3/26 Purple finch, rising temperatures, testing shellfish, culverts, Seattle Fault

Purple finch [Henry Trombley]

Purple finch Haemorhous purpureus
The Purple Finch is the bird that Roger Tory Peterson famously described as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” For many of us, they’re irregular winter visitors to our feeders, although these chunky, big-beaked finches do breed in northern North America and the West Coast. (All About Birds)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Another explosive year for gun bills in Washington Legislature

Rising temperatures from climate change depleting oxygen in coastal waters, threatening marine life
During the summer of 2021, half of coastal waters from northern California to the Canadian border had oxygen levels too low to support marine life. Alex Baumhardt reports. (Washington State Standard)

Who's to blame for contaminated shellfish? Researchers follow the fecal matter to find out
Molecular testing can help determine which type of animal poop is contaminating oyster-rich areas. Rafferty Baker reports. (CBC)

Light at the End of the Tunnel
Millions of killer culverts lurk beneath North American roadways, strangling populations of migratory fish. Now with a nationwide project, the United States is trying to fix them. Ben Goldfarb reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Waiting for the Big One: What Duwamish Taught Us About Earthquakes
In December, 1992, five articles published by geologists Brian Atwater and Allan Moore in Science magazine, announced the discovery of the Seattle Fault, a narrow zone of faults reaching from the Olympics across Seattle and Lake Washington to Lake Sammamish and the Cascades..A 2019 Post-Intelligencer article marveled that the quake had gone undiscovered for a millennium.  But the Duwamish knew about it only too well and had shared their knowledge. David Buerge writes. (Post Alley)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  225 AM PDT Tue Mar 26 2024    
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH  WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON    
TODAY  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 3 to  7 ft at 12 seconds subsiding to 5 ft at 17 seconds in the  afternoon.  
TONIGHT  S wind to 10 kt becoming SE 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft building to 3 to 5 ft after  midnight. W swell 5 ft at 15 seconds.

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