7/1 Auklet, Shell drill, microplastics, Navy, Columbia R. future, Pierce Co. farmland

Whiskered Auklet (Sergey Frolov/BirdNote)

The Auklet's Whiskers - Not Just for Show
In Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, thousands of Whiskered Auklets — miniature relatives of puffins and murres — nest in deep rock crevices. The birds owe their name to the white plumes that sprout from their heads each summer. These fancy “whiskers” likely play a role in courtship. But they're not just for show. Much like the whiskers of a cat, the plumes are acutely sensitive, guiding the auklets through the dark nest cavities. When nesting is done, the auklets will return to the open sea and molt their multi-purpose whiskers. Until the next spring.(BirdNote)

Shell clears key Arctic drilling hurdle, but must keep its rigs 15 miles apart
Shell Oil has cleared one more key regulatory hurdle in seeking to drill in the Arctic this summer, as the oil giant received a “letter of authorization” (LOA) from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service regarding potential disturbance to polar bears and walruses. The letter allows Shell to “take small numbers of polar bears and Pacific walrus incidental to activities” it plans for drilling this summer in the Chukchi Sea, about 75 miles northwest of the native village of Wainwright, Alaska. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com) See also: Shell oil-drilling ship leaves Everett, bound for Arctic June 30  (Everett Herald)

Microplastic particles move up marine food chain on B.C. coast: research
Plastic fibres and particles in West Coast waters are being consumed and passed up the food chain by tiny marine creatures that apparently mistake them for food, according to a new study from the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. Researcher Peter Ross and his colleagues found plastic litter in the digestive systems of two key species of plankton that are eaten in large numbers by salmon and baleen whales. Adult salmon returning to the Strait of Georgia may be consuming up to 91 plastic particles a day by eating plankton, and juveniles leaving fresh water up to seven particles a day, while a humpback whale could ingest more than 300,000 particles a day, according to the researchers’ estimates. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Navy enjoys Northwest building spree but faces lawsuits and other challenges
New jets. New ships. New piers stretching into Hood Canal. They’re just some of the big-ticket items the Navy has bought for its bases around the Puget Sound area. After a dozen years of Army growth and the end of a $2 billion wartime investment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Navy Region Northwest is on its own building spree. It’s spending hundreds of millions of dollars improving facilities ranging from the wharf that handles nuclear missiles at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor to the hangars on Whidbey Island set to receive some of the military’s latest aircraft. Adam Ashton reports. (Olympian)

Energy decisions loom over the Columbia River
Stand on the cliffs overlooking the wild beauty of the Columbia River, viewed by many as one of the most significant environmental forces in the Pacific Northwest, and you’ll get a glimpse of why its rapid transformation into a fossil fuel axis is cause for rising cries of alarm. Coal from the Rocky Mountains, oil from Alberta’s tar sands, and crude from North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields are being transported through the area at an unprecedented rate, putting the area at risk of major spills and explosions. Railroads are now moving an estimated 60 times more oil annually than they were during the period from 2005 to 2009. Martha Baskin reports. (Crosscut)

Pierce County looks to hold the line on protected farmland
The Pierce County Council will vote Tuesday on a proposal that would maintain, for now, the status quo for long-term preservation of agricultural lands in East Pierce County. The measured approach is in contrast to several drastically different alternatives that sparked months of debate about how much acreage should be classified as Agricultural Resource Lands. The ARL designation is meant to protect “commercially significant” farmland from being paved over by developers for years to come. Currently, about 23,000 acres are classified as ARL in areas such as Graham, Eatonville, Orting and Roy. Kari Plog reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED JUL 1 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. NW SWELL 7 FT AT 8 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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6/11 Herring, Great Bear, Vic sewer, coal pollution, Wild Oly, Van beaver, D crab, Shelter Bay, fading green

Little Uncle’s Herring Week Special (SeattleMet)

Welcome to Seattle Herring Week—No, Seriously
In a follow-up to distiller Lexi of Old Ballard Liquor Co.'s search for herring…. "Seattle Herring Week, wherein a handful of restaurants around town will have fresh herring dishes on their menus through June 14, or until they run out of herring. The Facebook page has updates, but this is an eclectic group, and it’s not limited to Ballard. The list includes Anchovies and Olives, Schooner Exact, Chippy’s, Palace Kitchen, the Walrus and the Carpenter, Sushi Kappo Tamura, Little Uncle, Pair, and grocer Scandinavian Specialties (plus Sogno di Vino and Marina Market in Poulsbo). " Allecia Vermillion reports. (SeattleMet)

Proposed deal to preserve large swaths of B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest
The last land parcels of the Great Bear Rainforest have been identified, clearing the way for an extraordinary pact between the forest industry, First Nations, the province and a coalition of environmental organizations to be finalized by September. The new land-use agreement, if approved following a summer-long public consultation period, would ensure the preservation of 70 per cent of the old-growth forests in a huge section of the province’s north and central coast. Justine Hunter reports. (Globe and Mail)

Sewage project stalled, yet boss tops Capital Regional District pay list
Albert Sweetnam, head of the stalled Seaterra sewage-treatment program, is at the top of the Capital Regional District’s salary list for 2014. Sweetnam, hired on a five-year contract in 2013, was paid $297,466 in salary and expenses last year — more than even CRD chief administrative officer Bob Lapham, whose salary and expenses totalled $238,036, according to the CRD’s latest statement of financial information. Last year, when the CRD was moving ahead with its $788-million sewage-treatment program with plans to build a treatment plant at McLoughlin Point, Sweetnam was managing a staff of 20-plus consulting engineers. But no more. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

US plans to focus on environment in Columbia River talks
After a long delay, the Obama administration has signaled that it’s ready to launch talks with Canada to renew the 51-year-old Columbia River Treaty, a controversial pact that created dams for electricity and flood control in the Pacific Northwest. But there will be one big change from the negotiations that created the original 1964 treaty: This time, the United States plans a major push on environmental issues. Rob Hotakainen reports. (McClatchy)

US Supreme Court won't consider Seward coal pollution appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a federal appeals court decision that said coal falling into Resurrection Bay from the Alaska Railroad's loading system in Seward violates the federal Clean Water Act. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in September reversed a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Tim Burgess, who ruled that incidental coal falling from the Seward Coal Loading Facility was allowed under the railroad's permit to discharge storm water. The judges said coal was not a list of substances that could be discharged with storm water. The district court will decide whether the railroad committed specific violations of the federal Clean Water Act, whether there will be penalties, and whether the parties will be directed to pay attorney fees, Alaska Railroad corporate communications officer Stephanie Wheeler said. Dan Joling reports. (Alaska Dispatch News)

Court Sends Coal Pollution Rules Back To EPA
A federal appeals court has struck down pollution rules intended to reduce haze from coal that is burned in Montana to provide electricity for people in the Pacific Northwest. Haze reduces visibility and is caused by tiny particles of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. The Clean Air Act requires companies to use the best available technology on older coal plants to reduce the pollutants, which can cause health problems such as respiratory illness. But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the rule from the Environmental Protection Agency would arbitrarily require PPL Montana to install pollution controls costing tens of millions of dollars without assurance of improvements in visibility. Tuesday's ruling applies to the 2,100-megawatt Colstrip plant and a second plant in Billings that recently shut down partly because of the projected cost of complying with separate mercury pollution rules. Matthew Brown reports. (Associated Press)

The Wild Olympics: The next step in a half-century of preserving wild Washington?
The Olympic Peninsula is a hot destination these days for those who appreciate recreation, natural beauty and wild spaces. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, and Rep. Derek Kilmer picked the first day of Washington’s warm spell last week to reintroduce legislation that would preserve more wild places and rivers on the peninsula. Product of what Murray called “years of negotiation and compromise,” the legislation would protect as wilderness 126,554 acres of federal, national forest land surrounding Olympic National Park, and put 19 rivers and major tributaries into the nation’s Wild and Scenic River System. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Very Canadian: Beaver joining Vancouver cyclists and joggers for evening waddle caught on video
People on Vancouver's busy False Creek seawall got a rare, up-close look at a Canadian icon on Tuesday, when a beaver chose to take an evening stroll next to runners and cyclists. "Joggers stopped, cyclists dismounted and a group of us formed a barrier alongside him to protect him as he strolled along," said runner Rita Gunkel in an email to CBC. Gunkel spotted the beaver waddling along the seawall and took a video. (CBC)

Dungeness crab season in Hood Canal opening more than two weeks earlier than expected
Sport anglers can get a head start on the Dungeness crab fishery in Hood Canal that begins more than two weeks sooner than expected. Fishing in the “Hood” will begin Monday – the original opening date was July 2 — after test fisheries found crabs have reached ideal hard-shell condition and populations in some areas appear to be healthy. Mark Yuasa reports. (Seattle Times)

Shelter Bay residents to decide if they want new lease with Swinomish
Shelter Bay residents who own homes on reservation land are expected to decide next month if they want to pursue an agreement with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community that would extend a master lease with the tribe until 2089 but also would dramatically increase homeowners’ rents.
The Shelter Bay Community’s board of directors has scheduled an advisory vote on the matter for July 15. If residents vote to pursue a new lease, the board will begin working out details with the tribe, then homeowners will have a chance to vote once more, said Community Manager David Franklin. Evan Marczynski and Shannen Kuest report. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Concerns Arise That The Green Is Fading At Seattle's Port
As the Port of Seattle joins with Tacoma to compete against other ports in British Columbia and California, concerns have arisen that it might be losing sight of some of key environmental goals, such as creating sustainable jobs. The concerns come as Seattle moves forward with a controversial deal to temporarily host Royal Dutch Shell’s oil drilling fleet at terminal 5 in West Seattle. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU JUN 11 2015
TODAY
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told