9/23 Coot, border restrictions, Seattle Green New Deal, rockfish poaching, GasLink drilling, Seattle Aquarium, Campbell R barge, natural world sounds, license buyback, recycling batteries, week in review

Coot [Wikipedia]

American Coot Fulica americana
The waterborne American Coot is one good reminder that not everything that floats is a duck. A close look at a coot—that small head, those scrawny legs—reveals a different kind of bird entirely. Their dark bodies and white faces are common sights in nearly any open water across the continent, and they often mix with ducks. But they’re closer relatives of the gangly Sandhill Crane and the nearly invisible rails than of Mallards or teal. Populations in the northern half of North America migrate to the southern U.S. or Central America. Populations in the West and Florida are year-round residents. (All About Birds)

Canada ending requirements for COVID-19 vaccines, ArriveCan app at border Sept. 30
The last of Canada's COVID-19 border restrictions will disappear at the end of this month with the expiry of a cabinet order affecting mandatory vaccinations, testing and quarantine of international travellers. Mia Rabson and Laura Osman report. (Canadian Press)

Mayor Harrell signs $6.5 million Green New Deal to reduce impact of climate change
[Seattle] Mayor Bruce Harrell signed the Green New Deal legislation into law Thursday morning, which includes a series of projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Seattle and build the communities' resilience against the effects of climate change. The Green New Deal legislation includes nearly $6.5 million earmarked for several climate projects throughout the city. Quixem Ramirez reports. (KING)

Pandemic Poaching Sets Rockfish Conservation Effort Back Years
Illegal fishing in rockfish conservation areas around Galiano Island, British Columbia, spiked dramatically in 2020 and 2021. Larry Pynn reports. (Hakai Magazine)

After years of resistance, Coastal GasLink starts to drill under Wet’suwet’en river
On the Morice River Forest Service Road southwest of Houston, B.C., the chatter of natural life is interrupted by pulsating construction equipment and the constant hum of industrial traffic. 'It’s really gut-wrenching,' Jocey Alec, daughter of Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Woos, says. Brandi Morin reports. (The Narwhal)

An inside look at Seattle Aquarium’s expansion plans
Not far from the underwater dome, the otters, the octopus, the seals and the Window on Washington Waters, something new is coming. You can’t miss the construction out front, where the new Ocean Pavilion is taking shape. It is expected to open in 2024. Graham Johnson reports (KIRO)

How technology is mapping the unheard conversations of our natural world
When you step into a forest, or walk along a beach, there's a lot to take in – the sound of waves crashing against the sand, birds chirping to each other in the trees. But there's a lot we don't hear, and thanks to new technology, researchers are closer than ever to translating our natural world. Libby Denkmann, Alec Cowan and Sarah Leibovitz report. (KUOW)

Sunken barge near Campbell River to be removed, scrapped
The 98-metre Trailer Princess will be removed from the water, where leaking fuel continues to threaten the marine environment, and deconstructed for recycling. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

'Too many boats chasing too few fish': Support, concern in B.C. salmon industry over DFO licence buyback plan
That dilemma is central to the federal government's Pacific salmon commercial licence retirement program, which, when launched later this year, will pay fishers to hand back their licences and walk away from the industry. It's a move the government says will help take pressure off salmon stocks, and a strategy similar to buybacks in Atlantic Canada, where the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) put forward a voluntary licence buyback program to limit commercial access to lobster fisheries. Georgie Smyth reports. (CBC)

The complicated process of recycling batteries in Washington state
More people are using batteries as battery-powered tools become bigger parts of our lives, from laptops to electric vehicles promising to release us from the grip of fossil fuels. But anything that holds a charge will ultimately need to be carefully disposed of. Hannah Weinberger reports. (Crosscut)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 9/23/22: Bisexuality Friday, Squamish R restoration, BC sea gardens, Seattle's river, global fossil fuel database, Coastal GasLink violations, Yukon sockeye, relocating trees, Seattle Green Deal, rockfish poaching

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  247 AM PDT Fri Sep 23 2022   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  2 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of showers. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt in the evening becoming light. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 9 seconds. A slight chance of  showers in the evening. 
SAT  Light wind. Wind waves less than 1 ft. W swell 3 ft at  9 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  Light wind. Wind waves less than 1 ft. W swell 4 ft  at 12 seconds. 
SUN  Light wind. Wind waves less than 1 ft. W swell 4 ft at  10 seconds.

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