4/11 Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay, carbon tax, 'Witness Tree,' Great Barrier Reef, Northern Gateway, Skykomish R

Douglas squirrel [WikiMedia]

Tree Squirrels
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: The Douglas squirrel  (Tamiasciurus douglasii) is found in stands of fir, pine, cedar, and other conifers in the Cascade Mountains and western parts of Washington. The Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was introduced in Washington in the early 1900s and has been repeatedly released in parks, campuses, estates, and residential areas becoming the most common tree squirrels in urban areas. The increasing number of introduced Eastern gray squirrels is often said to be responsible for the decrease in Douglas squirrels in certain areas. However, given that these squirrels have different food and shelter preferences, it’s likely that increasing housing and other development, and loss of coniferous forests is responsible for any decline in Douglas squirrel populations. (WDFW)

Restoration of Estuaries and Waterways in Crosshairs of Proposed Federal Budget Cuts to the EPA: A look at what's in store for Seattle's Puget Sound
Deep cuts to the EPA and restoration programs in Trump's proposed federal budget have those tasked with maintaining water quality and protecting endangered species worried. Puget Sound near Seattle is no exception. The Sound is one of 28 estuaries of national significance designated by the National Estuary Program. In this feature we take a boat tour of the city's nearshore waters with the Puget Soundkeeper, a member of the nationwide “waterkeeper alliance”. Martha Baskin reports. (PRX/Green Acre Radio)

If you like to watch: In Chesapeake Bay Cleanup, a Larger Ecosystem at Stake
Julie Wall, Logan Jaffe and Guglielmo Mattioli report. (NY Times)

Will Washington State be first in taxing greenhouse gases?
Could 2017 be the year Washington emerges as the first state to tax emissions of a greenhouse gas? Barring some unusual turn of events as legislators finalize the state budget here, don’t count on it. But that assessment comes with an asterisk. There are signs that business opposition to the idea is softening. Meanwhile, environmentalists and their allies have made it clear that if the Legislature doesn’t act this spring, they’ll bring the issue to voters next year. Could that possibility — a tax on carbon dioxide, a tax that businesses and their legislative backers had no say in shaping — bring them to the bargaining table as the end of the regular 2017 session nears? Adiel Kaplan reports. (Investigate West)

In 'Witness Tree,' Seattle Times Writer Lynda Mapes Explores Climate Change Through Lens Of 1 Oak
Climate change is one of those issues that tends to turn people off. It’s not much fun to think about the consequences of the carbon pollution and the subsequent warming of the atmosphere. But Seattle Times Writer Lynda V. Mapes spent the better part of two years studying how it affected one tree while she was on a science fellowship in upstate New York. Her book about that experience is called "Witness Tree: Seasons Of Change With A Century-Old Oak." Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Great Barrier Reef: Two-thirds damaged in 'unprecedented' bleaching
Unprecedented coral bleaching in consecutive years has damaged two-thirds of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, aerial surveys have shown. The bleaching - or loss of algae - affects a 1,500km (900 miles) stretch of the reef, according to scientists. The latest damage is concentrated in the middle section, whereas last year's bleaching hit mainly the north. Experts fear the proximity of the two events will give damaged coral little chance to recover. (BBC)

‘We are very disappointed’: Loss of Northern Gateway devastating for many First Nations, chiefs say
Most aboriginal communities in northern British Columbia impacted by the Northern Gateway pipeline supported the $7.9 billion project and are angry Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected it, say representatives of three of the bands. Elmer Ghostkeeper of the Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement, Chief Elmer Derrick of the Gitxsan Nation, and Dale Swampy of the Samson Cree Nation said on the sidelines of a private meeting in Calgary on Friday with oilpatch leaders they are disappointed in the “political decision,” which they say was made without their input. They are now looking for ways to generate new energy development. Ghostkeeper said more than 30 of the 42 bands on the Alberta-to-West Coast pipeline’s right-of-way were looking forward to sharing in the construction and long-term benefits. Claudia Cattaneo reports. (Financial Post)

Washington river among the nation’s ‘most endangered’
It’s back. Actually, it never left. The Snohomish Public Utility District still has a plan to divert part of the South Fork Skykomish River above Canyon Falls, near Index, run it through turbines to generate 30 megawatts of power, and then return it to the river bed below Sunset Falls. Five years ago, the Sunset Falls proposal landed the South Fork Skykomish on American Rivers’ annual list of the nation’s most endangered rivers. The PUD’s preliminary permit extension has expired but the utility may file a construction permit application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The river protection group just returned the South Fork Skykomish to its list, at number three. Dan Chasan reports. (Crosscut)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  329 AM PDT TUE APR 11 2017  

TODAY  SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT BECOMING E 10 TO 20 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
TONIGHT  E WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL  6 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING THEN A  CHANCE OF 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.

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4/10 Urban streams, Van Is trail, gophers, Wolf Hollow, landslides, TransMtn, Exxon Valdez, happiness

[PHOTO: Mike Mercer/BirdNote]

Seabirds Drink Salt Water
How can they stand it? Seabirds have no problem drinking sea water. The salt they take in is absorbed and moves through their blood stream into a pair of salt glands above their eyes. The densely salty fluid is excreted from the nostrils and runs down grooves in the bill. As the drop gets larger, the bird shakes its head to send the salt back to the ocean. A seabird's skull has a pair of grooves for the salt glands right over the eyes. (Support BirdNote)

Urban streams: salmon in the city face development onslaught
Byrne Creek appears from nowhere. It has no glacial snowpack or lake from which to draw its waters. They just percolate through the ground and flow through storm pipes in south Burnaby until they form a short-lived stream that barely supports spawning salmon. That the creek exists at all surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the industrial hubbub of south Burnaby, near the intersection of Marine Way and Southridge Drive, seems miraculous. Its beauty is no less unexpected, a 3.2-kilometre pedestrian pathway winding alongside and above the creek through a ravine thickly adorned with sword ferns and western red cedars. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

B.C. to complete purchases of land along Vancouver Island trail
The last parcels of private land along the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail will be bought by the provincial government and preserved for public use and treaty settlements…. The trail is a rugged 47-kilometre seaside hiking route that starts west of Sooke and finishes near Port Renfrew. It takes four to five days to complete. The government said Thursday it intends to purchase 83 hectares along the trail from Marine Trail Holdings, but will not disclose the price until the deal is final. The province purchased another 99 hectares in December 2015 for $1.8 million. The parcels of land are between China Beach and Sombrio Beach. Sarah Petrescu reports. (Times Colonist)

Decisions ahead in Thuston County’s pocket gopher dilemma
Thurston County officials likely will make a couple of decisions regarding pocket gophers in coming weeks — one that would affect inspections and permitting for the coming season, and another that would shape policy for the next 30 years. The Board of Thurston County Commissioners met twice Thursday to discuss the impending decisions. In the morning, they discussed a draft habitat conservation plan that has been in the works for months, and in the afternoon they discussed 2017’s interim permitting strategy. The long-term conservation plan wouldn’t just protect the Mazama pocket gopher, which was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2014. It would conserve the habitat of 12 different species. Thurston County staff projects that 17,000 acres of habitat will be affected over the next 30 years, and that about 7,500 acres of that habitat will need to be mitigated. A draft habitat conservation plan estimates the county will need to pay $5.1 million a year for 30 years for mitigation. Amelia Dickson reports. (Olympian)

Wolf Hollow to accept stranded seal pups this year
Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on San Juan Island is reviving its seal pup program. Last summer, due to funding shortfalls, the nonprofit center was unable to take in seal pups in need for the first time in 32 years. Thanks to private donations, the program will resume this summer. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

New brochure alerts landowners to landslide hazards and what to do
Geology experts in Washington and Oregon have produced an easy-to-read brochure that can help people understand landslide risks, the underlying geology of slides and precautions that could avoid a disaster…. “A Homeowners Guide to Landslides for Washington and Oregon” … was produced by the Washington Department of Natural Resources and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

The Northwest may get its own Keystone XL, But it’s XXL 
You’ve heard of Keystone XL, the controversial pipeline rejected by the Obama administration but approved last month by President Trump. And you know all about Dakota Access. That’s the oil pipeline that became a rallying point for Native American rights and environmental activism. It’s expected to be up and running later this month. But have you heard of TransMountain, which could soon be the biggest pipeline of them all? There’s actually been a TransMountain Pipeline for decades, running from Canada’s interior to the Pacific coast. Kinder Morgan, the Houston-based energy infrastructure company that owns the pipeline, has plans to make it bigger. Much bigger. But environmentalists and British Columbia’s First Nations Indian tribes have launched lawsuits and promised North Dakota-style protests.  Eilís O'Neill, Ken Christensen and John Rosman report. (EarthFix)

Kinder Morgan pipeline agreement includes investment deadline and hiring priorities
A deal reached between British Columbia and Trans Mountain reveals new details about Kinder Morgan’s timeline to approve investments for a proposed oil pipeline expansion and requirements to hire local workers. The agreement, signed April 6, says the Kinder Morgan board of directors must reach a final investment decision by June 30 with news communicated by July 2 for the project to go ahead. The project would twin an existing pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C., tripling its capacity and increasing tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet seven-fold. The company said last month the expansion would cost an estimated $7.4 billion, an increase from previous estimates in order to meet conditions imposed by the National Energy Board. (Canadian Press)

The role a melting glacier played in Exxon’s biggest disaster
In the wee hours of March 24, 1989, the channel connecting the Alaskan port of Valdez with Prince William Sound was riddled with icebergs shed from the deteriorating Columbia Glacier, a massive river of ice that had begun breaking apart only a few years earlier. With an inexperienced third mate guiding the massive, oil-laden tanker, the Exxon Valdez swerved out of its designated shipping lane to avoid the ice. It was a standard maneuver carried out hundreds of times before. But this time, on this night, before the third mate could correct course, the tanker careened into the rocky outcropping of Bligh Reef where it ultimately released roughly 11 million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound. Dino Grandoni, Asaf Shalev, Michael Phillis and Susanne Rust report. (LA Times)

Study links Puget Sound residents’ happiness to their interactions with nature
A new study of Puget Sound-area residents has found that engagement with nature can be linked to overall happiness — for middle-class people, anyway. The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, found that along with the long-known roles that health, economic status and social relationships play in life satisfaction, Pacific Northwesterners’ interactions with the natural environment have a direct, if more subtle, relationship to their reported happiness…. The study, which drew on 4,418 responses to an online survey, was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency through a grant to the Puget Sound Institute at the University of Washington Tacoma… Derrick Nunnally reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  250 AM PDT MON APR 10 2017  

TODAY  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT BECOMING E 10 TO 20 KT THIS AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SHOWERS  LIKELY. A CHANCE OF TSTMS THIS AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL  10 FT AT 13 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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4/7 Ericksen, Vic sewer, dairy poop, lead paint, BC spill, oil train risks, salmon bends, TNT layoffs, methanol, seastars

(The real) Pacific Spiny Dogfish [Doug Costas, NOAA]

Pacific Spiny Dogfish, Squalus suckleyi
Reader Gene Helfman, Professor Emeritus at the Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, gently points out that, "in the interest of taxonomic accuracy, I am forced to correct an entry in the April 3rd, 2017, post.  Your Spiny Dogfish is not a Spiny Dogfish.  My best guess, after contacting someone more knowledgeable (and I have written a shark book, Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide, Hopkins Press) is your photo is of a Brown Smooth-hound  Mustelus henlei.  M. henlei doesn’t occur in the Salish Sea, its northern limit being northern California (the kelp bed in the photo also suggests it’s from CA).  Your shark lacks dorsal spines and has an anal fin, characters the entry notes in the description. Plus it doesn’t look like a Spiny Dogfish, the correct names of which, in our waters, are Pacific Spiny Dogfish, Squalus suckleyi (“our” species was separated from the Atlantic Spiny Dogfish in 2010; don’t you love taxonomists)." Thank you, Gene: we love taxonomists. And thank you for the photo by Doug Costa of Squalus suckleyi. [for more, see end of this day’s posting.]

Jobs in Legislature, Trump administration add up to big payday for state Sen. Doug Ericksen 
State Sen. Doug Ericksen, who since January has juggled his legislative duties with a job in the Trump administration, has collected nearly $6,000 from the state in daily living expenses so far during the legislative session. Ericksen, R-Ferndale, has been splitting his time between Olympia and Washington, D.C., where the administration appointed him to a temporary job at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An early Trump supporter, Ericksen in January became a communications manager for the EPA’s transition team, while continuing his work as a legislator…. Ericksen is drawing his $46,839 a year legislative salary while also earning $77.58 an hour at the EPA, according to an EPA earnings statement. If he were to work full time at the EPA, while maintaining his role as a legislator, his combined pay would exceed $200,000 annually. State records show that Ericksen has claimed his $120 daily allowance for expenses — known as a per diem — for most of the weeks so far in the legislative session. The expenses total $5,880 since Jan. 9, the opening day of session, according to records from Senate administration. Joseph O'Sullivan reports. (Seattle Times)

$272-million contract award for McLoughlin sewage plant, up $37 million
The contract to build the McLoughlin Point sewage-treatment plant has been awarded to the same consortium that was selected for the job in 2014, before that project collapsed. And it will cost another $37 million. Harbour Resource Partners, which includes AECOM Canada, Graham Infrastructure and Michels Canada, will be working on a $272-million contract — part of the overall $765-million initiative to have treated sewage by the end of 2020. With changes such as the addition of tertiary treatment, this year’s HRP proposal costs more than the one submitted three years ago. Jeff Bell reports. (Times Colonist)

Newhouse bill would exempt dairy manure from waste regulations, ban some citizen lawsuits
A congressional bill that would prevent animal manure from being regulated under federal solid waste regulations has farmers hopeful and environmentalists concerned. Introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, the bill, H.R. 848, would clearly exempt animal and crop waste and fertilizer from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA. Newhouse contends a federal judge’s 2015 ruling that Yakima Valley dairies violated solid waste regulations for managing manure misinterpreted the act. Congress never intended the act to govern animal or crop waste, manure or fertilizer, according to Newhouse. Phil Ferolito reports. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

Trump's EPA moves to defund programs that protect children from lead-based paint
Environmental Protection Agency officials are proposing to eliminate two programs focused on limiting children's exposure to lead-based paint - which is known to cause damage to developing brains and nervous systems. The proposed cuts, outlined in a 64 page budget memo revealed by The Washington Post on Friday, would roll back programs aimed at reducing lead risks by $16.61 million and more than 70 employees, in line with a broader project by the Trump administration to devolve responsibility for environmental and health protection to state and local governments. Old housing stock is the biggest risk for lead exposure - and the EPA estimates that 38 million U.S. homes contain lead-based paint. Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin report. (Washington Post)

Nathan E. Stewart incident shows Canada's spill response lacking, First Nation says 
A First Nation in northern B.C. is calling the government out on its handling of a fuel spill near Bella Bella last year. In a new report on the first 48 hours of the sinking of the Nathan E. Stewart in October 2016, the Heiltsuk Nation says the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), the Coast Guard and the owners of the vessel, the Kirby Corporation, repeatedly refused to provide the nation with information about the spill. The report also says many aspects of the spill response were inadequate, including slow response time, insufficient and ineffective equipment, a lack of safety gear, and confusion about who was in charge. Matt Meuse reports. (CBC)

Thousands of defects found on oil train routes
Government inspections of railroads that haul volatile crude oil across the United States have uncovered almost 24,000 safety defects, including problems similar to those blamed in derailments that triggered massive fires or oil spills in Oregon, Virginia, Montana and elsewhere, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. The safety defects were discovered during targeted federal inspections on almost 58,000 miles of oil train routes in 44 states. The inspection program began two years ago following a string of oil train accidents across North America, including a 2013 derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people. Federal regulators said the inspections resulted in 1,118 violation recommendations, prompting railroads to become more responsive to concerns raised by track inspectors and to improve safety. Matthew Brown reports. (Associated Press)

Young salmon risk ‘gas bubble trauma’ on trip to ocean
Young salmon and steelhead migrating from the Columbia River Basin in unusually high flows face a potentially lethal problem in spillways at dams where increased nitrogen in the water can cause tissue-damaging trauma. However, managers of fisheries say special features at dams meant to reduce nitrogen will help the fish make it to the ocean, and survival should be about average based on previous high-flow years. Like natural waterfalls, a dam’s spillway increases dissolved gas, including nitrogen, in water when it smashes into other water below. The nitrogen can cause bubbles to form inside fish, similar to the condition that human divers experience when they get the bends. Keith Ridler reports. (Associated Press)

Pheromones may help foil reef-killing starfish
A starfish considered a key threat to international coral reefs could be thwarted by harnessing its own pheromones, scientists say. The crown-of-thorns starfish has ravaged Australia's Great Barrier Reef by smothering and eating coral tissue. Researchers believe the pest could be lured for removal by fabricating the chemicals it uses to attract a mate. The study unmasks how the species congregates in huge swarms, the Australian and Japanese team said. (BBC)

Tacoma’s News Tribune to cut jobs as top editor quits
Tacoma’s News Tribune, Washington’s second largest newspaper and a fixture in the Puget Sound region for more than a century, is preparing for job cuts in the newsroom. Its top editor, Karen Peterson, is leaving as well. Several staffers in the newsroom said that during an emotional meeting with top editors Wednesday, they were told to prepare for at least 10 job cuts. It’s not clear yet if the reductions would be made through voluntary buyouts or layoffs, or a combination of the two, and how the cuts might affect the News Tribune’s smaller sister paper, The Olympian, which shares resources with the Tacoma paper. Mike Rosenberg reports. (Seattle Times)

Opponents Aim To Block State Funding For Methanol Plant
Opponents of a methanol refinery proposed on the Columbia River say Washington is poised to spend $12 million in public funds to help build the controversial plant. They sent a letter to Washington lawmakers Thursday asking them to block that spending because it would pay for a dock and a road needed by methanol project developer Northwest Innovation Works. The Chinese-backed company has proposed a $1.8 billion methanol plant at the Port of Kalama that would convert natural gas to methanol, which would then be shipped overseas to be made into plastic. If built as proposed, it would be the largest facility of its kind. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB/EarthFix)

And here’s more on Pacific Spiny Dogfish:
* The West Coast population of PSD has been estimated at around 2 billion.  PSD plus Spiny Dogfish are the most abundant sharks in the world.
* In our northern waters, PSD live to be over 100 years old (competing with several rockfish), don't mature until they're 30 years old, give birth to 10-20 live young, and have a gestation period of 2 years, the longest of any known vertebrate.
* Because of their old age and predatory diet, they're loaded with mercury.  NMFS advise against eating them, although they are caught in large numbers, processed (at least previously at a plant in Fairhaven), and shipped overseas where they constitute a major component in fish and chips (labeled as "gray fish"). [Thanks, Gene Helfman!]

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  302 AM PDT FRI APR 7 2017  

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING  
TODAY  SE WIND 25 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS 6 TO 9 FT WITH A  DOMINANT PERIOD OF 12 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING THEN SHOWERS IN  THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  SE WIND 30 TO 40 KT BECOMING SW 25 TO 35 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. COMBINED SEAS 11 TO 13 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF  11 SECONDS BUILDING TO 14 TO 16 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF  11 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SHOWERS.
SAT  SW WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 12 FT  AT 11 SECONDS SUBSIDING TO 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON.  SHOWERS.
SAT NIGHT  W WIND 10 TO 20 KT BECOMING SW TO 10 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER  MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
SUN  SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE  AFTERNOON. W SWELL 7 FT AT 10 SECONDS BUILDING TO SW 10 FT AT 10  SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON.

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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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4/6 English Bay spill, cetacean ban, enviro assessments, chlorpyrifos, fish council, Dick Goin, Ballard fish ladder

Tree Pollen
Tree pollens that trigger allergies tend to be very fine and powdery. The wind can carry them for miles. Inhaling even small amounts can trigger allergy symptoms. People with tree pollen allergies sometimes assume that trees with colorful flowers -- like apple or cherry trees -- will trigger their symptoms. But flowering trees usually have bigger, stickier pollen that doesn't blow in the wind or cause symptoms. Trees that often set off allergies include Ash, Aspen, Beech, Birch, Box elder, Cedar, Cottonwood, Elm, Hickory, Mountain elder, Mulberry, Oak, Pecan and Willow. (WebMD)

Ship company accused of English Bay spill fails to show in B.C. court
A company accused of operating a ship that leaked bunker fuel into Vancouver’s English Bay in April 2015 failed to appear in B.C. provincial court to face charges linked to the spill. The MV Marathassa and Alassia NewShips Management Inc., a firm based in Greece, were due in court Wednesday on 10 charges, including discharge of a pollutant, but only a lawyer for the shipping company appeared. The spill of at least 2,700 litres of bunker fuel in English Bay and the ensuing miscommunications among Canadian authorities and delays in clean-up raised questions about Canada’s preparedness for oil spills. (Canadian Press)

Cetacean scientists say aquarium decision 'banning research' crucial to endangered animals
Scientists say the Park Board's decision to ban cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium has far-reaching implications for research on endangered marine mammals in B.C. Andrew Trites, the director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, called the decision "short-sighted." A lot of research can be done in the wild, he said, but certain research necessary to cetacean conservation can only be conducted with animals under controlled conditions. Jack Hauen reports. (CBC)

Short timelines for environmental assessments not working, says expert panel
An expert panel says the "one size fits all" approach to environmental assessments and limiting the number of people who can talk at hearings into big projects isn't working. The new report by the expert panel reviewing federal environmental assessment processes recommends that time limits to assess major projects should reflect the specific circumstances of each project instead being forced to meet a set time frame.  The four-person panel was set up by Environment Minister Catherine McKenna last August. Its mandate was to look at why environmental assessments in Canada are not working and to suggest changes. The chair of the panel, Johanne Gélinas, said the panel found few people are stridently against the development of projects, but they want more respect and involvement. Margo McDiarmid reports. (CBC)

EPA Won't Ban Pesticide That's Widely Used In Northwest Orchards
The Environmental Protection Agency has said they will not ban an insecticide widely used on farms and orchards, including in Washington state. This comes after recommendations from EPA scientists last year to ban the chemical in question, a pesticide called chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos was banned years ago for use in most household products. In recent years, environmental groups have been petitioning to have it removed from agricultural use too. They say it can harm children. Kate Walters reports. (KUOW)

Fishing-industry groups blast Inslee over his picks for federal council
Gov. Jay Inslee’s handling of nominations for a federal fishery-council seat has come under attack from the leaders of major North Pacific fishing-industry groups, which have taken the unusual step of sending a complaint letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Industry officials criticize Inslee for bucking the recommendations of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to come up with three nominees for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Instead, the governor made some of his own picks in what they say was a flawed process that denied most of the industry meaningful input. In their letter sent Tuesday, they asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to reject Inslee’s nominations and called for the governor to come up with some new names for a seat on the council. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Portrait of fish activist Dick Goin to be screened in Port Angeles
“The Memory of Fish,” a portrait of the late Dick Goin, will be screened at two locations at 7 p.m. Friday and will be introduced during Studium Generale at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The documentary of the life of Goin — a pulp mill worker and master fisherman who used his memories and persistence to battle for removal of the two dams on the Elwha River to allow salmon access to a wild river — will be shown at the Little Theater and Maier Performance Hall, both on Peninsula College’s Port Angeles campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. Admission will be $5 to the film, sponsored by the Magic of Cinema program. (Peninsula Daily News)

$400,000 grant awarded for Fish Ladder improvements at Ballard Locks
Improvements are coming to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks Fish Ladder thanks to a $400,000 grant awarded to Discover Your Northwest and The Corps Foundation. The grant was presented to Corps and Discover Your Northwest representatives April 4 at the Ballard Locks. The funds are to be used to renovate and update exhibits for the Fish Ladder exhibit and viewing area. Shane Harms reports. (Ballard News Tribune)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  504 AM PDT THU APR 6 2017  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PDT TODAY
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT FROM NOON  PDT TODAY THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON  
TODAY  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT BECOMING SW TO 10 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS IN THE  AFTERNOON. W SWELL 10 FT AT 13 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING THEN  SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  W WIND TO 10 KT BECOMING E 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. W  SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS SUBSIDING TO 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS AFTER  MIDNIGHT. 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.

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4/5 English Bay spill, who needs KM, Puget Sound $, starving orcas, Canuck the Crow

Cherry blossom
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is called sakura in Japanese. Currently it is widely distributed, especially in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere including Japan, China, Korea, Europe, West Siberia, India, Canada, and the United States. Along with the chrysanthemum, the cherry blossom is considered the national flower of Japan. The transience of the blossoms, the exquisite beauty and volatility, has often been associated with mortality and graceful and readily acceptance of destiny and karma. (from Wikipedia) See also: Cherry blossom time at state capital brightens spring days  Jim Camden reports. (Spokesman-Review)

Company charged in English Bay fuel spill must challenge summons in B.C. court
A Federal Court judge has rejected an application for judicial review filed by a Greece-based company facing charges in a 2015 fuel spill in Vancouver’s English Bay, saying it must make its case in British Columbia Supreme Court. The MV Marathassa and Alassia NewShips Management Inc. each face 10 charges, including discharge of a pollutant and failure to implement an oil pollution emergency plan and are scheduled to appear in B.C. Provincial Court on Wednesday. Alassia had asked the Federal Court to set aside summonses and declare that attempts to serve the documents by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the Attorney General were invalid. (Canadian Press)

Report questions need for Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion
While Kinder Morgan works toward starting construction on its $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, Simon Fraser University academic Tom Gunton argues Canada’s oil industry might not need the new pipeline once it’s complete. In a new report released Tuesday, Gunton argued that with all the projects under development, including the Trans Mountain expansion, Keystone XL and Energy East pipelines, combined with recent forecasts showing dramatically less growth in Canadian oil output, the country will wind up with massive overcapacity to move oil. Trans Mountain, however, said the project still has “strong commercial support,” and economists argue that Canadian oil-producers need the substantial outlet to offshore markets that the Trans Mountain pipeline would provide. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun) See also: Be prepared for some wait-time at Lake Samish’s boat launch on Thursday. Here’s why  Kinder Morgan will be conducting an emergency response exercise on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lake Samish as part of the company’s “ongoing commitment to safety and emergency preparedness.” (Bellingham Herald)

State leaders urge budget support for Puget Sound
Three dozen members of Congress are calling on President Donald Trump not to eliminate money for Puget Sound and other bodies of water. U.S. Representatives Derek Kilmer, Denny Heck and Dave Reichert, all of Washington, are among those who signed a bipartisan letter to the president Tuesday. They are all part of the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus. Trump's budget blueprint released last month eliminates the Environmental Protection Agency's geographic programs to clean up Puget Sound, the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and other water bodies. (Associated Press)

Are Southern Resident Killer Whales starving? | SeaDoc Society
On March 6, the SeaDoc Society together with the National Marine Mammal Foundation and NOAA Fisheries assembled top U.S. and Canadian marine mammal experts for an urgent consultation on the nutritional condition of our Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), the fish-eating orcas that have historically “resided” in the Salish Sea. After 2015’s encouraging “baby boom,” 2016 was a disastrous year for SRKW, which suffered seven deaths, reducing the total population of our three pods – J, K and L – to just 78 individuals. Along with dangerously low numbers and wild swings in their reproductive success, another troubling sign is that instead of staying organized in their full pods, the killer whales have recently been observed fragmenting into smaller groups, most likely because they’re having a harder time finding prey, especially the large Chinook salmon that are their most important source of food. Bob Friel writes. (Islands Sounder)

Canuck the Crow back ruling the roost in east Vancouver
Canuck the Crow is a free bird again. He was released from the Night Owl Bird Hospital in Kitsilano on Tuesday morning, brought home by his buddy Shawn Bergman and set free in his east Vancouver neighbourhood. “It looks like he’s going to be all right,” Bergman said. “It’s good he’s back in the neighbourhood, back in the swing of things. It’s nice to see him doing a lot of the things he did before.” Understandably, after being attacked by a soccer dad with a flagpole on March 25 and knocked cold, Canuck seems a little less trusting of strangers, Bergman added. Gordon McIntyre reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  245 AM PDT WED APR 5 2017  

TODAY  E WIND 10 TO 20 KT EASING TO 10 KT EARLY THIS MORNING AND  BECOMING W THIS AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL 10  FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY.
TONIGHT  W WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL  11 FT AT 13 SECONDS. RAIN 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 (@) 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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4/4 Hooker cleanup, Point Grey dump, orcas!, Lk Whatcom, graphene, energy efficiency, KXL $, Pruitt on Fox News

Fish Egg Inlet [Laurie MacBride]

Into the Mystery
Laurie MacBride in Eye On Environment writes: "Fish Egg Inlet reaches eastward from BC’s Inside Passage, extending into the mainland coast and forming part of the Great Bear Rainforest. Fish Egg is more than just your “average inlet”: it’s a huge complex of bays, islands, reefs, channels and tidal lagoons – an intricate labyrinth that wasn’t even charted until the early 1990s. This, despite being just around the corner from Rivers Inlet, a 45-mile long fjord that was first charted 200 years earlier by Captain George Vancouver’s men…." (read more)

Hooker chemical cleanup planning a messy process
For decades, the Hooker Chemical Corp. on the Tacoma Tideflats was a prime economic driver of the city. Chemical innovation meant industrial jobs and city prosperity, especially in an era before strong environmental protection…. Today, what it left has become a topic of fervent debate. The state Department of Ecology is weighing pollution cleanup possibilities that could cost Occidental, which acquired Hooker (and responsibility for its sites) in 1968, hundreds of millions of dollars. Decisions made in the coming months will dictate decades of work. An estimated 1 million pounds of toxic chemicals, dumped by accidents and routine disposal, sit stewing in the soils and groundwater under the land the company still owns. The nonprofit Citizens for a Healthy Bay calls it “by far the worst unaddressed contamination in Commencement Bay.” Derrick Nunnally reports. (News Tribune of Tacoma)

Mysterious site off Vancouver's Point Grey is Canada's largest marine disposal site
Six kilometres due west of Wreck Beach and the University of British Columbia lies a mysterious federal marine disposal site — the largest and oldest in Canada — where vast amounts of dredged and excavated material are dumped each year. “It’s kind of a secret thing, that’s the way I describe it,” says Terry Slack, a veteran gillnetter and public watchdog on local fishing issues who worries about the dump. “Not too many people know it exists.” Officially opened in 1976, the site received about 22.1 million cubic metres of material to 2014, including 2.3 million cubic metres dumped there from 1930 to 1976. The site has a radius of one nautical mile and is situated at a depth of 240 metres. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

ORCAS: Back in Puget Sound today  (West Seattle Blog) Orcas visit Kitsap  Nice whale pix. (Kitsap Sun)

What will it take to get phosphorous pollution out of Lake Whatcom?
Constructing systems that capture and filter runoff flowing into Lake Whatcom isn’t going to be enough to vastly reduce the amount of phosphorous in the lake that serves as the source of drinking water for nearly half of Whatcom County. It’s also going to require other actions such as getting homeowners around the lake to voluntarily switch out their lawns for native plantings, install rain gardens or put in permeable pavement – all designed to reduce the impact of residential development by filtering phosphorous, a long-stand problem because it depletes oxygen and causes seasonal algae blooms in the lake. The lake is the source of drinking water for about 100,000 residents in Whatcom County, including Bellingham. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Graphene-based sieve turns seawater into drinking water
A UK-based team of researchers has created a graphene-based sieve capable of removing salt from seawater. The sought-after development could aid the millions of people without ready access to clean drinking water. The promising graphene oxide sieve could be highly efficient at filtering salts, and will now be tested against existing desalination membranes. Paul Rincon reports. (BBC)

States ready to sue Trump Administration over energy efficiency
Attorneys general from 11 states are taking new action against the Trump Administration over energy efficiency standards. They are working to protect an Obama-administration rule they think is in jeopardy. New efficiency standards for coolers and fans were supposed to go into effect by now. However, the Trump Administration has put them on hold until Sept 30. The attorneys general, led by New York, have announced they intend to sue over that delay. They'll sue if the efficiency rules aren't enforced within 60 days. Paige Browning reports. (KUOW)

Seattle City Council votes to avoid banking with Keystone XL backers
The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Monday to oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline that the Trump administration signed off on last month and to request that the city’s finance department explore how it might avoid contracting with banks backing the $8 billion project. The Trump administration’s move reversed the Obama administration’s rejection of the pipeline, which would carry about 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, through several American states to the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. The Keystone XL wouldn’t pass anywhere near Seattle, but anti-pipeline activists in the city and elsewhere say the project would contribute to devastating climate change. Daniel Beekman reports. (Seattle Times)

The left and right agree: Fox News destroyed EPA chief Scott Pruitt over climate change
Any expectation that Scott Pruitt, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, would be able to cruise through an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” over the weekend was dashed within about 10 seconds of the interview. “Good morning, Chris, how are you?” Pruitt asked host Chris Wallace. That would be the softest question raised in the entire segment. “Good,” Wallace replied quickly. And then, in the same breath, Wallace began grilling Pruitt about an executive order President Trump signed last week to dismantle President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, which had required states to cut down on overall emissions and sought to limit carbon emissions from power plants. Amy Wang reports. (Washington Post)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  250 AM PDT TUE APR 4 2017  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT
TODAY  E WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 4 FT  AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN THIS AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  SE WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL  7 FT AT 11 SECONDS BUILDING TO SW 10 FT AT 11 SECONDS AFTER  MIDNIGHT. 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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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4/3 EPA, Chinook, sea lice, clean streams, oil spill rule, Hood Canal, quake fault, Ranger Rick, critter kills, coal tribes

Spiny dogfish

Spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias
Our most common local shark, most often seen near the surface at dawn or dusk or when herring are gathered before spawning. Dogfish have two dorsal fins and no anal fin and can grow to five feet in length. Although it is not considered dangerous, its teeth and spine are sharp and dogfish should be handled with caution if hooked. It feeds on small crustaceans, sand lance and other small fishes. (Marine Life of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the Strait of Georgia.)

EPA: Emergency cleanup of abandoned biofuels plant near Ferndale could cost $1 million
The Environmental Protection Agency is leading an emergency cleanup of an abandoned biofuels processing plant northwest of Ferndale after regulators found hazardous substances leaking from containers. TreOil Industries Biorefinery, 4242 Aldergrove Road, has been a concern for regulators since the 1980s. It has been on the state Department of Ecology’s list of hazardous sites in Whatcom County since 2001 and attempts to get business and property owner Jagroop S. Gill, of Delta, B.C., to clean up the site, including a concerted effort since 2015, have been unsuccessful, officials said. The emergency cleanup could cost $1 million. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

'Job-killing regulations' mantra and reality 
Regulations don’t kill jobs as much as shift them around. That doesn’t mean rules can’t cause pain locally. But an ill-advised rollback of regulations likely wouldn’t create many jobs, though it would increase dangers to health and the planet. Jon Talton writes. (Seattle Times)

New EPA documents reveal even deeper proposed cuts to staff and programs
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new, more detailed plan for laying off 25 percent of its employees and scrapping 56 programs including pesticide safety, water runoff control, and environmental cooperation with Mexico and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement…. The spending plan, obtained by The Washington Post, offers the most detailed vision to date of how the 31 percent budget cut to the EPA ordered up by President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget would diminish the agency. The March 21 plan calls for even deeper reductions in staffing than earlier drafts. It maintains funding given to states to administer waste treatment and drinking water. But as a result, the budget for the rest of EPA is slashed 43 percent. Juliet Ellperin, Chris Mooney and Steve Mufson report. (Washington Post)

Finding a strategy to accelerate Chinook recovery
As threatened Chinook populations in Puget Sound continue to lose ground, the state is looking to new strategies to reverse the trend. In the Skagit watershed, the scientists — and the fish — are among those leading the way.  Bob Friel reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

New research suggests local perch species could control sea lice
Two local species of Pacific perch are showing aptitude as “cleaner fish” for salmon aquaculture, which could reduce the need for chemical treatments of sea lice on ocean-based fish farms. Preliminary trials in 2016 showed that both kelp perch and pile perch clean lice from infested salmon. But a recent series of trials by Shannon Balfry — research associate at the B.C. Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences — have produced spectacular results. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Shellfish beds opened, stream advisories lifted as water quality improves
Kitsap Public Health District has lifted health advisories for three streams in the county after water samples showed reduced levels of bacteria. The state Department of Health also approved 57 acres of shellfish beds near Indianola for commercial harvest in a report published this week, a sign of improving environmental health in the area. A water quality report released by the health district in March showed pollution problems persist in some waterways. But Senior Environmental Health Specialist Shawn Ultican said the overall trend in the county is positive. Tad Sooter reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Oil Transport Safety Bill Clears Key Washington State House Committee
A House bill aimed at increasing the safety around oil transportation on land and water has cleared a key committee. The House Finance Committee on amended and passed House Bill 1611. It awaits a vote by the full House. The version that passed Thursday would raise the tax that is collected on crude oil received by vessel or trains by 2.5 cents a barrel, from 4 cents to 6.5 cents. (Associated Press)

Hood Canal nominated as Sentinel Landscape with ties to military
Hood Canal and its surrounding watershed have been nominated as a Sentinel Landscape, an exclusive designation that recognizes both the natural resource values and the national defense mission of special areas across the country. If the designation is approved, it will bolster applications for federal funding to protect and restore important habitats and to maintain working forests in and around Hood Canal. Given the uncertain budget for environmental programs under the Trump administration, it wouldn’t hurt to have the Department of Defense supporting the protection of Hood Canal. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Active fault line identified beneath Greater Victoria
A fault line running a few kilometres from downtown Victoria could be active, new research has found. The Leech River crustal fault, which runs from Sombrio Beach through Royal Roads University and offshore of downtown Victoria, was long believed to have been inactive for millions of years. But it has caused at least two major earthquakes in the past 12,000 years, lead researcher Kristin Morell said. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

Ranger Rick celebrates 45 years with state parks
Millions of people call Deception Pass State Park home, albeit for a day, maybe two, or perhaps a week. For assistant park manager Rick Blank, the rocky coastline, swirling salty waters, old-growth forest and iconic bridge have constituted his home for 27 years. Blank has been an employee of Washington State Parks for 45 years and is the longest-tenured ranger in the field — he arrived at Deception Pass in 1990. Vince Richardson reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

More than 300 B.C. grizzly bears killed by hunters yearly: David Suzuki data
Nearly 14,000 grizzly bears have been killed in B.C. since the government started tracking mortality records for the species in 1975, the vast majority by hunters, according to provincial data compiled by the David Suzuki Foundation. Of those bears – an estimated 329 each year – 87 per cent have been killed by licensed hunters, with other kills attributed to causes including the shooting of problem bears by conservation officers, illegal poaching and collisions with cars and trains. A total of 13,804 grizzly bears have been killed by humans from 1975 to 2016, the group says. Wendy Steuck reports. (Globe and Mail) See also: Japan's Annual Antarctic Expedition Returns With 333 Whale Carcasses  Colin Dwyer reports. (NPR)

Tribes that live off coal hold tight to Trump's promises 
Some of the largest tribes in the United States derive their budgets from the fossil fuels that President Donald Trump has pledged to promote, including the Navajo in the Southwest and the Osage in Oklahoma. Julie Turkewitz reports. (NY Times)

Tiny fish with a funny name could help with opioid crisis
A tiny fish with a funny name may help solve one of our biggest problems — the opioid crisis. Opiods like morphine are addictive, have side effects and aren't that effective. Newer synthetic ones, like oxycodone and fentanyl, have the same issues and don't solve chronic pain. The unpredictability of both have cost thousands of lives. The fang blenny, a fish found in the Great Barrier Reef, has potent venom that acts the same way as opioid drugs for killing pain. It could represent a new way to look at our most effective — and problematic — pain drugs. Torah Kachur reports. (CBC) See also: A Tiny Fish With Fearsome Fangs Uses An Opioid-Like Venom To Escape Enemies  Madeline Sofia reports. (NPR)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  302 AM PDT MON APR 3 2017  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS  AFTERNOON  
TODAY  S WIND TO 10 KT BECOMING E IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES  1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 10 FT AT 15 SECONDS SUBSIDING TO 8 FT AT  14 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  NW WIND TO 10 KT BECOMING SE AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND  WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 13 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