2/13 Mysids, cat swim, 'rights of nature,' salmon pen, shipping risks, Big Oil profits, green crabs, cannabis, BC wool, ocean mining

Mysid [S. Pothoven]

Mysida
Mysida is an order of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opossum shrimps stems from the presence of a brood pouch or "marsupium" in females. The fact that the larvae are reared in this pouch and are not free-swimming characterises the order. (Wikipedia)

A cat gets his feet wet
Biologists are intrigued by the prospect of island-hopping cougars in the Salish Sea. Could swimming ability lead to improved genetic diversity among the big cats? Eric Wagner reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

‘Rights of nature’ movement gains steam in Pacific Northwest. Can it help species on the brink?
Seattle City Light wants to extend its license for three dams on the Skagit River for another three to five decades, and tribes and other environmental groups have been pushing the utility to do more for salmon. The Sauk-Suiattle Tribe lost a suit in its own court it brought to recognize the rights of the salmon. Meanwhile, two cities have recognized the rights of endangered southern resident orcas, questioning how humans related to the ecosystem they take from. Isabella Breda reports. (Seattle Times)

Net pen ready for salmon
In what has become an annual event, volunteers from the Puget Sound Anglers Association Sno-King Chapter Saturday morning assembled a coho salmon net pen along the Edmonds waterfront, after which a Port of Edmonds work boat towed it to guest moorage. Next week, 30,000 coho salmon smolt from the Issaquah fish hatchery will be introduced to the pen. After spending a few months in Edmonds waters for imprinting, the salmon will be released to mature. When it comes time to spawn, the hope is that the survivors will return to the Edmonds area to lay eggs or be caught by local fishermen. Brent Tugby reports. (My Edmonds News)

A New Tool Allows BC’s Coastal Communities To Monitor The Risks Posed By Marine Shipping
Thanks to work done by marine policy researcher Rachel Stewart-Dziama and colleagues at Vancouver’s Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping, coastal residents can use a digital dashboard to overlay actual shipping movements with data on sensitive coastal habitats. On the Clear Sea maps, heavily-travelled marine shipping routes into the Strait of Juan de Fuca display the distinctive tracks of cruise ships, container ships, bulk carriers, cargo vessels, tugs and ferries, some veering close to very sensitive marine ecosystems. (West Coast Now)

Why are BP, Shell, and other oil giants making so much money right now?
The big oil companies - from the UK-based BP and Shell to international giants such as ExxonMobil and Norway’s Equinor - have been announcing astonishing profit figures. They are all benefitting from the surging price of oil and gas following the invasion of Ukraine. Ben King reports. (BBC)

The worst house guests: European green crabs are invading B.C. waters
A monumental effort is underway to contain the spiny creatures, the bodies of which are flash frozen and dumped at landfills or churned into compost. But one First Nation is arguing that, given the price of groceries, we should rethink the way we eradicate invasive, but edible, species. Ainslie Cruickshank reports. (The Narwhal)

Retail — and illicit — cannabis markets endure; medical in ‘dire straits’
The illegal cannabis market still exists alongside Washington’s growing legal retail and struggling medical cannabis markets. Changes may be in store. Matt Benoit reports. (Salish Current)

BC wool piles up as prices tank, mills shut down
With wool selling for only 10 to 70 cents a pound, sheep farmers say it makes more financial sense to burn or compost it rather than pay to clean, bag and transport it to the Lower Mainland, then Alberta or Ontario for processing. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

Imminent threat’: plans to mine the bottom of the ocean raise concerns as Canada announces moratorium
Underwater mining to make batteries could create ‘a massive deadzone’ on the ocean floor. Canada has issued a temporary domestic ban — but regulating international waters is trickier. Francesca Fionda reports. (The Narwhal)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  216 AM PST Mon Feb 13 2023   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING   
TODAY  W wind 20 to 25 kt becoming NW 25 to 35 kt in the  afternoon. Combined seas 10 to 11 ft with a dominant period of  15 seconds building to 14 ft with a dominant period of 15 seconds  in the afternoon. Showers and a slight chance of tstms in the  morning then rain likely in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  NW wind 30 to 40 kt easing to 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Combined seas 19 to 20 ft with a dominant period of  14 seconds subsiding to 14 ft with a dominant period of  14 seconds after midnight. A chance of rain.

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