9/30 White berthella, Orange Shirt Day, seal spy, microplastics, OR offshore lease, baby orca, BC hope, Clallam energy, Salt Spring Is Conservancy

White berthella [Annie Crawley]

White berthella Berthella chacei
A sea slug, but not a nudibranch. Unlike dorid nudibranchs, B. chacei does not have a branchial plume on its back. Instead, it has a gill underneath the right side of the mantle. B. chacei usually can be found beneath or on rocks or in crevices, using its foot to travel and feed on ascidians and sponges. (Edmonds Underwater Park]

Today's top story in Salish Current: Port responds to questions on public relations contract / What a ‘listening café’ teaches us about being better listeners

Sept. 30 marks 2 important days, Orange Shirt Day creator says
September 30th marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day established by the Canadian government in 2021 to honour survivors and those who never returned home from residential schools.  It's also Orange Shirt Day. In fact, it was Orange Shirt Day before it was anything else. That's the message Phyllis Webstad, the creator of Orange Shirt Day, wants Canadians to remember on Sept. 30 each year. Courtney Dickson reports. (CBC)

Orange Shirt Day: Indigenous resiliency and bridging communities
Commentary: Orange Shirt Day, commemorating the Indigenous children who were taken from their families and sent to boarding schools, is about remembrance, and about reconciliation and action. Sstipsn Kalime (Thrisa Phillips Jimmy) writes. (Salish Current)

How Washington plans to spy on seals, sea lions with drones
Starting this fall, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will fly drones over the state’s coastal and inland waters to research and count seals and sea lions. Drone operators will focus on the Nisqually, Dosewallips, and Duckabush river estuaries to count harbor seals. (KUOW)

The 'godfather' of microplastics research says we need to move faster to solve our plastic problem
Twenty years ago, a fortuitous trip to the beach led to a life-changing moment for Richard Thompson. The marine biologist was doing experiments on the seashore in England and found plastic clogging all of his scientific instruments. At the time he coined the term "microplastics" to describe the tiny bits of plastic, many smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair, that he found on beaches all around the U.K. Amanda Buckiewicz reports. (CBC)

Oregon’s offshore lease sale canceled as bidders back out, governor raises concerns
Oregon’s upcoming floating offshore wind auction has been canceled due to insufficient bidder interest. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, said it was delaying the upcoming Oregon auction due to lack of interest. The agency said only one of the five companies eligible to bid was still interested. Monica Samayoa reports. (OPB)

Why the Salish Sea's new baby orca surprised researchers
News of L90 becoming a mother is a bit of an "outlier," according to NOAA wildlife biologist Brad Hanson. At her age, it's likely that L90 has been pregnant several times before but lost those calves. "She's also a relatively small female. So to be honest, we had sort of written her off, if you will,” he said.  Natalie Akane Newcomb reports. (KUOW)

'There's hope': What we can learn from species that have made a comeback in B.C.
Sea otters. Peregrine falcons. Humpback whales. Elephant Seals. These are just some of the species that have recovered in B.C. “There’s hope,” says author and conservationist Rob Butler, who worked for decades as a biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service. “If you just give things a break, species will come back.” Douglas Todd writes. (Vancouver Sun)

Grants to fund two clean energy projects in Clallam County
Two clean energy projects are underway in Port Angeles and Sequim, aided by funding obtained from the state Department of Commerce. These projects will help reduce byproduct waste for the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) and aid in construction of an independent microgrid for the Clallam County Public Utility District (PUD) No. 1. Emma Maple reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

How Salt Spring Island Conservancy helped save a farm
An excerpt from a new book on local nature conservancies digs into the early days of the Salt Spring group, and how a surprising turn in court helped it save a 160-acre farm. (Times Colonist)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  224 AM PDT Mon Sep 30 2024    
TODAY  E wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: E 2 ft  at 3 seconds and W 3 ft at 10 seconds.  
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: E  2 ft at 4 seconds and W 3 ft at 10 seconds.

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