8/5 Breadcrumb sponge, Chilcotin R, AK Chinook, SRKW, Dollar Tree, BC kelp, invasive species

Breadcrumb sponge [Sound Water Stewards]

Breadcrumb sponge Halichondria sp.    
Watch for breadcrumb sponge on boulders low in the intertidal. It often grows on the underside of boulders so you may have to get down on your hands and knees to find it. Color varies from tan to yellow or green. Its overall growth pattern is irregular with encrustation to about an inch thick. Look for low rising oscula (excurrent pores). Sponges feed by filtering plankton from the water column. If you're not sure that what you're looking at is a sponge, feel it; sponge will feel soft and velvety. (Sound Water Stewards)

Today's top story in Salish Current:  The Pig War: They were committed to keeping the peace

More blackberries
A reader writes regarding Friday's entry about the Himalayan blackberry that it is native to Armenia and northern Iran, not Western Europe. That's correct, although its scientific name and origins are the stuff of much contention. (Wikipedia)

Water behind B.C. landslide is more likely to move over top than burst: minister
Current modelling shows water from a vast lake forming behind a landslide that has dammed the Chilcotin River is more likely to go over the top than burst through in a sudden release, British Columbia's minister of emergency management said Friday. Bowinn Ma said the impacts downstream could still be significant depending on the distribution of the overtopping flow, and people along the Chilcotin and the connecting Fraser River may need to leave the area on short notice. (Canadian Press)

Sustainable Alaskan Chinook Salmon? That’s a Problem
After a 90-day review of a petition filed by Duvall-based Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) to list all chinook salmon from rivers flowing into the Gulf of Alaska as threatened or endangered, NOAA has found enough evidence for a year-long scientific review to see whether or not a listing is warranted. The Gulf and the petition cover a vast area from the Aleutians to the Canadian border. No one knows which distinct populations within that area may warrant a listing. Dan Chasen writes. (Post Alley)

Hanging by a thread: B.C.’s southern resident orcas on a path to extinction
A recent peer-reviewed paper suggests a baseline rate of population loss of roughly one per cent per year — based on modelling and 40 years of observations — putting the whales on a path toward a "period of accelerating decline that presages extinction." Even that rate of loss is "optimistic," the research says. The study lends urgency to calls by a coalition of environmental groups for the Canadian government to reverse its decision not to issue an emergency protection order for the whales, in the face of what may otherwise be inexorable decline. Brenna Owen reports. (Canadian Press)

Dollar Tree required to reform testing process after WA finds toxic children’s products
Dollar Tree must test its children’s products more thoroughly after a state investigation found bracelets and pencil pouches in the company’s Washington stores with illegal levels of lead and cadmium, the attorney general’s office announced Thursday.  In order to avoid a lawsuit, Greenbrier International, which does business as Dollar Tree, entered a nationwide, legally binding agreement in King County Superior Court with the state of Washington requiring the major discount retail chain to ensure its laboratories outside the United States follow testing methods verified by independent experts. Grace Deng reports. (Washington State Standard)

Why researchers are racing to restore B.C.’s kelp forests
Kelp forests are quickly declining around the world from a combination of sea urchin predation and warming ocean temperatures due to climate change.nHope Lompe reports. (National Observer)

British Columbians urged to take action against invasive species
The B.C. Invasive Species Council is urging British Columbians to help stop the spread of invasive plants and animals in order to protect native species and support biodiversity. This comes as the council releases a new Invasive Species Strategy, which aims to increase awareness around invasive species and prevent them from taking over B.C.'s natural habitats. (CBC)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  210 AM PDT Mon Aug 5 2024    
TODAY  W wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: W 3 ft  at 7 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: W  2 ft at 7 seconds.

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