3/30 Oystercatcher, salmon hunt, Canada carbon cut, Taylor's checkspot, herons, whales in nets, BC landslide

Black Oystercatcher [Dennis Paulson]

Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani
The Black Oystercatcher is a distinctive, crow-sized, short-tailed, all-black shorebird. It has pale pinkish legs and a long, bright reddish-orange bill and eye-ring. The Black Oystercatcher is seen year round in appropriate habitat along most of the outer coast of Washington, but seen only occasionally from Point Grenville, south to the mouth of the Columbia River. It can also be seen in the San Juan Islands and along the coast of Puget Sound, south to Whidbey Island (Island County). It is absent in the southern Puget Sound and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, from the mouth of the Elwha River (Clallam County) to Protection Island (Jefferson County), due to lack of appropriate habitat. (BirdWeb)

What happens to salmon deep in the Pacific Ocean? Biggest-ever expedition begins to shed light
The largest-ever salmon research expedition in the North Pacific, now underway, aims to shed light on that stage in the salmon life cycle. Five ships from the United States, Canada and Russia have been collecting salmon samples and studying ocean conditions across about a million square miles. Researchers hope to map where salmon from different rivers spend their winter months — when less food is available and they are particularly vulnerable — and detect signs of competition between salmon species following marine heat waves in recent years. Joshua Partlow reports. (Washington Post)

Canada releases plan for a 40 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2030
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault today released the government's plan to dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years to meet ambitious 2030 reduction targets. It's a plan that leans heavily on deep cuts in the electricity, oil and gas and transportation sectors. In an effort to slash emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, the federal government has announced some $9.1 billion in new investments that will, among other things, boost incentives for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), sweeten tax breaks for companies in the fossil fuels sector that embrace carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology, and work to make Canada's electricity grid cleaner. John Paul Tasker report. (CBC)

Taylor's checkspot butterfly, once rare, making a comeback
A rare butterfly thought to be extinct in Canada for more than three decades is making a comeback on Vancouver Island, and getting some human help on Hornby Island. The Taylor’s checkerspot, with its exquisite black, orange and white patterns, was once abundant in Greater Victoria and north to Hornby, with pockets of the insects in coastal regions of Oregon and Washington. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

City Council votes to buy land for blue heron colony
The Bellingham City Council voted Monday to purchase a 1.43 acre property adjacent to a Great blue heron colony near Post Point. The lot, worth $768,000, has been home to a colony of birds for over 20 years, and more than 1,000 herons have fledged at the site. Julia Lerner reports. (CDN) See also": Heron Habitat Helpers keep watch and spread the word on Seattle’s official bird https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/april-3-gather/ Christy Karras reports. (Seattle Times)

Whales Are Back in BC. But Fishing Gear Is Killing Them
Solutions do exist. ‘It would be great if we could put me out of a job,’ says the coast’s only trained disentangler. Andrea Bennett reports. (The Tyee)

B.C. landslide triggered 100-metre tall lake tsunami, study shows
A massive landslide on B.C.'s remote central coast in 2020 triggered a lake tsunami over 100 metres tall, according to a new paper published by researchers from the University of Northern British Columbia. Described as a rare "hazard cascade," the tsunami then sent a vast torrent of water or "outburst flood" into Elliot Creek, uprooting trees, soil and rock as it surged down the valley. The slurry was in turn propelled in the Southgate River and then Bute Inlet, leaving a devastated landscape in its wake. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  244 AM PDT Wed Mar 30 2022   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PDT TODAY   
TODAY  W wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 3 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 5 ft at 12 seconds building to 7 ft at 12  seconds in the afternoon. A chance of rain. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 8 ft at 13 seconds.

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