2/3 Black widow spider, island waste, sea lice, BC MPA, Indigenous cultural items, wastewater chemicals, bus pollution, Hood Canal, Columbia R Treaty, humback, Overstory Media, week in review

 

Black widow spider
[Mark Chappell]

Black widow spider Latrodectus sp.
Black widow spiders are common to eastern Washington. A few small populations of black widows exist in western Washington. Adult female black widows have dangerous venom, but will often try to escape rather than bite, unless guarding their eggs. Female black widows are normally shiny black with a red hourglass marking on the underside of their abdomen. The marking can also be yellowish-orange and its shape can vary, resembling an hourglass, two marks, or a single dot. The body of an adult female is relatively large, about a half-inch long. (WA Dept of Health)

Island waste: can't burn or bury it so best to manage it
Islands in San Juan County present unique challenges in waste management and have found solutions meeting each island's needs. Nancy DeVaux reports. (Salish Current)

‘Serious scientific failings’: experts slam DFO report downplaying threat of salmon farms
A Fisheries and Oceans Canada study found no significant link between sea lice at B.C. salmon farms and on wild salmon, prompting scientists to express ‘professional dismay.’ Ainslie Cruickshank reports. (The Narwhal)

Canada is set to make a massive protected area official — and it’s underwater
A new marine protected area is set to be announced off the coast of Vancouver Island. The Tang.ɢwan-ḥačxʷiqak-Tsig̱is marine protected area will be 133,000 square kilometres, covering underwater mountain ranges and alien ecosystems. Jimmy Thomson reports. (The Narwhal)

Cultural items belonging to Nuxalk, Gitxaala Nations to be repatriated
Two world-class museums are returning poles to two First Nations in the coming days as North America continues to grapple with its history of removing important Indigenous items and putting them on display. The Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, B.C., has agreed to return a totem pole to the Nuxalk Nation, which filed a lawsuit against the museum a year ago for not returning it when its leaders asked for it in 2019. At the same time, the Peabody Museum at Harvard University has signed an agreement to ship a house post to the Gitxaala Nation at the end of the month. Courtney Dickson reports. (CBC)

Scientists try to keep up with chemical blizzard entering Puget Sound
Wastewater treatment plants are sending hundreds of unregulated chemicals into Puget Sound. The plants sterilize sewage and remove solids and organic materials from it. But they were never designed to remove things like antibiotics, cosmetics, hormones, pharmaceuticals, and other consumer products that wash down household drains. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Group Sues School Bus Company to Halt Puget Sound Pollution
A Washington state environmental group sued to stop a school bus company from violating its stormwater permit and polluting tributaries of the Puget Sound. The Waste Action Project alleges that a Tacoma, Wash., school bus facility operated by First Student Inc., is polluting the Thea Foss Waterway, a tributary to the Puget Sound, with stormwater above limits stipulated by a 2014 industrial stormwater permit issued under the Clean Water Act. Bobby Magill reports. (Bloomberg Law)

Ex-teacher seeks support to change name of Hood Canal
A local resident is looking to get endorsements from the Poulsbo City Council, local Native American tribes and other community groups or members to change the name of Hood Canal in an effort to have a name that more accurately reflects the waterway. In a document provided to the council, Barbara Stark said Hood Canal is “clearly not a manmade waterway as canal would imply. It is a natural waterway formed by glaciers, part of the Salish Sea (recently renamed) and Puget Sound with many rivers flowing into it from the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas.”  Tyler Shuey reports. (Kitsap Daily News)

Columbia River Treaty renewal won’t just go with the flow: Salmon, environment, First Nation interests on the table
Canadian and U.S. negotiators addressing far more complex issues than in the first agreement, created nearly six decades ago, that covers a drainage area the size of France. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

A Humpback’s Life After Life
When a young whale washes up on a beach near British Columbia’s Hakai Institute, an expert team works to piece together his story—and his bones. (Hakai Institute)

A Bold Experiment in Local Journalism Hits the Rocks
Staff cuts at Overstory Media’s flagship raise alarms about its vision for local journalism’s future. Zak Vescera reports. (The Tyee)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 2/3/23: Happy birthday Elmo, smaller salmon, Jeld-Wen cleanup, Pebble Mine block, Tongass road rules, SJI Nat'l Monument plan, BC parks, forestry claims, BC pipe costs.

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Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  303 AM PST Fri Feb 3 2023   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON 
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH  SATURDAY AFTERNOON   
TODAY  SE wind 25 to 35 kt. Combined seas 5 to 7 ft with a  dominant period of 13 seconds. Rain likely in the morning then  rain in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 20 to 30 kt becoming S 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 4 ft at 12 seconds. Rain. 
SAT  SE wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 4 ft at  12 seconds becoming SW 3 ft at 12 seconds in the afternoon. Rain. 
SAT NIGHT  SE wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell  3 ft at 12 seconds building to SW 9 ft at 12 seconds after  midnight. 
SUN  SE wind 10 to 20 kt becoming SW to 10 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. SW swell 11 ft at 11 seconds.

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