8/16 Termite, Nooksack R, FEMA aid, Skeena sockeye, Gitxsan Nation, oil spill, English Bay barge

Termite [Tom Myers]

Termite
Drywood termites are a termite species known for thriving in hard, dry wood found inside a home.  This includes structural timbers as well as furniture, picture frames and banisters. They do not make colonies under the soil - instead, they make their way into the wood and are able to extract necessary water from the wood they ingest. Drywood termites are commonly found on the West Coast, Florida and Hawaii, but they can extend east to Texas and the Carolinas.

WA's Nooksack River has been sounding the alarm, and people are finally listening
One WA county aims to restore a troubled river by focusing on the needs of tribes, farms, communities, and fish. Rochelle Gluzman reports. (InvestigateWest)

Nine months later, Whatcom County flood survivors await FEMA aid
The federal agency is failing to meet community needs in the wake of major disasters. Climate change isn't helping. Rochelle Gluzman reports. (InvestigateWest)

Skeena Sockeye Returns Are Surging — But Big Concerns Remain
Four million sockeye, twice the average for the last decade, are expected this year. Amanda Follett Hosgood reports. (The Tyee)

‘We are inseparable from our land’: Gitxsan Nation house group declares 170,000 hectares of territory protected 
An intact ecosystem in the upper Skeena River watershed is now an Indigenous Protected Area. All decisions about the area will be guided by a principle of respectfully passing the abundance of the territory from one generation to the next. Matt Simmons reports. (The Narwhal)

Crews begin removing oil, fuel from sunken boat near San Juan Island
Commercial divers and salvage teams on Monday began removing remaining diesel and other potential pollutants on the Aleutian Isle, a 49-foot vessel that sunk Saturday west of San Juan Island. Crews will get to the vessel, which is in 100 feet of water, using two decompression chambers, according to Petty Officer Michael Clark of the U.S. Coast Guard 13th District Pacific Northwest. Christine Clarridge reports. (Seattle Times)

Oil spill off San Juan Island 'pretty well impossible to clean up,' expert says
Gerald Graham, a Victoria-based consultant who specializes in marine oil spill response and prevention, said the diesel fuel flowing from the boat is very light, which means crews can't use booms or skimmers to clean it up.n up," he told The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn. "In the open water, there's virtually nothing you can do because the oil would either splash over a boom or go under it." Courtney Dickson reports. (CBC)

Orcas, so far, have stayed away from oil spill site near San Juan Islands
A fishing boat that sank with nearly 10,000 litres of fuel on board near the Canada-U.S. marine border, about 25 kilometres east of Victoria, went down in one of the worst possible places for endangered orcas, an ocean pollutants expert says. Peter Ross, a senior scientist with Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said the vessel sank in an important feeding area for endangered southern resident killer whales. It will be a race against time to clean up the spill, he said. (Canadian Press)

An intruder into Pleasantville: The barge that wouldn't leave
The days are numbered for Vancouver’s most unlikely tourist attraction, the English Bay barge. Work crews from Vancouver Pile Driving have been busy dismantling the barge for the past couple of weeks. The top walls are gone and now crews seem to be carving concrete ballast out of the hull. Not so long ago, the barge was a rock-solid, 5,500-tonne industrial workhorse that stubbornly resisted attempts to tow it off the beach. Now, it’s basically a shell that will soon disappear into wherever industrial detritus disappears. John Mackie reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  245 AM PDT Tue Aug 16 2022   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 2 ft at 8 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  2 ft at 6 seconds.

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