10/31 Ghost shrimp, cedar, salmon water, leaded gas, rat poison, Lime Bay, Sue Gunn, Rodney Smith, BC dikes, beach trash, climate reality, drone reforestation, Salish Current

Bay ghost shrimp [Dave Cowles/WallaWalla U]

 

Burrowing ghost shrimp Neotrypaea californiensis
Fall’s chill is in the air (finally!), leaves are turning colors, and skeletons and spider webs are popping up in yards all over town. Meanwhile, under the mud of Puget Sound, there’s a strange critter that stays in its ethereal costume all year long – the burrowing ghost shrimp. (Dept. of Ecology)

Has this iconic Northwest tree reached a tipping point?
Diebacks have felled countless trees throughout the region but, according to emerging research, perhaps never so prominently among Western red cedars or in such noticeable concentrations west of the Cascades. Nicholas Turner reports. (Seattle Times)

Heavy rain boosts water levels for salmon seeking to spawn
Rainfall, which is expected to last until Monday in some areas, will be heavier than the season’s initial atmospheric river on Thursday that knocked out power to more than 18,000 homes and caused dangerous driving conditions. But it’s good news for salmon that are starting to mass in estuaries of Island rivers, eager to spawn. Darron Closter reports. (Times Colonist)

Where leaded gas still flies in the United States
The United States banned leaded paint and leaded gasoline decades ago, but many floatplanes and other small aircraft still run on leaded fuel...Small airplanes are the largest source of lead pollution in the air of Washington state, pumping about 17 tons of the brain-damaging substance into the air each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This month, the agency said that leaded aviation fuel endangers public health, especially that of children living or attending school near airports that dispense the harmful fuel. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

B.C. permanently bans use of rat poison
The province of B.C. has decided to make a temporary ban on the use of rat poison permanent.The permanent regulatory changes announced Friday will ban the widespread sale and use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), which the province says risk the secondary poisoning of animals who consume poisoned rodents. (CBC)

Surf smelts spawning again in Lime Bay, after restoration project
Four surf smelt eggs have been found in Victoria Harbour’s Lime Bay, where habitat was recently restored to lure the silvery fish back. It’s not many, but it was enough for biologists to celebrate. Carla Wilson reports. (Times Colonist)

Former Port of Olympia Commissioner Sue Gunn is dead at 74
Sue Gunn, a committed environmentalist who set out to shake up the status quo when she served on the Port of Olympia Commission from 2013 to 2015, died this week in Seattle. Gunn was 74...Friend Cynthia Stewart described her as a brilliant woman who cared passionately about a lot of things, including the environment. Stewart said Gunn had most recently served on the board at the Center for Sustainable Forestry. She also was an avid hiker, camper and kayaker and had earned a doctorate in geology. She moved to Bellingham in 2019, Stewart said. Rolf Boone reports. (Olympian)

Washington renames Mason County swamp for Black pioneer whose home was known by racial slur
The state's Department of Natural Resources has renamed an 18-acre Mason County swamp for a Black pioneer whose homestead there was branded as a racial slur for decades after his death. Rodney White Slough will honor a man born into slavery in Missouri who farmed a property near the Tahuya River until his death in 1913, DNR's Washington State Committee on Geographic Names announced Thursday. The slough had been formerly known by the N-word because White lived there. Josh Farley reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Enough reports, start fixing the dikes, say B.C. dairy farmers
After the release of another report calling for increased flood protection in B.C., Fraser Valley dairy farmers says it’s important to start the physical work needed to do just that. After the catastrophic flooding in B.C. last November, a Senate committee on agriculture and forestry recently called on Ottawa to work with the B.C. government and municipalities to develop a comprehensive plan for flood control in the Fraser Valley. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Researchers complete study on trash found on beaches
Over the course of five years, citizen scientists throughout Oregon and Washington collected data on the distribution of garbage found on beaches. Scientists at the University of Washington analyzed the data to look for trends, and published their findings in the Marine Pollution Bulletin in August. Surveys from Anacortes beaches contributed to the data from beaches in the Puget Sound. Scientists compared Puget Sound data with beach surveys on the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Maddie Smith reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

The New World: Envisioning Life After Climate Change
Not very long ago, scientists warned that this could cause four or five degrees Celsius of warming, giving rise to existential fears about apocalyptic futures. But in just the past few years, the future has begun to look somewhat different, thanks to a global political awakening, an astonishing decline in the price of clean energy, a rise in global policy ambition and revisions to some basic modeling assumptions. David Wallis-Wells reports. (NY Times)  See also: Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View David Wallis-Wells reports. (NY Times)

How drones are replanting B.C.'s burned forests
With promises to rejuvenate forests from the air, tree-planting start-ups are looking to supplement shovels and long days of labour with swarms of seed-bearing aerial drones. A growing target: B.C.'s burnt forests. Stefan Labbé reports. (Times Colonist)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  241 AM PDT Mon Oct 31 2022   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  W wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 14 ft  at 15 seconds. A chance of showers. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  12 ft at 14 seconds. A slight chance of showers in the evening  then a chance of showers after midnight.

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