Salish Sea News Week in Review December 4, 2020

 

Aloha Cheetah Friday!
The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, capable of running at 80 to 128 km/h (50 to 80 mph), and as such has several adaptations for speed, including a light build, long thin legs and a long tail.

Exxon Writes Off Record Amount From Value of Assets Amid Energy Market Downturn
After insisting for months that its oil and gas investments remain as valuable as ever, ExxonMobil plans to write down $17 to $20 billion in natural gas assets, in the largest such announcement the company has ever made.

B.C. oyster producers fighting to stay afloat financially and hold on to their farms during pandemic
While many B.C. restaurants have adapted to COVID-19 restrictions by offering home delivery, it is not likely a customer's first thought to dial up a dozen half shell oysters.

What will a Biden presidency mean for environmental protections and public lands — in Washington and beyond?
After four years of rollbacks to environmental protections and reductions to public lands introduced by the Trump administration, President-elect Joe Biden and his incoming administration will be presented with a chance to reverse course, say outdoor recreation and advocacy groups.

It’s Time to Listen
The onset of COVID-19 created devastation worldwide. But for whale researchers like Janie Wray, who has been studying the unique calls of killer, humpback, and fin whales in British Columbia for more than 20 years, the pandemic presented a unique opportunity—a chance to hear how whales respond to a quieter underwater world.

‘A lost run’: logging and climate change decimate steelhead in B.C. river
When zero fish showed up for a winter count in the Gold River on Vancouver Island, their absence hinted at a much larger story of how and why this species is disappearing throughout the province.

Tufted puffins denied Endangered Species Act protections
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday denied Endangered Species Act protections for the tufted puffin, a whimsical, wobbly seabird found up and down the northern Pacific Coast of North America and Asia.

Nearly 3,000 European invaders found on Puget Sound shores. They’re crabs
Since April, Lummi Nation natural resources crews had trapped more than 2,600 of the unwelcome invertebrates, up from just 64 the year before, and more than anywhere in Washington state.

Ship strikes 'significant' cause of death for southern resident killer whales, UBC study finds
Necropsies of over 50 killer whales over the last decade show more of the mammals are dying as a direct result of human behaviours in the Pacific Ocean than previously thought.

Killer whale populations are dying. New study helps researchers understand why
Humans could be a major cause of death for killer whales, new research says. 

Tire dust killing coho salmon returning to Puget Sound, new research shows
...In a breakthrough paper published in the Dec. 3 issue of Science, a team of researchers revealed the culprit behind the deaths of coho in an estimated 40% of the Puget Sound area — a killer so lethal it takes out 40 to 90% of returning coho to some urban streams before they spawn. It is a killer hidden in plain sight.

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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