10/5 Devil's club, bird flu, study salmon, OR orcas, First Nations guardians, GasLink fines, plastic pollution, dead tree tales

Devil's club [USFS/R.A. Howard]

Devil's club Oplopanax horridus
Devil's club can be found in well-drained forests from coastal Alaska southward and eastward to California, the Northern Rockies, with a disjunct population near northern Lake Superior. A term of botanical literature from the glossary: “armed” meaning protected with spines, prickles, or stinging hairs. Devil's club is armed to the teeth. The spines of devil's club coat every exposed surface of the plant except for the roots and berries. It is difficult to overstate the importance of this plant in traditional and contemporary Native American/First Nations cultures such as the Tlingit, Haida, Salish, Tsimshian, Hesquiat, and Nuxalt throughout this plant’s native range in the Pacific Northwest. It has been employed for a staggeringly broad variety of uses, ranging from fishhooks and lures to using its charcoal as a base for tattoo ink. The variety of traditional medicines made from this cousin of Panax (ginseng) is staggering as well. (USFS)

Deadly bird flu jumps to harbor seals in Salish Sea, first for West Coast
Bird flu, already killing seabirds in the Salish Sea, has jumped to harbor seals in the first documented instance of marine mammals dying from the disease on the West Coast. The deaths were confirmed in testing of five stranded seals on Marrowstone Island this summer and suspected in a seal that stranded in August, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration West Coast Region, which announced the cross-species jump. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

More study needed to understand Pacific salmon: scientist
Massive changes in the Pacific Ocean’s ecosystem in recent years are affecting salmon in ways never seen before, says a Nanaimo-based fisheries scientist. In 2020, there was a 37 per cent drop in the total catch by all salmon-producing countries, said Richard Beamish, adding a drop of that size “had never occurred in the 100-year history of our fishery.” Carla Wilson reports. (Times Colonist)

Oregon officials consider adding southern resident orcas to state endangered species list
Southern resident orcas are already listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and in Washington and Canada, where they also live and forage. Being listed under Oregon’s Endangered Species Act would offer even greater protections, according to Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. Alex Baumhardt reports. (Capital Chronicle/OPB)

Program trains First Nations ‘guardians’ of lands and waters
Renewal of funding for the VIU program was announced Wednesday at a ceremony at the legislature. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist) https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/indigenous-guardians-are-training-to-protect-islands-fragile-lands-and-waters-7643609

Coastal Gaslink Is Facing 11 More Potential Fines
The company’s current total for penalties is $800,000. But that number is likely to grow. Amanda Follett Hosgood reports. (The Tyee)

Sponging Up Plastic Pollution
Scientists have developed synthetic sponges capable of extracting microplastics and nanoplastics from contaminated water. Chris Baraniuk reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Dead Trees Tell No Lies
Street Smart Naturalist David B. Williams writes: "Trees die every day of every year but something unique happened late autumn or early spring 1,100 years ago. Numerous Douglas firs perished, not because of disease or fire, the two typical culprits of that era, but because of an earthquake, or quakes, one of the most noteworthy seismic events in recent Pacific Northwest history. Still extant, the dead trees, some more than several hundred years old when they died, occur at six locations across Puget Sound." (Street Smart Naturalist)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  259 AM PDT Thu Oct 5 2023   
TODAY  E wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 11 seconds. Areas of fog  in the morning. 
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  5 ft at 12 seconds.

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