5/11 Stickleback, Everett port stormwater, hot weather, Hilary Franz, 'dead boat' society, Ladore Dam, floating solar, nickel mining, holly

 Three-spined Stickleback

Three-spined Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus
The five strategically located spines provide an excellent defense against many types of predators, particularly fishes. Nevertheless, they are primary food for many fishes, for example trout and pike. Not so effective against birds, there are records of a pair of loons consuming 50,000 sticklebacks during six months. Still, fish-eating birds are sometimes found dead or incapacitated, a stickleback with all fins erect stuck in their throat. (Slater Museum)

Port of Everett settles stormwater lawsuit for $2.5M
The Port of Everett agreed to settle a lawsuit about alleged excess stormwater discharge for over $2.5 million. In May 2022, water quality watchdog Puget Soundkeeper Alliance filed the lawsuit alleging water samples exceeded various pollution “benchmarks” — including for pH, copper, zinc and turbidity — set in the port’s state-issued permit over two dozen times between 2018 and early 2022. About $2 million of the settlement will pay for stormwater improvements at the port’s seaport along Everett’s waterfront. Additional payments will be made to an environmental and academic organization, and the port agreed to adopt some practices to bolster what it already had in place. The port is paying the alliance’s legal fees, estimated at $138,000. Ben Watanabe reports. (Everett Herald)

'Serious weather event' likely to make B.C. wildfires worse, forecasters warn
Forecasters are worried unseasonably hot weather forecast for the weekend will exacerbate an already-unusual wildfire season in northeastern B.C. Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the B.C. Interior that begins Friday and runs through Tuesday. (CBC)

Historic heat wave: earliest 90s on record possible this weekend, early next week
An early-season heat wave is expected for Seattle and western Washington late this week, which should continue into Mother's Day Weekend and into next week. Temperatures could be 15-25 degrees warmer than normal. Christopher Nunley reports. (KING)

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz announces run for governor
Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz announced her campaign for governor on Wednesday...Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson launched an exploratory campaign for governor on May 2, one day after Governor Jay Inslee announced he won’t run again. Ed Komenda reports. (Associated Press)

‘Dead Boat’ hunters gear up for new season
The not-for-profit Dead Boat Disposal Society seeks from the public location information on Salish Sea derelict vessels in advance of their application for federal funding for another season of derelict boat removal. Robb Manley reports. (Gulf Islands Driftwood)

B.C. Hydro seeking contractor for major work on Ladore Dam
B.C. Hydro is gearing up to start its Ladore Dam upgrading project next year, announcing Wednesday that it’s looking for a general contractor to lead the work. The request for proposals to upgrade the dam — near McIvor Lake west of Campbell River — and to supply and install spillway gates closes Aug. 30. Carla Wilson reports. (Times Colonist)

Long popular in Asia, floating solar catches on in US
Floating solar panel systems are beginning to boom in the United States after rapid growth in Asia. They’re attractive not just for their clean power and lack of a land footprint, but because they also conserve water by preventing evaporation. A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability in March found that thousands of cities — more than 6,000 in 124 countries — could generate an amount equal to all their electricity demand using floating solar, making it a climate solution to be taken seriously. In the process, they could save roughly enough water each year to fill 40 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. Isabella O'Malley reports. (Associated Press)

To meet EV demand, industry turns to technology long deemed hazardous
Indonesia is richly endowed with nickel, but refining this crucial mineral poses a daunting environmental challenge. Rebecca Tan, Dera Menra Sijabat and Joshua Irwandi report. (Washington Post)

Good Golly Miss Holly
David B. Williams, “an evangelist for the practice of paying attention,” writes: "Go to almost any park in Seattle and you will find a bright green plant with unpleasantly spiny leaves. Unfortunately, in most situations, the large shrubs are neither of our native spine bearers, devil’s club or Oregon grape. Instead, those-who-you-should-avoid will be the fourth most common, non-native plant by acreage in Seattle, the English holly, Ilex aquifolium." (Street Smart Naturalist)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  257 AM PDT Thu May 11 2023   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 2 ft at 9 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt in the evening becoming light. Wind  waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 4 ft at 11 seconds.

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