, COVID test

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  241 AM PDT Fri Mar 18 2022   
TODAY  SE wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 12 seconds. A chance of  showers. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  5 ft at 12 seconds building to 7 ft at 12 seconds after midnight.  Showers. 
SAT  W wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 8 ft at  12 seconds building to 10 ft at 12 seconds in the afternoon.  Showers likely. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell  9 ft at 12 seconds. 
SUN  SW wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 8 ft at  12 seconds.

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