Friday, June 20, 2025

6/20 Dog whelk, rising seas, Jack Hyde Beach, ferry fares, WA cherries, bag ban, jet skier fined, WA EV rebates, lagoon personhood, democracy watch, week in review

Frilled Dog Whelk
 
Frilled Dog Whelk Nucella lamellosa
This snail reaches great abundance in the intertidal zone of Pacific Northwest shores, where it can easily be found resting on rocks when the tide is out. When submerged, this species cruises slowly along on rocks or other hard surfaces such as pilings. It is a carnivore, feeding on shelled invertebrates, including bivalves and barnacles, which it penetrates by scraping with its hard radula. It then releases digestive enzymes into the hole, quickly digesting prey tissue and sucking up the "soup." It may also feed just by inserting its proboscis, with mouth on the end, into a gap in a shell. (Puget Sound Museum of Natural History)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Troubled waters: stormwater bacteria counts stir up concerns

Documenting ancient village sites on Salish Sea a race against time
Keep an eye out for dark soil, unnaturally thick layers of shells piled high, brittle rocks charred dark from fires that burned hundreds — maybe thousands — of years ago. This particular combination amounts to a shell midden site. In essence it’s an old trash pile, set aside by the people who lived here well before settlers called these lands home. Tread lightly if you stumble across one of these sites. Don’t disturb what you find. These places can offer a window back into the past. And as climate change brings rising sea levels, intensifying storm surges and erosion into the beaches of Puget Sound, the windows are closing, deteriorating before we’ve fully had a chance to understand their significance. Conrad Swanson reports. (Seattle Times)

Health department issues new warning for bacteria at this Tacoma beach
The waters of Tacoma’s Jack Hyde Beach are off-limits again. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department issued an advisory Wednesday to avoid swimming or wading at the beach until further notice. Water samples show high levels of bacteria that could lead to gastrointestinal illness, a health department release said. Julia Park reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Higher fares on the horizon for Washington State Ferries
A state transportation panel proposed 3% hikes this year and next, while lawmakers and the governor boosted a surcharge to build boats and added a credit card fee. Jerry Cornfield reports. (Washington State Standard)

A 'perfect' season for Washington's sweet cherries turns sour because of deportation fears
It was supposed to be a banner year for Pacific Northwest cherries. Cherry production is estimated to be about 10% above last year’s, the fruit is high quality, and California’s shorter-than-usual season meant cherry pickers would be free to migrate north to bring in the crop. The only problem? They never showed up. Monica Nickelsburg reports. (KUOW)

Banning plastic bags works to limit shoreline litter, study finds
Using crowdsourced data from shore cleanups, researchers found that areas that enacted plastic bag bans or fees had fewer bags littering their lakes, rivers and beaches than those without them. (NY Times)

B.C. jet skier fined $5K for approaching dolphins too closely
Fisheries and Oceans Canada fined Stephen Michael White $5,000 for getting too close to a pod of dolphins in violation of a section of the Marine Mammal Regulations. (CBC)

WA spent $45M to boost electric vehicle use — with mixed results
From last August through October, the Washington Department of Commerce offered $45 million in rebates to lower-income residents to help them buy or lease an electric vehicle...But interviews and program data show that the program struggled to target those communities and meet its goal of directing 40% of funding to vulnerable populations and overburdened communities. Elizabeth Whitman reports. (Cascade PBS)

A Spanish Lagoon Was Granted Legal Personhood. Then What Happened?
The protection of Mar Menor was a huge step for the pioneering Rights of Nature movement. But three years on, little has changed. Goldy Levy reports. (bioGraphic)

Democracy Watch

  • Trump is silent about Juneteenth holiday (AP)
  • US resumes visas for foreign students but demands social media access (AP)
  • Trump extends TikTok shutdown deadline for third time (AP)
  • Trump allowed to keep control of National Guard troops deployed to LA (AP)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 6/20/25: Solstice! Columbia R. salmon, WA climate pollution data, wildfires and ocean carbon, GOP clean energy, deep-se mining, plastic bag ban, lagoon personhood, BC clear0cut logging.

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Here's your weekend tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  240 AM PDT Fri Jun 20 2025    
TODAY
 W wind 5 to 10 kt, rising to 10 to 15 kt this afternoon.  Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of  showers.  
TONIGHT
 W wind 10 to 15 kt, becoming SW 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at 9 seconds. A  chance of showers in the evening, then showers likely after  midnight.  
SAT
 SE wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at  9 seconds. A chance of showers in the morning.  
SAT NIGHT
 S wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W  4 ft at 9 seconds.  
SUN
 SW wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W 3 ft at  9 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.




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