Salish Sea News Week in Review October 22 2021

 

Aloha Wombat Friday!
Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about 1 m in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between 20 and 35 kg. There are three extant species and they are all members of the family Vombatidae. (Wikipedia)

Spirit Bears Have a Special Power When Hunting
A UVic scientist has discovered the advantage their white fur gives them for catching dinner.

Sea otters' seemingly destructive digging is making eelgrass more resilient: study
Scientists in B.C. have shown how the seemingly harmful actions of one marine species are actually benefiting another. B

Lawsuit claims hatcheries harm wild fish, orcas
The latest lawsuit over fish in the state claims hatchery-raised salmon and steelhead may impact already-diminished wild populations and the orca whales that eat them.

Heat-loving bacteria kills thousands of Washington salmon
An estimated 2,500 Chinook salmon died before they could reach their spawning grounds in Whatcom County in September.

Metro Vancouver terminates contract of 'abandoned' North Shore wastewater treatment plant
Metro Vancouver is terminating its contract with the builder of a billion-dollar sewage treatment plant in North Vancouver after it missed key construction milestones and has appeared to have “abandoned” the project.

Will Florida orca Lolita be released? New management, damning report renew advocates' fervor
After a quarter-century of futility, advocates seeking the release of Lolita the Killer Whale have renewed fervor.

EPA unveils strategy to regulate toxic ‘forever chemicals’
The Biden administration is launching a wide-ranging strategy to regulate toxic industrial compounds used in products including cookware, carpets and firefighting foam.

Salmon Need Trees
A new study stands as a striking reminder that logging watersheds has an outsized impact on salmon and trout.

Urine trouble: High nitrogen levels in Puget Sound cause ecological worry
Among its many environmental challenges, Puget Sound has a water quality problem caused in part from too much pee from the 4.5 million people living in the region. This problem, known euphemistically as “nutrient waste,” has caused Puget Sound to run afoul of the federal Clean Water Act.

Two front-runners in reopening the Intalco facility offer jobs, cleaner operation
Negotiations to purchase the Intalco property at Cherry Point may bring aluminum production back to the facility or create a steel mill using recycled materials. Dave Gallagher reports. (Bellingham Herald)

How a deadly land fungus began killing marine mammals in the Salish Sea
In the early 2000s, a fungus infected hundreds of animals and people in British Columbia and Washington State. Scientists found that the disease also killed porpoises and dolphins in the Salish Sea—perhaps affecting cetaceans even earlier than people.

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 at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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