7/24 Red sea urchin, climate change law, snowpack, pink snow, wildfires, hybrid ferries, leaded fuel, Lime Bay

 

Red Sea Urchin
[Aquarium of the Pacific/Hugh Ryono]

Red Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus
Sea urchins belong to a group of marine invertebrates called echinoderms, which means spiny-skinned animals. They are related to sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sand dollars. In addition to humans, they are preyed on by sea otters, octopus, sunflower stars, wolf eels, and some crabs and birds. Like their relatives, sea urchins do not have a brain or heart. Southern California red sea urchins can live to be about 50 years old whereas those in British Columbia, Canada can reach more than 100 years. (Aquarium of the Pacific)

New law pushes Washington cities and counties to plan for climate change
Planning for severe storms, flooding, wildfires and poor air quality will soon be required for Washington cities and counties. A new law passed by the Legislature this year requires local governments to consider climate change in their 20-year comprehensive plans beginning in 2025. The Department of Commerce released early guidance last month for how to do that.  The guidance focuses on two new sections that must be included in long-range plans: lowering greenhouse gas emissions and raising defenses against climate-related threats. With the law, the state isn’t mandating that the localities meet specific emissions targets, just that they commit to strategies that can help with reductions. Laurel Demkovich reports. (Washington State Standard)

Climate change threatens North Cascades snowpack
The loss of glaciers threatens agriculture, fisheries, drinking water, hydroelectric power and recreation. Sarah Vaux reports. (Salish Current/Whatcom Watch)

Algae blooms that cause pink snow could accelerate melting as Earth warms
....Robin Kodner [is] a biologist at Western Washington University who’s at the forefront of a new push to understand what folks in the Pacific Northwest call “watermelon snow” — if they’ve heard of it at all. A nickname for it in the French Alps is sang de glacier, or glacier blood. While red and pink are the most common colors, different types of snow algae produce a rainbow of hues, including orange, yellow and green. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

On the frontlines of B.C.’s wildfire fight
Where crews are being tested like almost never before. Jesse Winter reports. (The Narwhal)

Sticker shock arrives with bids to convert WA ferries to hybrid-electric
Two local shipbuilders, Vigor Shipyards in Seattle and Everett Ship Repair, offered bids last Friday to complete the conversion on three Jumbo Mark II boats — the Tacoma, the Puyallup and the Wenatchee...Both bids came in higher than the $120 million state engineers estimated. Vigor’s was the lower of the two, at $150.1 million; Everett Ship Repair’s bid was for $166.4 million. The additional cost means state ferries will need to seek more money to complete all three boats, either in federal grants or additional funding from the state. David Roman report. (Seattle Times)

Congress moves to mandate leaded fuel sales
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to require airports to keep selling leaded aviation fuel indefinitely. The small-plane fuel is the biggest source of airborne lead pollution in Washington and nationwide. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Beach reclamation gives new life to Lime Bay
The Peninsula Streams Society and City of Victoria staff have put the finishing touches on a two-year, $170,000 project that has already brought new life to the city’s harbour. On Friday, crews were busy planting above the shoreline at Lime Bay, between Spinnakers Brewpub and the Victoria International Marina, the site of a rejuvenation project that has restored the marine habitat to the point it lured back surf smelt to spawn last fall. Andrew Duffy reports. (Times Colonist)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  248 AM PDT Mon Jul 24 2023   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 2 ft  at 7 seconds. Rain. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 to 3 ft. W swell 3 ft  at 7 seconds building to 5 ft at 7 seconds after midnight. A  chance of showers.

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