4/29 Ocean energy, Charm City, neurotoxin spray, oil future, Shell $, volatile oil, no-drone zone

(PHOTO: Vancouver Aquarium/NOAA)

Ocean-energy project bad for whales, researcher says
A proposed clean-energy project may slow the speed of climate change, but it could also imperil threatened orcas, critics say. Vancouver-based Weyl Power Ltd. — pronounced “wheel,” not “whale” — is eyeing two sites within the Northern resident killer whales’ critical habitat for ocean energy projects. The company has only applied to monitor and investigate the potential of the sites, but a local orca researcher says it has already gone too far. “It shouldn’t even get out of the starting gate — I don’t think the proposal should be considered at all, even at the investigative stage,” said Paul Spong, founder of the OrcaLab whale research station on Hanson Island, near Telegraph Cove. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

New blog: Last Week in Baltimore, Charm City
"I spent last week in Baltimore, Charm City. I returned home late Friday before the first outbreak of violence on Saturday, for which I would have had a front row seat around Camden Yards. Now more rioting on Monday, National Guard on call, law enforcement moving in from around the region. What does the rioting solve, Baltimore’s mayor asks? What happens to the charm, I ask?…."

Disbelief over state plan to spray neurotoxin into oyster beds
The state has approved plans to spray in Willapa Bay a neurotoxic pesticide that has a warning right on the bottle: “Do not apply directly to water.” What could go wrong? Danny Westneat reports. (Seattle Times)

Are greens picking the wrong oil target?
The major targets of environmental protests against Big Oil have been the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through the Midwest, and Shell Oil’s planned drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Arctic Alaska. Have the green activists wisely picked their targets? A just-released report, “West Coast Tar Sands Invasion” by the Natural Resources Defense Council suggests that the Pacific Coast, including Washington, may feel the greatest impacts from North America’s major new oil production centers. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Shell financial reports about Arctic drilling are too 'rosy,' environmentalists charge
Shell has understated the financial risks of exploring for oil in the Arctic Ocean and federal regulators should investigate possible misrepresentations to investors, critics of the drilling plan said Tuesday. Oceana, an environmental organization, and the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School on Monday petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission for an investigation into what the drilling critics call “material misstatements and omissions” in Shell’s financial filings. Yereth Rosen reports. (Alaska Dispatch News)

Energy, Transportation departments to study volatility of oil moved by rail
The federal government will conduct a two-year study of how crude oil volatility affects the commodity’s behavior in train derailments, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told a Senate panel Tuesday. The Energy Department will coordinate the study with the Department of Transportation, Moniz told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. After a series of fiery train derailments, the Transportation Department concluded early last year that light, sweet crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region is more volatile than other kinds. But derailments involving ethanol and other types of crude oil have cast doubt on whether Bakken is likely to react more severely than other flammable liquids transported by rail. Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy)

The no-drone zone: How to stop UAVs spying on us from above
…. Two weeks ago, Boston police announced this year's Boston Marathon as a "no drone zone". It might have sounded like an unenforceable plea, but the police had a trick up their sleeves. They had enlisted the help of a company called DroneShield, which supplied acoustic sensors that can detect drones. Chris Baraniuk reports. (New Scientist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED APR 29 2015
TODAY
S WIND TO 10 KT...RISING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W
 SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
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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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3/30 J50, oil trains, offshore orca, B'ham port, fish hatcheries, sea lions, algae energy, slave seafood, WA budget

J50 (Capt. Simon Pidcock Ocean EcoVentures/CBC)

If you like to watch: Baby orca J50 comes out to play
Once given only a 50 percent chance of survival, the newest additions to the endangered southern resident community of orcas appear to be thriving. The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) has observed two three-month old babies, J50 and J51, in the waters around the San Juan Islands breaching and frolicking — and just plain having fun. (CBC)

Lawmakers aim to toughen laws on oil trains
State lawmakers are trying to reach agreement on tougher rules for the transportation of oil in Washington, including a requirement that rail carriers give local firefighters advance notice of when oil trains are coming. Competing bills in the House and Senate could bring higher taxes for refiners, larger crew sizes on trains for railroads and more inspections of tracks and railroad crossings. Sponsors of the bills are trying to reconcile differences and avoid legislative derailment, but the chasm might be too great in the typically contentious final weeks of the legislative session. Jerry Cornfield reports. (Everett Herald)

Offshore killer whales gain attention from Canadian government
The Canadian government is calling attention to the special needs of offshore killer whales in a new document, “Recovery Strategy for the Offshore Killer Whale in Canada ( PDF 3.8 mb).” Offshores are a mysterious, little-understood group of orcas that roam the West Coast. They are related to the more familiar resident and transient killer whales, but they are genetically, physically and socially distinct. The name “offshore” sort of tells the story; they often remain miles off the coast, out of sight and out of mind for most researchers as well as the public. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Port of Bellingham could sign waterfront agreement Tuesday
The Port of Bellingham Commission will hold two special meetings Tuesday, March 31, to consider signing an agreement with an Irish developer that wants to redevelop the first portion of the downtown waterfront. A 3 p.m. public meeting will include a presentation on the master development agreement the port worked out with Dublin-based Harcourt Developments over the last year…. The commission will then take a recess and reopen the public meeting at 6 p.m. so those who work during the day and want to comment or learn about the agreement will get the chance to see the presentation and speak before the commission votes on the proposal. Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Fish hatcheries: A 19th century fix that won’t die
If you found yourself recently in Marblemount, say, or North Bend, it might have been a good idea to visit the cold waters of the Cascade River or Tokul Creek and wave goodbye to the early winter run of Chambers Creek hatchery steelhead struggling upstream to the concrete tanks in which they were spawned. This winter’s run, a smaller batch next winter, and poof! Except for those released from a hatchery on the Skykomish River, near Monroe, we may have seen the last of those Chambers Creek fish. Or not. Daniel Jack Chasan reports. (Crosscut)

Boom times on the Columbia for California sea lions
Record numbers of sea lions are gathering in the Lower Columbia river this spring, intensifying the long-running challenge to protect salmon runs. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Algae into energy: New process studied at Sequim lab could lead to mass production of fuel while lowering carbon dioxide from the air
Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine Sciences Laboratory are working to develop a new, low-cost process to draw carbon dioxide out of the air to grow algae that can be refined into alternative gasoline and jet fuel. The beauty of fuel derived from algae is that it is “carbon-neutral,” meaning that the amount of carbon dioxide, or CO2, released when it is burned is equivalent to the amount the algae consumes during growth.  If it were cheap enough to be in mass production, algae-derived fuel could, scientists say, put the brakes on emission into the atmosphere of CO2, which accounted for 82 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2012, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Chris McDaniel reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

How Northwest Shoppers Can Avoid 'Slavery Seafood'
Marcie Sillman speaks with Tobias Aguirre, executive director of FishWise, about a recent AP report detailing slavery in Asian fisheries and what Pacific Northwest shoppers can do to avoid purchasing seafood that may have been caught by slaves. (KUOW)

Washington House Democrats Say 'Yes' To Capital Gains Tax, 'No' To Cap-And-Trade
Majority Democrats in the Washington state House have unveiled a proposed two-year, nearly $39 billion state budget and tax package. They embraced Governor Jay Inslee’s push for a state capital gains tax, but they’re not biting on the Democratic governor’s cap-and-trade proposal. The capital gains proposal House Democrats offered was slimmed down a bit -- a five percent tax rate instead of the governor’s seven percent. Austin Jenkins reports. (NW News Network)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON MAR 30 2015
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING
TODAY
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN LIKELY IN
 THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
S WIND 20 TO 30 KT...BECOMING W 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN.

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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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3/4 Whale watcher banned, BC oil, Columbia oil, beach driving, BC parks, Freeland logging, Oly park, wave energy

PHOTO: Barry Griffiths/BirdNote

If you like to listen: King Penguins - World's Largest Kazoo Band
While it’s still winter in many parts of North America, it’s summer in Antarctica. And the King Penguins are singing! Some form breeding colonies that number in the tens of thousands. When many pairs of these colorful birds tip their heads back and sing, it sounds like the world’s largest kazoo band. (BirdNote)

Campbell River whale watching captain gets fined, banned after getting too close again
A Campbell River whale watching captain has been fined $6,000 and banned from the industry for 10 years after once again getting too close to a pod of killer whales. Jason Allan Smith was found guilty in Campbell River Provincial Court on Jan. 30 for disturbing killer whales in violation of the Fisheries Act. The judgment relates to an Aug. 14, 2010 incident near Camp Point, north of Campbell River. Skipper Smith, who was working for Eagle Eye Adventures at the time, drove inside the mandated 100-metre buffer zone from a group of orcas and "kept the boat within a close distance of the whales for an extended period of time," according to a news release from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Smith was convicted of disturbing killer whales in 2011 for a similar incident from 2008. Mike Hagar reports. (Vancouver Sun)

In runup to pipeline review, critics accuse Kinder Morgan of bullying
Lawyers working for Kinder Morgan Inc. have sent a letter to the National Energy Board proposing the narrowest interpretation of who can participate in a review of the company’s proposed twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline. The 15-page legal letter, which was sent in late February, was copied to the thousands of people who have applied to be part of the review process, a move opponents of the pipeline liken to “bullying.” For most of the more than 2,300 applicants, the letter was the first response they had received since applying. Justin Giovannetti reports. (Globe and Mail)

A loud 'no' so far on oil terminal in Vancouver
Those who have commented on the proposal by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies to build the Northwest's largest oil-by-rail facility at the Port of Vancouver are overwhelmingly opposed to the project, according to a report released by the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council this week. It's perhaps the biggest, most complicated project the council has ever seen. The EFSEC received 31,074 comments on the oil terminal proposal between October and December, the so-called scoping phase of the environmental review process that identifies issues for further study. Form letters comprised 97 percent of public feedback, with 352 form letters in favor of the project and 30,494 opposed. Erin Middlewood reports. (The Columbian)

Steilacoom expects to ban low-tide beach driving
Steilacoom hopes to protect one of its northernmost natural areas by prohibiting vehicles from driving onto the mudflats of Chambers Bay at low tide. The ordinance, set for action at Tuesday’s council meeting, follows a year of study. The town determined it doesn’t have authority to stop people from driving down the embankment and onto the mudflats to pull in fishing nets or to put kayaks and other nonmotorized boats in the water. Brynn Grimley reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

B.C. Parks Act changes opposed by environmental groups
Environmental groups are asking the province to withdraw proposed changes to the B.C. Parks Act that could open them up to corporate interests. About half a dozen groups warn the amendments will drop a requirement that research conducted in a provincial park is done so for the park's benefit. The groups are also concerned the amendments will make it easier for industry to apply for changes to park boundaries....Parks Minister Mary Polak insists the proposed changes will permit "very minor" research activities that will ultimately lead to better decision-making around park management and wildlife areas. She also said any proposed changes to park boundaries will have to be passed by the B.C. legislature. (CBC News)

52 acres of Freeland forest felled in logging operation
South Whidbey saw what may be its biggest clear-cut in years at a property just north of Freeland recently. Totaling 52 acres, the unusually large harvest began this past October on forested property on the east side of Highway 525 between Chase Lake and Evergreen Lane, and wrapped up this month. State regulators say the logging was conducted legally and that the landowner, PBWA Properties — a limited liability company of which Peoples Bank is the only member — secured all the appropriate state permits before work began. Justin Burnett reports. (South Whidbey Record)

Wave Energy Developer Pulls Plug On Oregon Project
Developers have scrapped their plans to build the nation’s first large-scale wave energy project off the Oregon Coast, saying the costs were too high to make it work. The much-anticipated project would have placed a flotilla of 100 energy-producing buoys, each the size of a school bus, in the waves off the coast of Reedsport, Ore. The project’s developer, Ocean Power Technologies, surrendered its preliminary permit with the federal government, Oregon regulators disclosed Monday. Devan Schwartz reports. (EarthFix)

Study: Olympic National Park tourism brings in benefit to tune of $220 million
The National Park Service says more than 2.8 million visitors to Olympic National Park in 2012 spent $220 million in the park's surrounding communities. The numbers are part of a national study on the economic effects of National Park Service sites throughout the nation.  The study was conducted by three U.S. Geological Survey researchers based in Fort Collins, Colo. The national results were announced last week, and Olympic National Park officials released Peninsula figures Monday. The spending by a total of 2,824,908 visitors to Olympic in 2012 supported 2,708 jobs in the local area, the study by Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz said.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST TUE MAR 4 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
TODAY
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 16 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY.
TONIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 14 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY...THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

--
"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.

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1/6 Eagles, Bakken crude, oil train, native solar, coal dust, tracking orcas, murrelet count, starfish, Navy jets, Mima mounds

Bald eagle (Skagit Valley Herald)

An Endangered Species Act success story
With the forested North Cascades in the east, coastal waters to the west, and the Skagit and Samish rivers delivering snow melt from the peaks along winding paths to the bays, Skagit County is an ideal home for bald eagles. Some eagles nest and breed in trees near the river banks year-round. Hundreds more swoop in from Alaska and Canada for a winter stay timed around salmon that climb the rivers each year. Of the state’s rivers that attract the foraging raptors, the Skagit usually draws the highest numbers with abundant chum salmon and some coho and steelhead, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 2007 Status Report for the Bald Eagle. Kimberly Cauvel reports. See also: Annual eagle count shows healthy population

Bakken Crude Pegged as More Dangerous Imperils Boom in Shale
Safety rules will probably be tightened on crude oil shipments from North Dakota following a string of railway explosions, threatening to damp an energy boom that has boosted the region’s economy. U.S. regulators yesterday issued a safety alert after a train carrying oil crashed and caught fire earlier this week in North Dakota, where surging production has helped lead a renaissance in domestic energy and driven the state’s unemployment rate to the nation’s lowest. The type of oil pumped from the shale formations of North Dakota may be more flammable and therefore more dangerous to ship by rail than crude from other areas, the Transportation Department said in the alert. Regulators are considering imposing tougher rules on railcar construction, among other things, potentially raising the costs of moving the crude to market. Mark Drajem, Angela Greiling Keane and Lynn Doan report.

Oil by rail? B.C. and Alberta report done, not yet public
A task force report that examines the idea of transporting crude oil from the Alberta oilsands to the B.C. coast via rail has been handed in to the British Columbia and Alberta governments. The joint provincial working group was announced by premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford in July to develop recommendations related to energy exports and the opening of new export markets for products like bitumen for the two provinces, including pipeline and rail transport.

Monitor: Island First Nation grasps potential of alternative power
While oil pipeline debates, anti-fracking protests and increasing fossil fuel demands embroil the country from coast to coast, a small Vancouver Island First Nation is leading the way on a different path. In the past five years, the seaside T’Sou-ke nation has become a world-renowned leader in solar energy. Their projects are the model for others in the capital region and around the province. They also have a massive wind-energy partnership in the works that could augment power for all of Vancouver Island, on a power grid connected to the mainland. Sarah Petrescu reports.

Environmentalists win a round in coal dust lawsuit vs. BNSF
While it may not be the "major victory" that environmental groups are trumpeting in their press release, the Thursday, Jan. 2 ruling by a Yakima federal judge certainly avoids a major defeat in their lawsuit targeting coal dust emissions from BNSF rail cars rolling through Washington state. Lonny Suko, Senior U.S. District Judge, denied a motion to dismiss the July 24, 2013 lawsuit filed against BNSF by a coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Bellingham-based Re Sources for Sustainable Communities. The lawsuit charged that BNSF coal trains were discharging coal dust into Washington waterways. Those discharges are a violation of the Clean Water Act because the railroad has no permit for them as the act requires, the lawsuit says... Crina Hoyer, ReSources executive director, hailed that ruling and contended that coal dust pollution could increase dramatically if the Gateway Pacific Terminal project is built to export coal from Cherry Point. John Stark reports.

Killer whale tracking study continues this year
Killer whale researchers are using satellites to track the movements of J pod this year, as part of an ongoing effort to understand where Puget Sound’s orcas travel in winter. The day after Christmas, a satellite transmitter was attached to L-87, a 22-year-old male. The whale, named “Onyx,” has been traveling with J pod for at least three years. Researchers caught up with the pod Dec. 26 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the satellite tag was attached by shooting a dart into L-87’s dorsal fin. Chris Dunagan reports.

New mission, new manager, new $325K grant for derelict vessel removal program  
.... Marc Forlenza is taking over (San Juan) county's derelict removal program from Joanruth Baumann, who founded the program as a county employee and ran the program for the past three years under contract with the county. He's also charged with coordinating a new Derelict Vessel Prevention program, using a $325,000 grant from the Puget Sound Partnership. After the county defunded the program during the fiscal crisis, Forlenza, as then-commander of the Friday Harbor Power Squadron, raised $6,500 from boaters and other private sources as part of the matching fund, which Baumann used to convince the county to chip in $5,000, which in turn convinced the state's Department of Natural Resources to resume funding the program in San Juan County. Steve Wehrly reports.

Marbled Murrelets Show 30 Percent Decline? It’s Not That Simple
A couple of years ago, a research team from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a report showing marbled murrelet populations declined 30 percent between 2000 and 2010.... But after three more years of monitoring and gathering data, those researchers no longer claim that same downward trend. When they run the numbers for 2000-2010, they do get the 30 percent decline, according to Martin Raphael, a wildlife ecologist with the Forest Service and member of the monitoring team. But when they run the numbers for a longer period of time, 2000-2012, the statistical significance of that trend disappears. Instead, they’re left with data that could be a trend or could be just the natural ups and downs of a population that is not in the midst of a larger decline. Tony Schick blogs.

Devastating starfish disease turns up in Nanaimo area
A sea star-wasting disease that decimated the population of sunflower stars in the Vancouver area in a matter of weeks has been recently uncovered in Nanaimo. Researchers are still puzzled about what is causing sea stars, commonly known as starfish, to go limp, have limbs fall off and crawl away, and within a matter of days or weeks, essentially turn to "goo" and rot. The melting sea stars were first spotted in September in the Burrard Inlet/Howe Sound area, and then spread up the Sunshine Coast, said Dr. Jeff Marliave, vice-president of marine science at the Vancouver Aquarium. Julie Chadwick reports.

Jet noise expected in Port Townsend, other areas of Peninsula, as Navy tests resume next week  
Jet noise from the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is expected Monday and Thursday when field carrier landing practice is planned at the Outlying Landing Field in Coupeville. It may be heard in Port Townsend or other areas of the North Olympic Peninsula. The practice involving EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler jets will take place during the late afternoon and early evening hours Monday and Wednesday, the Navy said. The schedule for the flights, which are expected to continue through the summer, will be released a week ahead so residents can know when — or if — tests are scheduled for community planning purposes, said Mike Welding, naval base spokesman. Charlie Bermant reports.

Virtual gophers dig up Mima mounds mystery
A California geology professor says he’s solved one of the enduring geological mysteries of the Pacific Northwest. Emmanuel “Manny” Gabet, a geomorphologist at San Jose State University, says prehistoric generations of pocket gophers created the vast fields of Mima mounds found in south Puget Sound and in other locations around the world. Gabet’s findings, aided by two co-researchers, were presented in December at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The conclusions have been reported by dozens of media outlets around the world, including the BBC, The Economist, Der Spiegel, Popular Science and public radio. Not so fast, say local geologists and wildlife researchers. Craig Sailor reports.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 854 PM PST SUN JAN 5 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT PST TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING
MON
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS IN THE AFTERNOON.
 W SWELL 3 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
MON NIGHT
SE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 11 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY...THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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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

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