10/23 Sunflower sea star, BC disaster response, WA drought, gas prices, BC Ferries crisis, tsunami maps, bird sanctuary, farming salmon

Sunflower Sea Star [NOAA]

 
These Starfish Face Extinction. Scientists Are Helping Them Mate.
Scientists estimate that more than 5 billion sunflower sea stars, once a mighty predator, have died in the Pacific Ocean because of warming waters. The Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography near San Diego successfully spawned three sunflower sea stars this month, the latest success story in a sprawling collaborative effort among institutions to help sea stars reproduce and eventually reintroduce them to the wild.  Remy Tumin reports. (NY Times)

What will B.C. do when disaster strikes again?
As the climate crisis intensifies, experts weigh in on proposed changes to province's decades-old emergency legislation. Francesca Fionda reports. (The Narwhal)

WA still suffers from drought despite rain — and El Niño won’t help
Despite recent rainfall most of Washington still suffers from drought and climatologists say the months ahead aren’t likely to offer much relief. Conrad Swanson reports. (Seattle Times)

Why are gas prices rising at stations unaffected by cap-and-trade?
Even oil companies not participating in the state's new carbon auction system are pumping up the cost to the consumer. John Stang reports. (Crosscut)

The Crisis at BC Ferries
Why no reservations frequently means long waits on the main routes.
Andrew MacLeod reports. (The Tyee)

WA’s new tsunami maps show how long it would take to walk to safety
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources released new evacuation maps that show residents of coastal communities how to walk to a safe spot if a tsunami hits — hoping to prepare for the aftermath of an earthquake experts say is coming.  Lauren Rosenblatt reports. (Seattle Times)  See: "Signs of a hidden threat: preparing for the really big one" Salish Current, Sept. 6, 2023)

Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary marks 100 years
Migratory bird sanctuaries were designed as a respite for millions of birds on their long migrations, serving as places to feed, nest and rear their young, but they have become about much more than migrating birds. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

The Salmon on Your Plate Has a Troubling Cost. These Farms Offer Hope.
A revolution in the way Americans eat salmon is quietly being fomented inside a former factory building on the industrial edges of Auburn, a small city in the Finger Lakes region of New York. At LocalCoho, one of the country’s few sustainable salmon farms, 50,000 silvery coho salmon glide through concrete tanks filled with freshwater that recirculates through biofilters every half-hour. Melissa Clark reports. (NY Times)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  308 AM PDT Mon Oct 23 2023   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM PDT THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS  AFTERNOON   
TODAY  W wind 10 to 20 kt rising to 25 to 35 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft building to 3 to 5 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 7 ft at 9 seconds. A slight chance of rain in  the morning. 
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 10 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 8 ft at 9 seconds  subsiding to 6 ft at 9 seconds after midnight. Rain likely after  midnight.

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