6/6 Chain fern, orca species, Brave Little Hunter, green crabs

Giant Chain Fern [Native Plants PNW]

 

Giant Chain Fern Woodwardia fimbriata
he genus is named after British botanist Thomas J. Woodward.  Chain Ferns get their common name from the chain-like rows of oblong sori on the undersides of the pinnae. Giant Chain Fern has been found in Texada and Vancouver Islands in British Columbia, and in the Puget Sound region of Washington where it is listed as sensitive. Natives in California used the leaves for fiber to make baskets, and to line the top and bottom of an earth oven for baking acorn bread and other foods. (Native Plants PNW)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Study shows local health impacts from Growler noise

Decision time approaches for two new orca species, as other issues bring new questions
Killer whales worldwide are currently identified as a single species, Orcinus orca. But two new species of orca, representing thousands of whales in the North Pacific, could be added to the scientific nomenclature within the next month. Common names for the whales such as "transients" and "residents" are also up for debate. Christopher Dunagan writes. (Puget Sound Institute)

No confirmed sightings of orphaned orca: DFO
Social-media posts have reported sightings of lone, smaller orcas, but there have been no confirmed reports of the orca calf dubbed Brave Little Hunter. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

Peninsula group ready for ‘all hands on deck’ fight against invasive crabs
South Island habitat restoration society encourages anyone to report European green crabs. Christine van Reeuwyk reports. (Victoria Today)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  230 AM PDT Thu Jun 6 2024    
TODAY  NW wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft  at 12 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 10 kt, backing to SW after midnight. Seas  3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft at 12 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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6/5 Maidenhair fern, Sumas Valley flood, WSF new design, electricity for ferries, sea floor expedition

Western Maidenhair Fern [Native Plants PNW]

Western Maidenhair Fern Adiantum aleuticum
Common names include: Five-finger Fern and Northern or Aleutian Maidenhair. The term Maidenhair may have been derived from the species A. capillus-veneris, (literally Venus’s hair), perhaps due to the dark, glossy hair-like leaf stalks.  Western Maidenhair can be found from the Aleutian Islands and southeast Alaska to Chihuahua in Mexico. Natives used the stems of Maidenhair Fern in basketry designs.  They also used a tea made from the leaves as a hair wash.  The Quinault burnt the leaves and rubbed ashes in their hair to make it long, shiny and black.  (Native Plants PNW)

Today's top story in Salish Current: WSF service, bad as it’s ever been, only going to get worse

After disaster strikes, how much is it worth to rebuild?
In 2021, flooding in the Sumas Valley caused millions in damages. Rebuilding could cost more than twice as much as restoring the region to its natural state. Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood (The Narwhal)

WA shows off new design for its ferries — now it needs a shipbuilder
Ferry officials and state lawmakers shared plans Monday for a new generation of hybrid-electric ferries to ply Puget Sound waters, with promises to bring reliability and an emission-free fleet to a diesel-hungry system that has been plagued by reduced services and cancellations for years. Nicholas Deshais reports. (Seattle Times)

The tricky business of charging Washington's coming hybrid electric ferries
Every ferry terminal presents a different sort of puzzle when it comes to installing charging equipment. there are many different power utilities to work with. And there are unrelated construction sites nearby, over which the ferry system has no control. One reason it's so complicated is that the ferries use so much power. The Bremerton boat, for example, will have the same battery capacity as 230 electric cars. Plus, it will have to charge fully within 18 minutes, so there's no delay in the ferry's departure schedule. Joshua McNichols reports. (KUOW)

Scientists eager to view sea floor after earthquake swarm
Scientists will use remotely operated vehicles equipped with cameras to descend up to two kilometres to see the effects of hundreds of earthquakes that rumbled over the Pacific Ocean seafloor off Vancouver Island in March. And the public is invited to come along via a live internet stream. Darron Kloster reports. (Times Colonist)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  234 AM PDT Wed Jun 5 2024    
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING    
TODAY  S wind around 5 kt, backing to SE late this morning,  veering to W this afternoon. Seas 6 to 9 ft. Wave Detail: W 9 ft  at 14 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: W 7 ft  at 13 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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6/4 Western oak fern, BC orca protections, ship noise, BNSF trespass, camas, PSP closure, swimming advisory

Western Oak Fern [Native Plants PNW]

 

Western Oak Fern  Gymnocarpium dryopteris
There are only about 8 species of gymnocarpium, mostly in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.   Common names of G. dryopteris include Western or Northern Oak Fern. G. disjunctum is confined to the coastal northwest of North America and the Pacific coast of Russia.  In the Pacific Northwest, these ferns grow in shady, moist woods, streambanks and wet cliffs.  Despite its name, it is not usually found in association with oaks, preferring mixed coniferous forests. [Native Plants PNW]

Today's top story in Salish Current: Bellingham Queer Collective opens its doors

Speed restrictions, B.C. fishery closures, aim to protect southern killer whales
The federal government has announced salmon fishery closures and mandatory speed limits in areas where southern resident killer whales forage and travel in the ongoing effort to protect the endangered species. Until Nov. 30, all vessels must slow down to a maximum of 10 knots in two speed-restricted zones near Swiftsure Bank and no vessels or fishing are allowed in interim sanctuary zones off South Pender Island and the southeast end of Saturna Island. Recreational and commercial salmon fisheries will be closed both this year and next year in the whale's key foraging areas along Swiftsure Bank from July 15 until Oct. 31 and around the mouth of the Fraser River from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30. (Canadian Press)

Quieting the Global Growl
Underwater noise from ships has gotten louder, reshaping marine ecosystems and the lives of animals that depend on sounds to eat, mate, and navigate. Can ships ever pipe down? Amorina Kingdon writes. (Hakai Magazine)

A WA tribe will get paid by a railroad that trespassed. The question is how much
A federal judge found BNSF Railway willingly, consciously and knowingly trespassed when it ran about a quarter-million cars carrying crude oil over the Swinomish Reservation beyond what was outlined in an agreement with the tribe. Now, the issue at hand is how much money the railway must pay to make it right...A bench trial is underway before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik this week to determine the profits BNSF obtained as a result of its interference with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s legally protected property rights. Isabella Breda reports. (Seattle Times)

NW Indigenous people have long history of carefully managing camas crop
A prized plant for regional Native Americans has been carefully cultivated for more than 3,500 years, according to an Oregon State University study. Camas is a First Foods staple for Native Americans, who traditionally baked the bulbs in earthen ovens. Brian Bull reports. (KLCC)

Shellfish biotoxin closes entire Oregon Coast to mussel harvesting, sends some people to hospital
Oregon officials closed the state’s entire coast to mussel harvesting on Friday after an unprecedented outbreak of paralytic shellfish poisoning, which appears to also be affecting parts of Washington and California. April Ehrich reports. (OPB)

Bellingham issues swimming advisory for popular park after testing reveals high levels of bacteria
Swimmers are being advised to stay out of the water near Taylor Dock at the southern end of Boulevard Park due to high levels of bacteria. Whatcom County Health and Community Services issued an advisory on May 31 notifying the public to ‘Swim at your own risk,’ as measured bacteria levels in the water exceeded health standards and could cause illness. Rachel Showalter reports. (Bellingham Herald)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  202 AM PDT Tue Jun 4 2024    
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON    
TODAY  SW wind 20 to 25 kt, easing to 15 to 20 kt late. Seas  5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: SW 3 ft at 5 seconds and W 7 ft at  10 seconds. Showers likely this morning. A slight chance of  tstms. A chance of showers this afternoon.  
TONIGHT  SW wind 15 to 20 kt, easing to 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas 6 to 9 ft. Wave Detail: W 2 ft at 4 seconds and W  9 ft at 13 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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6/3 Lady fern, Thea Foss Waterway, ocean acid, Herring's House, power of fire, Tumwater oak tree, endangered fern

 

Lady Fern [Native Plants PNW]

Lady Fern  Athyrium filix-femina
Lady Fern is abundant throughout the northern hemisphere; found in all the states and provinces in North America. Natives ate the roots/rhizomes after roasting or baking in a pit.  They should always be cooked prior to eating. (Native Plants PNW)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Finally! State ferry system goes out to bid for new hybrid-electric vessels

This Tacoma Waterway contains the most polluted water in the PNW
The Thea Foss Waterway is one of the most polluted recreational waterways in the United States, according to the Surfrider Foundation which found high levels of potentially dangerous bacteria in the Foss during 47 percent of its monthly testing visits. Only five sites were higher across the nation. All told, 57 labs processed 9,538 water samples collected from the 567 sites. Craig Sailor reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Tribes seek to turn the tide on ocean acidity
Tribal nations and other partners look for ways to reduce ocean acidity, which has increased 30 percent in 250 years. Richard Arlin Walker reports. (ICT)

When Settlers Burned Herring’s House, an Ancient Duwamish Settlement
Archaeologists believe Herring’s House to have been the longest continually inhabited native village in North America. Then, in a few minutes during March of 1893, Herring’s House fell to an arsonist’s torch, and a 1,300-year history went up in smoke. John Brockhaus writes. (Post Alley)

The healing power of fire
Bringing back ancient Indigenous fire practices helps restore cultural connections, heal the land and strengthen communities. On Gitanyow lands, restorative fire brings people together and mitigates increasingly intense and widespread wildfires driven by climate change.  Matt Simmons reports. (The Narwhal)  See: Umatilla tribal leader passes the drip torch to future generations learning about prescribed fire. April Ehrich reports. (OPB)

Court revokes protective order for historic Tumwater oak tree
Recently, the city just south of Washington state’s capital has been cut up over a 400-year-old oak tree. The city calls the Davis Meeker Garry oak unsafe. Advocates say the historic tree needs to be preserved. At a court hearing Friday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Egeler sided with the city. She decided to remove a temporary restraining order, put in place May 24. The order was aimed at protecting the tree. Courtney Flatt reports. (NW News Network)

The little fern that could move a mine
A federal emergency order could stop a proposed open-pit mine near Rossland, B.C., but the odds are stacked against the threatened species. Francesca Fionda reports. (The Narwhal)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  230 AM PDT Mon Jun 3 2024  
TODAY  SW wind 15 to 20 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: W 2 ft  at 4 seconds, SW 3 ft at 7 seconds and W 7 ft at 11 seconds.  Rain.  
TONIGHT  S wind 15 to 20 kt, rising to 20 to 25 kt after  midnight. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: SE 4 ft at 5 seconds and W  7 ft at 11 seconds. Showers.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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5/31 Rough piddock, WA salmon passages, Indigenous MPAs, forested wetlands, LNG ad greenwashing, Prince Rupert LNG, woodpecker metalheads, week in review

Rough Piddock [Robert Gorman]

 

Rough Piddock  Zirfaea pilsbryi
The Rough Piddock is a clam able to drill through rock. Rough Piddocks have shells up to 6 inches long, one half smooth and the other rough with ridges and points. A fleshy foot extending from the rough end sticks to rock like a sucker. Once in place, muscles in the piddock's foot and body slowly turn the rough shell against the clay or rock and grind away. Thirty slight turns take an hour and rotate the piddock a full circle. Then the creature changes direction and grinds the other way. Slowly, the piddock burrows in. (Friends of Skagit Beaches)

Today's top stories in Salish Current: Limited-equity co-op model moves Lopez Island affordable housing forward / Cute ... and dangerous: suburban deer hazards are real

WA salmon passage projects are getting more than $75 million
Migrating salmon and steelhead face all kinds of obstacles littered throughout Washington. But piece by piece, those barriers will be removed, thanks in part to nearly $75 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Nearly $40 million of the funding announced will go to nine projects led by tribal nations, including tearing out a dam, culverts and other barriers to fish passage in rivers and streams from the Skagit to the Klickitat. Another four projects, including an effort to reconnect 125 river miles on the western Olympic Peninsula, received nearly $36 million. Isabella Breda reports. (Seattle Times)

Mapping the Growth of Indigenous Marine Protected and Conserved Areas
First Nations are managing their coastal territories in response to colonization. Stories from 10 news outlets explains how. Pippa Norman reports. (The Tyee)

Forested Wetlands Are Missing from Maps
Before they can be conserved, “cryptic” carbon-rich wetlands in the Pacific Northwest need to be documented. Natalia Mesa reports. (High County News/Hakai Magazine)

Leaked Decision Slams LNG Ads for Greenwashing
Claims made about LNG in wraparound ads that ran in major daily newspapers, including the Victoria Times Colonist, could not be substantiated by Ad Standards Canada, a leaked document reveals. Amanda Follett Hosgood  reports. (The Tyee)

Prince Rupert port to get busier with $1.35B gas export plant
Calgary-based AltaGas Ltd. and Netherlands-based joint venture partner Royal Vopak have approved a final investment decision for a large-scale liquefied petroleum gas and bulk liquids terminal project near Prince Rupert, B.C. The companies say site clearing work is more than 95 per cent complete and the project is expected to come online near the end of 2026. (Canadian Press)

'Chimney caps, vent pipes, gutters': Why some woodpeckers are major metal heads
Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said woodpeckers batter wood to find food, make a home, mark territory and attract a mate. But when they bash away at metal, primarily during the springtime breeding season, their metallic racket has two purposes, "basically summarized as: All other guys stay away, all the girls come to me." Sacha Pfeiffer reports. (NPR)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 5/31/24: Parrot Friday, BC old-growth, owl wars, BC hydrogen, raising sea stars, Woodfibre LNG, AK youth climate suit, salmon barriers.

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your weekend tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  223 AM PDT Fri May 31 2024    
TODAY  W wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming NW 10 to 15 kt late this  morning and afternoon. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: NW 2 ft at  4 seconds and W 3 ft at 8 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt, easing to 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: NW 2 ft at 4 seconds and  W 3 ft at 7 seconds. A chance of rain in the evening, then rain  after midnight.  
SAT  W wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming N in the afternoon. Seas 3 to  4 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at 10 seconds. Rain likely in the  morning, then a chance of showers in the afternoon.  
SAT NIGHT  W wind around 5 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W  4 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of showers in the evening, then rain  after midnight.  
SUN  E wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: SE 2 ft  at 4 seconds and W 4 ft at 10 seconds. Rain.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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5/30 Gaper clam, Woodfibre LNG, deer danger, BC ferries sale, AK youth climate suit

 

Gaper clam [Dave Cowles]

Gaper clam
Two species of gapers occur in Puget Sound: the fat gaper or Alaskan gaper (Tresus capax), and the less-common Pacific gaper (T. nuttallii), which has a narrower shell. Both species have a wide gape at one end of their shells to accommodate large tube-like siphons, used for water exchange. The siphons of gaper clams and geoducks are too large to be completely pulled inside their shells, so both must bury themselves deeply to avoid being chomped by predators like Dungeness crabs, moon snails, sea stars, and gulls. Gaper clams aren’t as strong diggers as their “better-at-everything” cousins the geoducks, but individuals can still be found up to four feet deep. (WDFW)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Land acknowledgments: from words to transformative actions

Squamish environmental group challenges Woodfibre LNG, FortisBC wastewater permits
The BC Energy Regulator has issued a permit for Woodfibre LNG to release more than 1,200 litres of contaminated wastewater daily into the Howe Sound fjord. Ainslie Cruickshank reports. (The Narwhal)

Cute and Dangerous: Suburban Deer Hazards are Real
Back in April 2016, volunteers in Port Townsend counted 230 deer in a half-hour survey that did not cover the entire city. Since then, deer numbers have grown. The mayor himself recently counted 49 deer in a 1.5-mile loop walk near his PT home, and posted his own video of being menaced by an aggressive deer. Karen Sullivan writes. (Rainshadow Journal)

B.C. Ferries seeks offers for four retired vessels
Queen of Burnaby, Mayne Queen, Bowen Queen and ­Powell River Queen are listed in the corporation’s request for ­proposals. Carla Wilson reports. (Times Colonist)

Youth climate-change lawsuit targets Alaska LNG project
Eight young Alaska residents sued the state on Wednesday seeking to block a major natural gas project, the latest in a string of climate-change related lawsuits by youths arguing that government policies promoting fossil fuels violate their rights. The Anchorage state court lawsuit, brought by a group of plaintiffs ranging in age from 11 to 22, alleges that an Alaska law mandating the project's development infringes on their due process rights and other constitutional protections by causing the release of greenhouse gases that harm their health and livelihood. Clark Mindock reports. (Reuters)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  217 AM PDT Thu May 30 2024    
TODAY  W wind 5 to 10 kt, rising to 10 to 15 kt this afternoon.  Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at 9 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt, easing to around 5 kt after  midnight. Seas around 3 ft. Wave Detail: W 3 ft at 9 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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5/29 Moon snail, BC old-growth, climate change beaches, raising sea stars, Dabob Bay

Moon snail [WDFW/Kevin Lee]

Moon Snail Euspira lewisii
One of the best-known invertebrates in the sandy intertidal zone is the Moon Snail, both because it is a large (up to 13 cm in diameter) species and because its egg masses are especially notable. Moon Snails are voracious predators on the clams that share their habitat. They find a clam, presumably by chemoreception, and envelope it in their big foot and often drag it more deeply into the sand. The radula has seven rows of teeth, with which they dig a hole (easily recognizable as made by this species because countersunk) into the clam shell. A gland on the proboscis secretes enzymes and even hydrochloric acid to help accomplish this. The snail then rasps and sucks out the clam’s tissues over a period of a day or so. (Puget Sound Museum of Natural History)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Local flower-farming takes root  in a global economy

Did B.C. keep its old-growth forest promises?
With an election approaching this fall, the BC NDP government has released a surprise update touting ‘significant progress’ on protecting old-growth forests. We take a look at the reality on the ground. Shannon Waters reports. (The Narwhal)

Will climate change cause more WA beach closures because of algae or bacteria?
It’s unclear how climate change might affect closures in the region. But generally algae thrives in warmer water and bacteria is commonly washed into waterways, mostly from animal feces. As summers get hotter, access to cold bodies of water will become more important for people who don’t have a place to cool down. Amanda Zhou reports. (Seattle Times)

Guide to raising sunflower starfish ‘nearly finished’
A top researcher for the University of Washington said that he expects to publish a book in coming months detailing how to raise sunflower sea stars that will hopefully show some resilience to the wasting disease that has killed nearly 6 billion of them in recent years. Scott Doggett reports. (PT Leader)

Public comment opens on Dabob Bay
Public comment on a proposed expansion of the Dabob Bay Natural Area opens today as the state Department of Natural Resources looks to add 671 acres to the protected area... A community meeting will be held at the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center in Coyle at 6 p.m. June 17 for members of the public to provide feedback on the proposal. Peter Segall reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  218 AM PDT Wed May 29 2024    
TODAY  W wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft  at 10 seconds. A chance of showers with a slight chance of tstms  this morning.  
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt, easing to 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft at 9 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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