12/15 Anemone, humpbacks, Cooke net pens, computer models, Bamberton foreshore, Shauna Kay spill, license buyback, aquamation, Ghost Forest, whitebark pine

Moonglow anemone [Sound Water Stewards]

Moonglow anemone Anthopleura artemisia
This species can be found in areas of muddy sand and also on rockier beaches where there are areas of gravel or shell fragments. Normally only the oral disk and tentacles are visible with the column buried beneath the substrate... The column of the moonglow anemone may extend to a length of 8 inches in order to reach the surface. The pedal disk is anchored to rock or another solid object under the surface of the substrate. This species is found from the middle intertidal zone to a depth of 100 feet. Other common names include the burrowing anemone, buried moonglow anemone, beach sand anemone, and buried green anemone. (Sound Water Stewards)

Highest number of humpback whales recorded in Salish Sea
There have been 396 individual humpback whales documented in the Salish Sea, including 34 mothers with their first-year calves, according to the Canadian Pacific Humpback Collaboration, a collection of groups that collate sightings from researchers, ecotourism captains, naturalists and citizen scientists. In 2017, 293 whales were documented.  Jon Azpiri reports. (CBC)

Cooke Aquaculture files suit over terminated net pen leases in WA
Cooke Aquaculture has filed an appeal in Thurston County Superior Court against Washington’s decision to terminate its leases for fin fish net pens in state waters. In court documents, the company said the decision was arbitrary, politically motivated and contrary to science. In a statement, Cooke wrote it has a state Supreme Court ruling and legislative mandate on its side, supporting the farming of native species. It also argued that the deadline of 30 days to harvest all fish and remove all its farm equipment from two sites was unreasonable. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

A network of computer models is predicting the future of Puget Sound
The Puget Sound Institute on Wednesday announced a three-year, $4.8 million dollar project to study the dynamics of Puget Sound’s changing ecosystem. The Puget Sound Integrated Modeling Framework (PSIMF) combines a network of computer models to look at how different factors like urban growth and climate change will influence the health of Puget Sound.  Jeff Rice writes. (Puget Sound Institute)

Expansion plans on hold for Bamberton foreshore
The Malahat First Nation’s plan to expand its foreshore lease at Bamberton on the Saanich Inlet is on hold while the province considers if the project should undergo an environmental assessment. The province’s Environmental Assessment Office is considering an application submitted last month by the Saanich Inlet Protection Society for an environmental review of expansion of the lease, and of a quarry on the Bamberton site. Andrew Duffy reports. (Times Colonist)

Ecology penalizing barge owner $38,500 for fuel spill into Salish Sea
On Feb. 7, 2021, the Shauna Kay was being towed from the Parkland Refinery in Vancouver, B.C., to Commencement Bay in Tacoma. The barge was carrying 1.55 million gallons of high-sulfur fuel oil, marine gas oil, and ultra-low sulfur diesel. When the barge arrived in Commencement Bay the next day, tug crews discovered high-sulfur fuel oil had splashed out of the cargo tanks, creating a sheen in Commencement Bay. Cleanup contractors were able to recover 267 gallons of oil from the vessel’s deck. An unknown quantity spilled overboard. The vessel is operated by Olympic Tug & Barge, Inc., a subsidiary of Centerline Logistics. (Dept of Ecology News Release)

Ottawa aims to reduce size of salmon fishing industry by buying licences
The federal government is offering to buy Pacific salmon commercial fishing licences from those looking to get out of the declining industry as it tries to protect the fish that remain. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has earmarked $123 million for the voluntary retirement program and two future initiatives that will dispose of derelict vessels and allow Indigenous communal commercial licence holders to switch to another species. (Canadian Press)

Cheating Death-Related Emissions
Green burials are great, but expensive. Cremation is cheaper but creates emissions. Why doesn’t BC allow a cost-effective, eco-friendly alternative? Michelle Gamage reports. (The Tyee)  See also: New options change choices for that final resting place What's aquamation? Matt Benoit reports. (Salish Current, 12/1/22)

Ghosts and Orphans
David B. Williams in "Street Smart Naturalist" writes: "Like many rock geeks, I have a list of geological locations and events I have long hoped to visit and see. These include Þingvellir in Iceland (where one can walk from North America to Europe by crossing their plate boundary), the green sand (the mineral olivine) beach on the Big Island of Hawaii, the K/T boundary (which marks the end of the non-avian dinosaurs), and flowing lava. Last week, I had the good fortune to visit one of my sought-after locations, much closer to home, the Ghost Forest of Copalis Beach, on the Pacific Coast of Washington. Not only an amazing story of geology but also a mystery that had remained unsolved for almost 300 years." (Street Smart Naturalist)

Whitebark pine that feeds grizzlies is threatened, US says
Whitebark pine trees can live more than 1,000 years, but in just two decades more than a quarter of the trees that are a key food source for some grizzly bears have been killed by disease, climate change, wildfires and voracious beetles, government officials said as they announced federal protections Wednesday. Matthew Brown reports. (Associated Press)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  238 AM PST Thu Dec 15 2022   
TODAY  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft  at 10 seconds. 
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  4 ft at 12 seconds.

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