6/9 Murres, oil train, pipeline, Vic sewer, Lolita ESA, xylene, Site C

Common murres (Meghan Riley/BirdNote)

If you like to listen: Common Murres - Nature's Laugh Track
If you like to listen: The raucous laughter of the Common Murre rings out from a nesting colony, high on a narrow ledge on a sea cliff. Precarious as their nest site is, Common Murres nest by the thousands along the Pacific Coast, perhaps millions north along the Bering Sea. Their eggs are pointed at one end and blunt at the other, so they spin on the ledge rather than tumbling into the sea. Common Murres stand nearly a foot and a half tall. With legs set far back on their bodies, they look much like the northwestern equivalent of penguins of the Southern Hemisphere. (BirdNote)

Oil train derailment and fire send Cantwell on Foxx hunt for tighter safety 
The Columbia River Gorge oil train derailment and fire should light a fire under the U.S. Department of Transportation to get moving to assure the safety of volatile cargoes, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., argued Wednesday. "We can't have this product shipping through tunnels in Seattle with our light rail transportation system, we can't have it next to hotels in Vancouver, and we can't have it going through neighborhoods of thousands of people in Spokane," Cantwell told U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com) See also: Inslee Presses Railroad Chiefs on Oil Train Safety  Austin Jenkins reports. (NW News Network/KPLU)

Should Washington ditch trains in favor of an oil pipeline? One state senator thinks so.
…. Republican state Sen. Michael Baumgartner said because of safety concerns, the state should consider an east-west oil pipeline and do away with train shipments. He said pipelines are safer than oil trains. Baumgartner said oil can sometimes be a dangerous commodity, especially when it’s sent through highly populated cities by train. "It would make more sense to look at going straight across the northern, sparsely populated part of the state, potentially following the route already laid out by our electricity/transmission lines,” by building an oil pipeline, he said. Last year Baumgartner introduced a bill seeking a pipeline study. It didn't get traction, but he hopes to introduce it again. Paige Browning reports. (KUOW)

Political interference in sewage project ‘is not helpful’: Desjardins
Capital Regional District chairwoman Barb Desjardins admonished board members Wednesday, telling them not to interfere with the new arm’s-length process put in place to guide the region to a sewage treatment solution. Referring to “recent media on the core sewage treatment project and our role as CRD board directors,” Desjardins reminded directors that over the past month — at the urging of the province — an independent board has been appointed to develop a business plan for core-area sewage treatment, and to help retain funding from the provincial and the federal governments. The panel’s membership, expected to be finalized this week, has not been announced. People on the panel will be “the highest calibre,” Desjardins said. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Endangered Species Act can’t help Lolita, judge says in legal ruling
When Lolita, a female orca held captive since 1970, was listed among the endangered population of Southern Resident killer whales, advocates for Lolita’s release were given new hope. Perhaps the listing would help Lolita obtain a ticket out of Miami Seaquarium, where she has lived since the age of 5. But a U.S. district judge ruled last week that the Endangered Species Act could not help her. While the federal law prohibits human conduct likely to “gravely threaten the life of a member of a protected species,” it cannot be used to improve her living conditions, according to the ruling (PDF 3.3 mb) by Judge Ursula Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida…. Over the objections of attorneys for Miami Seaquarium, the judge said the plaintiffs have a right to sue the aquarium, but Lolita’s care and well-being falls under a different law: the Animal Welfare Act. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Xylene project divides community
The Tesoro Anacortes Refinery’s proposed Clean Products Upgrade Project is reviving an old debate about the environment and the economy. Opinions about the project tend to be split between support for its economic benefits and concern about its environmental impacts. Tesoro has proposed a series of changes at the Anacortes refinery, including expanding its ability to extract xylene, a component of crude oil that is used to make a variety of plastic materials. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

BC Hydro rejects accusations of air monitoring violations
BC Hydro is rejecting accusations that Site C dam construction is breaking federal rules for monitoring air quality. In a letter dated May 26, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency warned BC Hydro it could face a hefty fine after the agency claims an April inspection found Hydro was not collecting air quality data. In particular, the letter said, information was not being collected on total suspended particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. BC Hydro spokesperson Dave Conway says that is not true, and argues inspectors are demanding specific data not required by federal rules. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  242 AM PDT THU JUN 9 2016  

TODAY  NW WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT  9 SECONDS. CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT BECOMING S TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS. CHANCE OF  SHOWERS.

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

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6/8 Bird fight, oil train, salmon season, orca protection, Vic sewer, treaty talks, Site C, rising tide

Goose vs. Eagle (Lisa Bell/Facebook/CBC)

If you like to watch: Canada goose and American bald eagle battle it out for the pride of their nations
Want to see an American bald eagle fight a Canada goose? We thought so. Lauren O'Neil reports. (CBC)

Industry Experts Question Railroad Explanation For Mosier Derailment
Railroad industry experts are questioning the early explanation from Union Pacific for why its oil train crashed in Mosier, Ore. Union Pacific said the preliminary indications from its investigation are “the failure of a fastener that connects the rail to the railroad tie,” according Justin Jacobs, a railroad spokesman. The 96-car Union Pacific train was carrying Bakken crude oil to a refinery in Tacoma, Wash., when it had an “undesired emergency application” of its brakes. Sixteen tanker cars derailed in Mosier, resulting in a fire and an estimated 42,000 gallons of spilled oil. Multiple railroad industry experts have said they find it unlikely a fastener failure could cause a derailment of that size.  Tony Schick reports. (OPB/EarthFix) See also: No Crude, But Hazardous Materials Still Moving Through Mosier  Tony Schick reports. (OPB/EarthFix)

How the Columbia River Gorge was saved
Long before last week's oil train explosion, residents — and Republican lawmakers — fought to protect this iconic landscape. Floyd McKay reports. (Crosscut)

Official word on Puget Sound salmon seasons likely by June 24 or sooner
Now that the state and tribes have come to an agreement on the salmon fishing seasons, many are waiting with baited breath on when an official announcement will be made so anglers can begin fishing. Both the state and tribes settled on a package that was received by NOAA Fisheries for consultation on June 3. Now word has come out that NOAA Fisheries is shooting for a target completion date of June 24, according to Michael Milstein, the public affairs officer for NOAA Fisheries. Mark Yuasa reports. (Seattle Times)

West Coast salmon, steelhead reviews result in no status change
Five-year reviews for 17 evolutionary significant units of Pacific salmon, 10 distinct population segments of steelhead and the southern distinct population segment of eulachon were completed recently as required by the Endangered Species Act, according to a press release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week. (Anacortes American)

Groups Petition for Better Orca Habitat Protections
On Monday, a coalition of conservation groups sent more than 105,000 signatures to the National Marine Fisheries Service asking the agency to speed up a plan to expand habitat protections for killer whales. The Southern Resident orca spend their summers in protected waters near Puget Sound in Washington state, but in winter they roam down the Oregon and California coasts as far south as Monterey…. The groups want the feds to declare 9,000 miles of coastal waters as critical habitat as soon as possible, not in 2017 or 2018 as planned. Suzanne Potter reports. (Public News Service)

Atwell sparks ruckus by making own sewage moves for Clover Point
Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell is being accused of attempting an end run around a provincially appointed sewage board and lobbying for a private company’s proposal to build a sewage-treatment plant at Victoria’s Clover Point. In what Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps called a “disrespectful” action, Atwell met with the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association board on Monday, seeking space to make a presentation about sewage treatment. During the meeting, Atwell proposed bringing in John Knappett as part of that presentation. In January, Knappett suggested building an underground sewage-treatment plant at Clover Point. Capital Regional District technical staff recommended against it, saying the site was too tight for the proposed technology. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

New plan to expedite treaty talks between First Nations, government
Fifteen months after the B.C. government made a high-stakes play to force reform at the provincial treaty negotiating table, the federal government and First Nations have agreed to a plan that aims to expedite the process. The pact, which will still require months of refinement, aims to produce a quicker and less costly resolution of the province’s long-standing conflicts over indigenous rights and title. Negotiations between the three parties began more than a year ago, prompted by the province’s abrupt decision to withdraw support for a new chief treaty commissioner. It was a signal that British Columbia would not support the status quo, but the tactic angered both the federal government and First Nations, and has left the treaty commission on uncertain footing in the interim. Justine Hunter reports. (Globe and Mail)

Site C construction violating environmental regulations, B.C. Hydro warned
The federal government has issued a warning to B.C. Hydro for not monitoring air quality at its Site C hydroelectric project site near Fort St John. In a letter dated May 26, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency noted that during an April inspection air quality data was not being collected. In particular, the letter says, information was not being collected on total suspended particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. Andrew Kurjata reports. (CBC)

Surging high tides? Get used to it 
Where were you on March 10, 2016? If you were anywhere near the Olympic Peninsula coast – or the San Juans, or Puget Sound, or the Strait of Georgia – you witnessed the future, according to regional scientists. You saw a high "king tide" combined with a storm-fueled seawater surge, driven even higher by relentless southeast winds that pushed waves 3 feet higher than any high tide event in decades. Bulwarks were blasted, seawalls were breached, docks were destroyed, homes were at risk. Low-lying areas – such as most of downtown Port Townsend – had some risk of flooding. At a day-long meeting of Sea Level Rise experts, local government officials, business leaders and environmental activists held June 3 at the Northwest Maritime Center, the primary message was clear and simple: Get used to it. Scott Wilson reports. (Pt Townsend Leader)

Now, your tug weather--
 WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PDT WED JUN 8 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING  THROUGH THIS EVENING  

TODAY  W WIND TO 10 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W  SWELL 4 FT AT 7 SECONDS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF  SHOWERS.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at 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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6/7 Basking shark, Cherry Pt. permit, oil train wreck, White Rock shore, grizzly bear, eDNA

Basking shark (National Geographic)

Sighting of rare giant basking shark in B.C. thrills scientists
Basking shark, Canada's largest fish, used to be bountiful until we tried to wipe them out. Lisa Johnson reports. CBC)

Coal export terminal suffers second big setback: State permit is denied
The controversial proposed Gateway Pacific coal expert terminal suffered its latest body blow on Monday with denial of its application for an aquatic land lease at the Cherry Point site north of Bellingham. The denial follows and stems from rejection of the terminal last month by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which found that the terminal would impact treaty fishing rights of the Lummi Nation. Because the Corps denied a permit, and the project must have "all necessary federal permits,"  the state Department of Natural Resources "cannot approve the lease application," State Land Commissioner Peter Goldmark wrote to project developers. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Anger as trains resume after Oregon derailment, fire
Local politicians and residents reacted with shock and anger Monday as Union Pacific began running trains through this tiny Columbia River Gorge town just three days after a fiery derailment forced residents to evacuate and water and sewage systems to shut down. Residents shot video from an overpass of trains sliding past crumpled and burnt oil tankers, some of them still dripping oil onto the tracks. The town’s mayor and fire chief expressed deep concern about the trains running again before a full investigation was complete and before the damaged tankers were cleared. Trains began running Sunday through the town of about 400 people carrying mixed goods – but no crude oil. Gillian Flaccus and Phuong Le report. (Associated Press) See also: Washington Ecology Director Says Region 'Falling Short' On Oil Spill Response  Austin Jenkins reports. (NW News Network) And also: Fiery wreck in Oregon highlights risks of oil trains in cities  Joe Copeland reports. (Crosscut)

Worst-case scenario: Vancouver oil disaster could cost $6 billion
A catastrophic oil train derailment in the Vancouver area could cause roughly $5 billion to $6 billion in damage, and there isn’t insurance commercially available to cover it, according to expert testimony submitted in opposition to the Vancouver Energy oil terminal to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. Insurance expert Robert J. Blackburn was hired by the city of Vancouver to consider the financial risks and whether insurance or another financial tool was available to address the risks associated with moving Bakken crude-by-rail through town. Damien Pesanti reports. (Columbian)

Critics make waves over White Rock's $30-million seaside plan
White Rock officials are promoting a pricey $30-million plan to remake the city’s waterfront with a seaside walkway and amenities they hope will draw visitors from around Metro Vancouver and fill the city’s bars and restaurants. Concept drawings show a 10-metre-high whale sculpture, a 180-metre seaside walkway and a park covering 6,500 square metres of land reclaimed from the ocean at a cost of $15 million. There is also a marina expansion pegged at $850,000; $1 million for a memorial park; $2 million worth of seabed dredging; $300,000 for marine buoys; and $5.5 million for a waterfront parkade. But critics say the city of just 20,000 can’t afford “vanity” expenditures that add up to almost as much as the city’s $35-million annual budget. To put the expenditures into perspective, it would be like Vancouver spending $1 billion on Stanley Park over five years. Kent Spencer reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Bring grizzly bears back to the North Cascades, survey finds
Saving grizzly bears in the North Cascades is widely supported among Washington state voters, according to survey results released Monday, June 6. That includes voters, like those in Whatcom County, who live around the ecosystem. California-based Tulchin Research conducted the survey May 19-22 of 600 registered voters in six different parts of the state, including east and west of the Cascades, where the mountain range seems to separate the state politically. It was done for Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly, a new coalition that wanted to gauge people’s receptivity and feelings about wild places and grizzly bears. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald) See also: Poll shows support for grizzly bear recovery in North Cascades  Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Ocean ‘dandruff’ a new tool for marine biologists
Police officers solve crimes with it. Doctors use it to predict the risk of certain cancers. Dog lovers find out the breeds of their mutts with it. Now, scientists are using DNA to identify fish and other marine creatures by scrutinizing the DNA flecks they leave in their wake. The new technique — the analysis of genetic material in the environment, dubbed eDNA — promises to help scientists keep better track of rare or endangered marine species. Sampling for eDNA can be as simple as dipping a jar into the ocean. So it’s often safer, faster and cheaper than mounting a dive expedition, the current gold standard for counting the number of ocean creatures in a given area, experts say. Emily Benson reports. (Mercury News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PDT TUE JUN 7 2016  

TODAY  LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT...BECOMING 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W  SWELL 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at 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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Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

6/6 Oil train wreck, coal port, heat wave, sea slime, shellfish, quakes, whale death

Mosier, OR, 6/3/16 (Seattle Times)

Columbia Gorge oil-train fire out, but sheen on water and worries remain
The origin of the sheen is not known. Crews laid down more booms Saturday and were assessing the size of the sheen, a day after the oil-train derailment outside Mosier, Ore. Hal Bernton and Lynda Mapes report. (Seattle Times) See also: Oil train derails, on fire in Columbia River Gorge   (Seattle Times) And also: Mosier, Ore., moves to halt traffic on rail line after derailment  Union Pacific Railroad says it appears some sort of track failure caused the derailment of 16 oil tanker cars near Mosier, Ore., causing the fire and oil spill. Mike Carter and Daniel Gilbert report. (Seattle Times)

Trainmen long used to hazmat cargo, but oil trains pose special risk
From chlorine gas to anhydrous ammonia, train conductors and engineers deal regularly with hazardous cargo. But mile-long trains of nothing but volatile Bakken crude are especially dangerous. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times) See also: 'We are playing catch-up' to oil-train threats in Washington state   Washington isn’t ready for an oil-train derailment. Those trains — made up entirely of black, sealed cars and carrying hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil — are relatively new to Washington, rolling through some of the state’s most populous and environmentally sensitive areas. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Anti-coal activists, coal port supporters clash in Tri-Cities
Anti-coal activists squared off against pro-business interests Thursday as Pasco hosted the third and final hearing on the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals coal export terminal at Longview. The two-part hearing attracted about 100 red-shirted coal activists and an equal number of blue-shirted supporters of the coal export plan to TRAC. Wendy Culverwell reports. (Tri-City Herald)

Heat records broken Sunday in Puget Sound  (KIRO) It's hot in Metro Vancouver. Really hot.  (Vancouver Sun)

Salish Sea 'slime' vital for shorebirds 
IIf you have ever been to an estuary in the Salish Sea, then you’re probably familiar with the scuzzy green stuff that sits atop the mud when the tide is out. And when it got all over your shoes, you may have even referred to it by one of several less-than-flattering nicknames: scum, slime, snot. The scum/slime/snot is actually a living assemblage called biofilm: a dense layer of diatoms, primarily, along with organic detritus and sediment, all of which is held together by the microbes’ sticky cells to form what biologists refer to as a mucilaginous matrix. Biofilm was known to be a food source for benthic invertebrates, as well as a few species of fish, but only recently have scientists begun to understand better just how central a role it plays in the lives of migrating shorebirds. And this knowledge could have significant implications for development projects proposed in sensitive estuaries. (Encyclopedia of Puget Sound Magazine)

Whatcom County beaches now safe for recreational shellfishing 
Recreational shellfish harvesting in Birch Bay is safe once again since biotoxin levels have dropped, the state Department of Health said Friday, June 3. With that announcement, all Whatcom County beaches have been reopened to harvesting. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

The raw truth about Washington’s oysters
Oysters: Some people love them, some people hate them, but this week, all shall celebrate them. Yes, Washington Shellfish Week is upon us, as declared by a January 15 ceremonial proclamation by Gov. Jay Inslee. From June 4 to 11, oyster lovers will be able to study, shuck and slurp up oysters to their hearts’ content at events across Puget Sound. The week-long shellfish shindig is a only a small part of Inslee’s ongoing Washington Shellfish Initiative, designed to protect and promote local shellfish farming, an industry that shaped our state in its beginnings, and still one of the most important sectors of the state’s agricultural economy. Samantha Larson reports. (Crosscut)

Plenty of Dungeness crab to catch this summer in Puget Sound
One early sign that it could be shaping up to be a promising season is the planned early opening of Hood Canal June 16. The state and tribal Puget Sound Dungeness crab fisheries landed a total of 11.8 million pounds in 2015, exceeding last year’s record by 1.2 million pounds. Mark Yuasa reports. (Seattle Times)

Our region of earthquakes, and tsunamis
Considered the world’s largest, subduction zone earthquakes range in magnitude from 8.0 to more than 9.0. Such quakes happen when the stress building between two giant underground plates “breaks,” causing them to slip. The result is a “megathrust.” The action takes place about 20 miles below the surface. The quakes trigger prolonged shaking, tsunamis and numerous aftershocks, many that can be about 7.0 in magnitude…. The Cascadia subduction zone lies largely offshore of the Pacific Northwest. It is about 700 miles long and covers the area from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, down the West Coast to Cape Mendocino, California. The last time a subduction zone quake happened on the Cascadia fault was January 1700. Scientist studied geological landscapes and found evidence on land and on the seafloor to determine the quake was a 9.0 magnitude. A tsunami followed within minutes. Research indicates these types of quakes happen about every 500 years along the Cascadia fault. So South Sound residents might see one before the year 2200. Brynn Grimley reports. (Tacoma News Tribune) See also: Preparing for the Big One: Massive rehearsal set for Northwest mega-quake response  Terrance Petty reports. (Associated Press)

Cause of whale’s death undetermined
The death of a humpback whale found under a Navy dock Wednesday in Bremerton has stumped researchers. The whale's death is somewhat puzzling, said John Calambokidis, biologist with Cascadia Research Collective. An examination on Saturday showed the whale had been eating recently, although there were "some indications of nutritional stress," according to a press release on Cascadia's website. That stress could be related to the time of year, because humpback whales generally fast most of the winter. Researchers are hoping additional testing and reports from potential witnesses will provide answers. Rachel Seymour reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PDT MON JUN 6 2016  

TODAY  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 7 SECONDS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 7 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 at 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

6/3 Orca month, marine protection, Elwha Love, ag pollution, BC trees, beach survey, coral, BC ferries

Orca Awareness Month includes many activities
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways writes: "June is Orca Awareness Month in the Salish Sea. And, as we’ve seen in recent years, the Southern Resident killer whales are not around to help kick off the month-long celebration. J pod, one of the three Southern Resident pods, typically moves in and out of Puget Sound through the winter and into spring, but none of the whales have been seen in inland waters since May 18, according to Orca Network. On May 24, the same groups were seen off the West Coast of Vancouver Island…."

North America far off from ocean preservation targets, report finds
North America is far from reaching national and international targets for protecting oceans, according to a first-of-its-kind report released on Wednesday. The Dare to Be Deep report, created by a coalition of NGOs in the US, Canada and Mexico, finds that less than 1% of these countries’ oceans are protected like national parks – with only four years left to reach the 10% protection goal set in the multilateral Biodiversity Convention. The US is not a signatory to the agreement, but Barack Obama affirmed his commitment to reach the goal in a joint statement with Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, in March. Amanda Holpuch reports. (Guardian)

If you like to watch: After Largest Dam Removal in U.S. History, This River Is Thriving  Conservationists can now point to the largest dam removal project in the U.S. as a success story. (National Geographic) If you prefer to read: River Revives After Largest Dam Removal in U.S. History  Fish are thriving and the environment has been reshaped following a major dam removal project in Washington State. Brian Clark Howard reports. (National Geographic)

Clean water through agricultural accountability
Andrea Rodgers and Brian Cladoosby write, in an opinion piece: "Agriculture doesn’t have to be sacrificed to achieve the goal of clean water. What’s needed is basic accountability from the largest source of stream pollution…." (Seattle Times)

Some say the fate of British Columbia's old-growth forests rests in the balance
The Douglas fir Andy MacKinnon leans against is 40 metres tall. It’s likely more than 500 years old and its fire-scarred trunk is almost two metres in diameter. In most other countries, the tree would be the largest in the land, says MacKinnon, a forest ecologist who spent three decades with British Columbia’s government researching old-growth forests. At Francis/King Regional Park, minutes from Victoria, the park’s trees are protected from logging, but about 150 kilometres west of Victoria, old-growth forests with 1,000-year-old trees twice the size of those in the park are being cut down every day, said MacKinnon. The world’s largest trees face dangers similar to elephants, whales and bison that have been hunted to the brink of extinction, he said. Dirk Meissner reports. (Canadian Press)

College students, citizen scientists survey area beaches for debris
A group canvassed parts of a beach near Cap Sante Marina last week. While some walked slowly back and forth with their heads down, looking for out-of-place items, others sat in groups with buckets and strainers, sifting sand as if panning for gold. “We’re picking up anything on the surface that doesn’t belong,” Salish Sea Steward Kim McCary said. “We’re getting mostly plastic and glass.” McCray is one of the citizen scientist volunteers who worked with Western Washington University students this spring on a survey of plastics and other debris on area beaches. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Scientists find coral graveyard around isle in Pacific marine reserve
El Nino’s super warm water has turned what had been one of the world’s most lush and isolated tropical marine reserve into a coral graveyard, federal scientists said today (6/1). Researchers finishing an emergency undersea expedition found 95 percent of the coral dead around Jarvis Island in the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument . In November, much of the coral had bleached white but was alive. (Associated Press)

Christening ceremony for Salish ferries being built in Poland
Champagne bottles smashed against the hulls of Salish Eagle and Salish Raven as the vessels marked another step toward their entry into the B.C. Ferries fleet, the Crown corporation said Thursday. The maritime tradition, believed to bring good luck to the ships and its crews, took place at Remontowa Shipbuilding SA in Gdansk, Poland as part of an official naming ceremony. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  259 AM PDT FRI JUN 3 2016  

TODAY  E WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING W IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF  SHOWERS IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND  WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
SAT  E WIND TO 10 KT IN THE MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT  LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT  10 SECONDS.
SUN  LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND  WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT...BECOMING 2 TO 4 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL  4 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at 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

6/2 Tug escorts, carbon cuts, BC greenhouse gas, wetland ruling, Skokomish fish, Elwha junk, oil train rules, Navy pier, BC birds, mantis shrimp

South Sound could hit 90-plus degrees by Sunday
The Puget Sound region could see its first 90-degree days of 2016 this weekend as a ridge of high pressure brings clear skies and high temperatures. Tacoma is expected to reach 89 degrees Saturday and 91 on Sunday, said Johnny Burg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle. Olympia is expected to reach 90 on Saturday and a record-breaking 94 on Sunday. Kenny Ocker reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Juan de Fuca tugs to escort oil tankers, Kinder Morgan says
Escort tugs would accompany a wave of new oil tankers bound for the Juan de Fuca Strait, giving some comfort to coastal communities but not dispelling fears of a spill. Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline extension is expected to result in a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic off Vancouver Island. The tankers will be escorted from Burrard Inlet to the entrance of the shipping lane at Buoy Juliet, about 16 kilometres off Vancouver Island, the company says. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

Washington to force state’s biggest carbon polluters to cut emissions
With some concessions to business concerns, Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration is pushing ahead with a plan to force greenhouse-gas cuts by some 70 of the state’s biggest industrial emitters. The state Department of Ecology on Wednesday rolled out a new Clean Air Rule, replacing a draft withdrawn by the agency in February after criticism from industry and environmentalists. Like the earlier proposal, the rule would require dozens of affected industries — ranging from Anacortes oil refineries to Boeing’s Everett plant and an Othello food processor — to reduce carbon emissions by an average 1.7 percent a year. Jim Brunner and Hal Bernton report. (Seattle Times) See also: Wash. State Says Updated Rule To Cap Carbon Pollution Will Be More Effective   Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

B.C. signs on to Pacific North America Climate Leadership Agreement
The B.C. government has signed on to the Pacific North America Climate Leadership Agreement, which includes "slashing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing a clean-energy economy" as its goals. The partnership with the governments of California, Oregon and Washington, along with five other major cities along the West Coast — Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland — could lead to some innovations in B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak, who represented the province at the meeting in San Francisco this week, said one of the ideas that arose was a shared electricity grid across the West Coast. (CBC)

Supreme Court rules for landowners fighting the government over wetlands
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled for landowners Tuesday who are fighting the government over whether their property includes protected wetlands. In a unanimous decision, the justices said property owners may go to court and obtain a “prompt judicial review” of claims by federal environmental regulators that their dry land may in fact be a wetland. This issue, while procedural, has arisen around the nation when home builders or companies announce plans to develop their land. Sometimes, the Army of Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency assert the land contains protected wetlands and cannot be developed. David Savage reports. (LA times)

Tribe blocks salmon fishing on Skokomish River
Recreational anglers are getting the boot from one of Hood Canal's most popular fishing spots. Backed by the federal government, the Skokomish Tribe is reasserting control over its namesake river and will block public access for the upcoming salmon fishing season. "We've always known the river was ours," Skokomish Tribe Chairman Charles "Guy" Miller. "We never doubted that for a minute." The state doubts it. For now, though, it will go along with a recent legal opinion issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The department's solicitor agrees with the tribe that the portion of the Skokomish River running alongside its reservation is part of the reservation and falls under the tribe's control. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

After the dams: A river of junk runs through unleashed Elwha
The two dams have been removed, but the work isn’t done on the Elwha River, on the Olympic Peninsula. Debris endangers boaters, a rock fall threatens fish passage upstream, and a once-again-wild river has washed out campgrounds and a road. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Oil train rules under review
A year after Gov. Jay Inslee signed an oil train safety bill into law, the state Department of Ecology is working toward finally putting it into practice. The process is known as rule-making. It sets the procedures for enforcement and will pass through public review before becoming part of the Washington Administrative Code. The department convened public hearings in Everett last week on the new rules. The new law mandates that cities, counties, tribal governments and fire departments be given weekly advance notice of crude oil shipments arriving by rail. Pipelines that transport crude oil also are required to submit biannual reports to Ecology. Chris Winters reports. (Everett Herald)

County commissioners seek environmental impact study on Navy pier project in Port Angeles
Clallam County commissioners have concerns about the planned Navy pier on Ediz Hook. In a letter to Navy officials in Silverdale, the three commissioners Tuesday suggested an environmental impact study (EIS) for the $25 million Transit Protection System at Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles. The Navy plans to build a ballistic missile submarine escort vessel dock and support facilities on the south side of the Coast Guard base to provide a staging area for vessels and crews escorting submarines from Naval Base Kitsap Bangor. Rob Ollikainen reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Hundreds of B.C. crow attacks tracked with new online map
People with ornithophobia have a new tool to fight their fear of birds — a map that tracks crow attacks. Instructors at Langara College in Vancouver used open-source software to create the online map, which allows anyone with an Internet connection to pinpoint where they were attacked and add details, such as how aggressive the bird was. Gemma Karstens-Smith reports.  (Canadian Press) Meanwhile: UBC researcher roughing it in the bush to save endangered woodpeckers  By combining new technology with old-fashioned hard work, a University of British Columbia researcher is gaining insights into the habits of a rare and endangered species of woodpecker that experts are fighting to save. The findings by Julien St-Amand are expected to play a key role in plans to protect the critical habitat of the Williamson’s sapsucker, a bird with a high, haunting call that is in danger of vanishing from Canada by 2025 because of logging. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Scientists crack mystery of shrimp packing such a punch it can split your thumb
In tropical shallows the world over, a peculiar sort of creature scurries along the sea floor, unassuming except for the fact that it sports one of the most powerful biological appendages known to science — its spring-loaded claws. The mantis shrimp, which typically grows no more than 6 inches in length, is an aggressive, burrowing crustacean that looks a bit like a crayfish dipped in neon spray paint. Fishermen call the animals “thumb-splitters” — at least one man has had a finger amputated after a mantis shrimp strike — and a blow from the crustacean’s truncheon can crack a pane of stock aquarium glass. The mantis shrimp, only distantly related to the species you would find covered in tempura batter, come in two types, which marine biologists divide into “spearers” or “smashers.” The spearers impale prey with a javelin strike of a pointed claw, whereas the smashers use their fist-like appendages to pop the shells of their food. Smashers, and their shrimply hammers — technically known as dactyl clubs — are of particular interest to researchers because of the blistering blows the animals can deliver. Ben Giarino reports. (Washington Post)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  530 AM PDT THU JUN 2 2016  

TODAY  SW WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING S IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES  1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT  W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 9 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 at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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6/1 Elwha Love, fire rainbows, oil terminal, BC LNG, bleaching, TooToo, spot prawn fine, stormwater, citisci

Elwha, 5/30/16 (Tom Roorda/Coastal Watershed Institute)

Elwha Nearshore May 30, 2016
Anne Shaffer of Coastal Watershed Institute writes: "Nearshore is firing on all cylinders at the end of May 2016. The consistent winds have been driving upwelling, plankton blooms, and swell trains laden with Elwha sediment. The shallow subtidal is alive with forage fish and salmon right now, and beaches along the drift cell continue to transform.   We continue to insist these transitions and world scale restoration opportunities are properly addressed in shoreline management.  This shouldn’t be difficult-right?"

Fire Rainbows' bring colorful cloud display over North Sound
After a fairly soggy weekend that brought a few traditional rainbows to the area, Mother Nature brought a different type of colorful display to the skies over the Puget Sound region Tuesday: "Fire rainbows." Several people snapped photos as cirrus clouds appeared to put on a colorful wardrobe from the rainbow. Fire rainbows, or more officially (and more boringly) known as "circumhorizontal arcs" are caused by ice crystals in the thin, distant clouds being at just the correct angle to refract the sunlight into the colors of the prism. Scott Sistek reports. (KOMO) See also: Seattle summer forecast: Hot, but not as extreme as last year  Paige Browning reports. (KUOW)

Diverse groups join forces against oil terminal
When plans for the nation’s largest oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver surfaced in 2013, project backers likely expected opposition from environmentalists. But what they surely didn’t anticipate was that a broad swath of the region, from city councils to local businesses to Indian tribes, would so forcefully turn against a project promising tax dollars and jobs to a cash- and job-hungry community. In the past three years, a broad-based coalition of terminal opponents has waged an unrelenting campaign to win the hearts and minds of the general public. Most of the connections within the coalition are loose and each member focuses on their particular interests, be they global warming or the risks of crude-by-rail. Collectively they’ve managed to overwhelm supporters at public hearings and in the state’s environmental review process, which generated more than 250,000 comments on the terminal, nearly all opposed to the project.  Dameon Pesanti reports. (Columbian)

B.C. climate plan promises to reduce emissions from LNG
The B.C. government’s new climate action plan, to be unveiled in June, will promise to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated by a liquefied natural gas industry as part of the province’s bid to win federal approval for the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project in Kitimat. Environment Minister Mary Polak says the annual GHG emissions related to the Petronas-backed LNG plant could be reduced to 3.7 million tonnes. The climate plan calls for reductions in methane emissions at the wellhead, and it would encourage the use of electric power to get natural gas out of the ground and then squeezed down pipelines to the coast. That would be a massive reduction compared with the estimates produced by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which calculate the project’s emissions from the wellhead to the waterline to be at least 11.8 million tonnes each year. Justine Hunter and Nathan Vanderklippe reports. (Globe and Mail)

Bleaching kills third of coral in Great Barrier Reef’s north
Mass bleaching has killed more than a third of the coral in the northern and central parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, though corals to the south have escaped with little damage, scientists said today (5/30). Researchers who conducted months of aerial and underwater surveys of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) reef off Australia’s east coast found that around 35 percent of the coral in the northern and central sections of the reef are dead or dying, said Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland state. And some parts of the reef had lost more than half of the coral to bleaching. (Associated Press)

Hunter Tootoo resigns as fisheries minister, leaves Liberal caucus   Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo has resigned from his position as minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office. The release says Tootoo will be taking time to seek treatment for addiction issues. Dominic Leblanc will assume the role of minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, in addition to being government House leader. (CBC)

Illegal spot prawns sales net fishmonger $30K fine
A Vancouver fishmonger landed a jumbo-sized fine for his role in the illegal trade in spot prawns. Ying Chiu, the operator of Jumbo Seafood Co., was fined $30,000 last month in provincial court after pleading guilty to two counts of purchasing prawns caught out of season in January and February of 2014. The commercial spot prawn season normally opens for May and June, according to officials with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The charge was part of a major investigation launched by Fisheries and Oceans Canada into the illegal harvesting and sale of both crabs and spot prawns. (CBC)

Tacoma storm water treatment facility opens
A $2.4 million storm water treatment facility is up and running in Tacoma. The water from the storm water treatment facility ends up in Puget Sound. It's supposed to be clean water that keep heavy pollution from destroying the water…. It's first of its kind in Pierce County. This storm water facility can treat up 8 million gallons of storm water per day, and it collects water from as far away as two miles from the facility. Jenna Hanchard reports. (KING)

Restoration work to start this summer at Fort Townsend
The Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee is to begin shoreline restoration work at Fort Townsend State Park in July, and shares information about that project during guided beach walks and other family-friendly activities set for 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday and Sunday, June 4-5 at Fort Townsend…. The restoration project is funded by the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant program, which is a partnership program of the Washington state departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources. They administer funds awarded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to implement priorities of the Puget Sound Action Agenda to protect and restore habitat and ecosystem functions. (Port Townsend Leader)

Citizen science can help manage marine treasures
Ellana Steele writes: "What’s next for Cherry Point? A detailed study of the health of this unique marine ecosystem, assisted in part by volunteers who serve as citizen scientists. In October 2015, I received an email invitation to a public educational forum on the status of the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve (CPAR). Living on Point Whitehorn, I was very familiar with Cherry Point and had walked its cobbled beaches enjoying Orca and other marine animals, birds and plants within the shadow of the heavy industry that dots its shoreline. Having been involved in salmon and riparian restoration projects in the area, I was interested to see what had been happening with this special marine habitat in “my backyard.” (Cascadia Weekly)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  253 AM PDT WED JUN 1 2016  

TODAY  W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT  10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  LIGHT WIND...BECOMING S TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
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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 at 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