Salish Sea News:
Week in Review May 24, 2019

Aloha Asparagus Friday!
Asparagus, from the genus family Asparagaceae, is made up of more than 200 species. The most common and economically important is garden asparagus, which is usually green with a purple-tinged top, but white asparagus is another common variety and is often grown in Europe. Asparagus was a delicacy of the ancient Romans and Greeks, and its name comes from the Greek word "asparagos." The name first appeared in print in English around 1000 CE.


Inslee signs budget, tax bills and orders $175M more to help salmon  Gov. Jay Inslee, determined to put more money toward helping salmon survival, on Tuesday directed the state to boost funding for court-ordered culvert repairs by $175 million over the next two years.


Low snowpack, hot spring lead to drought declaration for nearly half of Washington state 
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared drought Monday for nearly half of Washington watersheds, as the mountain snowpack that churns through hydropower dams, irrigates our state’s orchards and provides for fish continues to dwindle well below normal.


Drought: low snowpack, dry weather a concern across B.C., prairies
Drought forecasts from Agriculture Canada show most of British Columbia is abnormally dry or enduring some level of drought, similar to dry conditions that are being experienced across a swath of Western Canada.

Hostile Waters,Part 4: How our noise is hurting orcas’ search for salmon
Booming ships, boats and other traffic interfere with orcas' search for food. Calls and echolocation clicks are drowned out, making all their other problems worse.


Battle over orca whale-watch restrictions heats up in San Juan County
An initiative has been filed to increase the distance whale-watch boats must keep from endangered southern-resident orcas — followed immediately by a lawsuit earlier this week from several whale-watch companies to keep the measure off the ballot.

Vancouver Aquarium sues city, park board over cetacean ban
The Vancouver Aquarium is suing the city of Vancouver and the Vancouver Park Board over the 2017 cetacean ban, claiming it resulted in millions of dollars in lost revenue, and constituted a breach of contract.

Whales vs. trade: Environmentalists push back against proposed port terminal in Delta
A proposed new marine container terminal in Delta, B.C., is facing pushback from environmentalists who believe the project will threaten whales and the salmon they depend on for survival.

Southern resident orca matriarch J17 continues to decline, new photos show 
Concern is heightened for the survival of J17, an endangered southern resident orca who is continuing to decline, new photos show. Researcher John Durban, of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in his spring survey of the southern residents detected further emaciation in J17 since his last survey in fall 2018.

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather  which 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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