Salish Sea Communications: March 2023

Friday, March 31, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 31 2023

Aloha César Chávez Friday!
César Chávez Day is a commemorative holiday throughout the United States, and a state holiday in some states, such as California. It takes place on César Chávez's birthday and honors his legacy as a civil rights and labor movement leader, where his focus was on improving the treatment, conditions, and pay of farm workers. His tactics were strikes, boycotts, marches, and hunger strikes. His first strike was against the grape growers of California in 1965, and in 1968 he called for a national boycott of California table grape growers. Several victories were eventually won after many growers signed contracts with the union. Chávez's group fought against other growers over the years and raised awareness about the effects of pesticides on workers.

The race to understand how kelp forests dampen ocean noise — before it’s too late
As kelp forests decline, scientists worry sensitive sea creatures are losing a sanctuary from sonic overload.

Judge rules BNSF intentionally violated terms of easement with Swinomish tribe
BNSF intentionally violated the terms of an easement agreement with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community when the railway company ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil over the reservation, a federal judge ruled Monday...when the railway made a unilateral decision in increasing the number of trains and cars crossing the reservation without the tribe’s consent.

Southern Resident orcas spend less time near San Juan Islands because of salmon supply
A new study found that over the past 17 years, as the Fraser River Chinook salmon population has dropped, the time spent by the orcas around the San Juan Islands has declined by more than 75%.

Herring spawn off northern Vancouver Island dazzles residents and animals alike
Just off the coast of northern Vancouver Island, the ocean waters have turned a vibrant shade of turquoise as herring spawn in an area where they've never been recorded before.

Biden and Trudeau agree to address mining pollution in B.C.’s Elk Valley — and it’s a big deal
Pollution from some of Canada’s largest coal mines has been getting worse for decades and is now spilling over into the U.S.

Miami Seaquarium announces new effort to return last captive Puget Sound orca
The new leaders of the Miami Seaquarium announced Thursday an effort to release orca Tokitae, also known as Lolita, to her home waters in the Pacific Northwest after she has lived in a small tank for more than five decades.

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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

Friday, March 24, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 24 2023

"We've fetched up, ah, hard aground, north of Goose Island, off Bligh Reef and, ah, evidently leaking some oil and we're gonna be here for a while and, ah, if you want, ah, so you're notified."- Capt. Joe Hazelwood, 12:26 a.m., March 24,1989.

Remember Exxon Valez Friday
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in the Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. Exxon Valdez, an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) west of Tatitlek, Alaska at 12:04 a.m. and spilled 10.8 million US gallons (257,000 bbl) (or 37,000 tonnes) of crude oil over the next few days. (Wikipedia)

‘Filthy Four’ — state targets Tacoma site with 1,200 polluted pilings for cleanup
The Dickman Mill site in Tacoma is one of the so-called “Filthy Four” that DNR has put on top of their clean-up to do list. The other three are Ray’s Boathouse pier in Seattle, the Triton-America pier in Anacortes and the High Tides Seafood pier in Neah Bay on the Makah reservation.

Inbreeding hinders population recovery among endangered Southern Resident killer whales
While a scarcity of Chinook salmon and other environmental factors may be pushing the Southern Resident killer whales toward extinction, a new genetics study has revealed that inbreeding has been exerting a powerful, overriding influence upon the small, genetically isolated population.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada faces deluge of calls to improve ‘suspect’ science
A parliamentary committee investigation ended with 49 recommendations to address concerns about how DFO science is presented to the fisheries minister and the public before important political decisions are made — particularly those involving B.C. salmon farms or commercial fisheries on either coast.

What to know about the Swinomish oil train suit as federal trial begins
A civil trial began in a federal courtroom in Seattle on Monday to determine if BNSF in 2012 began transporting 100-car trains of highly combustible crude oil willfully, consciously or knowingly trespassing over the reservation and whether it intentionally breached a 1991 easement agreement.

Cruise Ship Invasion
Take a typical Alaska cruise and see the damage in its wake. The evidence is clear: the industry needs an overhaul.

'Build in Washington' rule may be cast overboard to obtain new ferries affordably and quickly
Every new car ferry added to the Washington State Ferries fleet over the past fifty years was built at a Puget Sound shipyard. Now, state lawmakers are considering a break from past policy in order to obtain new vessels faster and cheaper for the troubled state ferry system.

Fish farmers launch legal challenge of fish farm closures
Three salmon farming companies and two First Nations that support fish farming are challenging federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray’s decision last month not to renew federal licences for 15 salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.

Safety device, human error derailed Anacortes train, federal officials say
The Federal Railroad Administration has confirmed KUOW reporting that a safety device meant to keep trains from plunging into Puget Sound knocked a train off the tracks and onto the Swinomish Reservation early Thursday morning.

Friday, March 17, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 17 2023

Aloha Sleep Friday!
World Sleep Day exists to highlight and celebrate the importance of quality, healthy sleep. It has the goal of bringing attention and awareness to sleep problems and disorders, while promoting prevention and management of them, in order to reduce them in society. Other related goals of the day are to increase research of sleep medicines and to come to a better understanding of sleep conditions. Up to 45% of the world's population has a sleep problem, and most of these problems can be prevented or treated, but only about one in three people seek treatment.

Oregon researchers develop new treatment for endangered sea stars
For this new treatment, researchers at the aquarium place a sea star in cold water, feed it probiotics and provide medicated baths, and reported they’ve saved 17 specimens so far.

WA lab scrambles to save sunflower sea star, which may get listed as threatened
Once an ubiquitous delight of the Salish Sea, the sunflower star may soon be listed as threatened. A small lab at Friday Harbor could breed a new generation of the species.

Kiska, the last captive killer whale in Canada, has died
The Ontario government says Kiska, the last captive killer whale in Canada, has died. Kiska is believed to have been 47 years old and was captured in Icelandic waters in 1979.

Banking on the Seaweed Rush
Seaweed farmers promise to feed us, combat climate change, support coastal communities, provide wildlife habitat, and more. Can seaweed do it all?

An invisible climate killer is lurking behind B.C.’s LNG boom
Notoriously difficult to track, methane emissions disproportionately fuel the climate crisis.

What researchers learned studying PNW orcas hunting for salmon
In a first-of-its-kind study of the hunting behaviors of salmon-eating orcas, researchers found stark differences in two populations of killer whales that may have implications for their survival.

EPA moves to limit toxic 'forever chemicals' in drinking water
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed limiting the amount of harmful "forever chemicals" in drinking water to the lowest level that tests can detect, a long-awaited protection the agency said will save thousands of lives and prevent serious illnesses, including cancer.

BC Approves New LNG Plant, Introduces Oil and Gas Emission Caps
Haisla Nation welcomes green light, but critics sound warning on threat to province’s climate plan.

National Audubon Society, pressured to remove slave-owning naturalist’s name, keeps it
The prominent bird conservation group weighed — but decided against — shedding its ties to John James Audubon, a famed naturalist who was also an unabashed enslaver.

Is BC LNG Really Green?
Industry says exporting gas will cut emissions. Not true, say experts.

Why Canada likely won't need any more big new oil pipelines after Trans Mountain
Construction of the Trans Mountain expansion project is set to wrap up later this year, and it's likely the last new oil export pipeline the country will ever need.

Idled Whatcom County Intalco smelter closure announced by Alcoa
The Intalco aluminum smelter west of Ferndale has been permanently closed, according to a news release Thursday, March 16, from Alcoa Corporation.

Friday, March 10, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 10 2023

Aloha Mario Friday!
Mario Day was started by Mario Fascitelli as "a day for all persons named Mario." The date of March 10 was chosen because an abbreviation of the day, MAR10, looks similar to MARIO. Eventually, fans of the video game character Mario began celebrating him on the day. Beginning in 2016, Nintendo officially began embracing the day.

A treaty to protect the world's oceans has been agreed after a decade of talks
For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas — nearly half the planet's surface — concluding two weeks of talks in New York.

Coastal First Nation’s cutting-edge ocean wave energy project just got a million-dollar boost
A cutting-edge clean energy project to use ocean waves to power a coastal First Nation’s return to its traditional territory on Vancouver Island’s wild west coast just got a surge in funding. To buoy the next stages of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation’s Yuquot Wave Energy Project, $1 million was granted to one of the initiative’s partners, the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery.

Sauk-Suiattle lawsuit against Seattle City Light headed back to trial court
A state appeals court has sent a lawsuit accusing Seattle City Light of false advertising back to King County Superior Court, giving the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe another chance to argue what is called greenwashing.

Fish in hot water: decades of logging tied to warmer temperatures in unprotected salmon-bearing streams
New research finds logging restrictions along small, unprotected streams could go a long way to keeping water cool and safe for the at-risk fish.

These Rare and Beautiful BC Reefs Fight Climate Change
So why hasn’t the government cancelled oil and gas exploration permits that could damage them?

WA greenhouse gas allowance auction raises estimated $300M

Washington state's first auction of greenhouse-gas pollution allowances has generated an estimated $300 million as companies, consumers and the Legislature get a glimpse of the cost of emitting greenhouse gases that are increasing climate catastrophes.

Canada's single-use plastic ban faces its first legal test
Canada's single-use plastic regulations face their first legal test today as the plastics lobby and the federal government head to court.

B.C. coal mines' economic impact overstated: study
The report, authored by six scholars including SFU professor Rosemary Collard and UBC professor Jessica Dempsey, concludes the province’s environmental impact assessment process did not protect wildlife habitat as intended.

B.C. salmon farms in Broughton Archipelago shuttered after First Nations’ decision: ‘we’re over the moon’
Several more fish farms are set to be removed from coastal waters after three First Nations chose not to consent to their continued operation in the Broughton Archipelago.

It's a good day to celebrate Billy Frank Jr. (March 9)
On March 9, each year, several Northwest tribes, schools, and public agencies celebrate Billy Frank Jr. Day. Billy Frank Jr.

Climate change is posing a serious threat to Canada — and B.C. in particular, intelligence service says
Significant parts of the province could be lost to rising sea levels, according to CSIS.

Friday, March 3, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 3 2023

Aloha Hergé Friday!
The Belgian cartoonist Georges Prosper Remi, who died on this day in 1983, was known by the pen name Hergé, from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials RG. He is best known for creating "The Adventures of Tintin," the series of comic albums which are considered one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century.

Hundreds of WA plants, animals at risk of extinction
Over a third of species and ecosystems in the United States are at risk of disappearing, including hundreds of plants and animals in Washington. In a newly released report, conservation research group NatureServe analyzed data from its network of more than 1,000 scientists across the United States and Canada.

Sapsucker housing crisis: endangered woodpecker ‘condos’ are being clear cut
Almost two decades after the Williamson’s sapsucker was listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, the B.C. government continues to sanction logging in the bird’s old-growth forest critical habitat.

Tuesday marks 22 years since the Nisqually earthquake. Here’s what WA residents remember
It was the strongest quake to rattle the region since a 6.7 magnitude earthquake in 1965.

Dam owner pleads guilty after spilling turf, tire bits in Puyallup River
The Washington Attorney General’s office is recommending that Electron Hydro and owner Thom Fischer pay a $1 million penalty for a misdemeanor violation, with most of the money going to help restore the river.

Tacoma pioneer of politics put environmental justice on the map in Washington state
Tacoma named a park in her honor last February for Black History month, but still relatively few people seem to know much about Tacoma resident Rosa Franklin.

‘Help the kelp!’ Northwest groups try to aid struggling kelp forests
There's a rallying cry at various bays and beaches up and down the West Coast; it's "Help the kelp!" The towering brown seaweed with the floating bulb on top is in steep decline.

First auction held for ‘licenses to pollute’ in Washington
A big list of carbon polluters in Washington is now subject to a cap and trade regulation system. The first auction was held Tuesday for permits to emit greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Clouds Building over BC LNG Projects
British Columbia’s NDP government is expressing doubts about growing the province’s liquefied natural gas industry while the BC Liberal Opposition wants more LNG projects approved faster.

Human Elements: Reviving Indigenous methods of habitat restoration
The Guardian Watchmen, a group of Wei Wai Kum First Nations citizens, use traditional methods to protect Vancouver Island's fragile ecosystems.