9/23 Moon jelly, steelhead, coho, battery storage, forever chemicals, saving birds, barrier islands, buried creek, Dan Evans

Moon jelly [Seattle Aquarium]

Moon jelly Aurelia labiata
Jellies have been around for hundreds of millions of years—since before dinosaurs roamed the earth. They’re members of the phylum cnidaria, pronounced NYE-daria, from the Greek word for “stinging nettle.” This group of invertebrates is made up of animals that have stinging capsules in the tentacles surrounding their mouths. Puget Sound is home to well over 340 species of cnidarians, including the moon jellies at the Seattle Aquarium.

Today's top story in Salish Current: An election in the age of artificial intelligence / Food resiliency and climate Change in the San Juan Islands

Steelhead: Washington's 'gray ghost' battles extinction
Larry Peterson guns the engine on the skiff and blasts downriver. He has precious cargo aboard: live, wild steelhead. And he and his colleague from the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe are on a mission to help save this population of steelhead, which are among the state’s most threatened species. Steelhead already are listed for federal protection almost everywhere they live, up and down the rivers of the West Coast, including in the Columbia and Snake rivers and all over Puget Sound. And they were recently petitioned for listing on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

‘Give them a chance’: The fight to bring salmon back to Edmonds stream
In 2026, hundreds of coho salmon will try to return to Perrinville Creek for spawning — like clockwork. Over the past two years, with approval from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, retired fishery biologist Joe Scordino and volunteers with the Edmonds Stream Team have released 8,000 coho fry in an upper stretch of the creek. Volunteers placed fish in other local creeks as well, with the larger goal of reestablishing salmon runs in small streams that coho, in particular, depend on for rearing and spawning. Ta'Leah Van Sistine reports. (Everett Herald)

Why a Skagit County town hopes to fight off a battery storage project
The Goldeneye Battery Energy Storage System would be one of the first in Washington and certainly the biggest. But as it stands now, the proposal serves as another high-profile example of the challenges that renewable energy projects face in finding a willing host community, particularly in rural areas made to feel as if they must bear the brunt of green policies from Olympia. Conrad Swanson reports. (Seattle Times)  See: Battery farms, energy industry’s new darling, lining up to enter Pacific NW Don’t you be my neighbor, say some to proposed fields of big batteries. Tom Banse reports. (Salish Current, 9/5/24)

Forever chemicals are everywhere. These burnt wood chips could help change that
Forever chemicals are everywhere, from cookware to cosmetics to clothes to carpets. For decades, they've been building up in the environment and our water – and in our bodies. Now Canadian researchers say they have developed a practical way to remove the toxic compounds from our drinking water. Darius Mahdavi reports. (CBC)

North America lost 3 billion birds in 50 years. An Indigenous-led plan could protect a place where they’re thriving
In the Seal River watershed, the site of a proposed Indigenous-led conservation project, community members worked with the Audubon Society to identify more species than were previously known. Julia-Simone Rutgers reports. (The Narwhal)

Where the sea wall ends
At a time of fast-rising seas, the ocean is eating away at this barrier island and others like it. But humans, who have held their ground here for over a century, are planning new condos. Chris Mooney, John Muyskens and Brady Dennis report. (Washington Post)

B.C. creek buried by construction in the 60s restored
Part of a creek that was buried under a post-secondary campus in Burnaby, B.C., decades ago has been brought to the surface again, in a bid to restore some of the Lower Mainland's dwindling salmon habitat. For thousands of years, chum salmon swam up Guichon Creek to spawn. But during construction of the Burnaby campus of the B.C. Institute of Technology (BCIT) in the 1960s, a 750-metre stretch of the waterway was sealed underground in a series of steel pipes and culverts, blocking passage for the fish. Isaac Phan Nay reports. (CBC)

Dan Evans, three-term Washington governor, dies at age 98
Daniel J. Evans, former governor of Washington and U.S. Senator, died Friday at the age of 98. In a statement given to The Seattle Times, sons Dan Jr., Mark and Bruce Evans wrote that their father lived an exceptionally full life. “Whether serving in public office, working to improve higher education, mentoring aspiring public servants … he just kept signing up for stuff right until the end. He touched a lot of lives. And he did this without sacrificing family”, the newspaper reported. Feliks Banel/KUOW Staff report. (KUOW)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  300 AM PDT Mon Sep 23 2024    
TODAY  S wind around 5 kt, veering to NW around 5 kt this  afternoon. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at 10 seconds.  Showers likely early this morning.  
TONIGHT  NW wind around 5 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W  5 ft at 11 seconds.

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