Salish Sea News Week in Review October 16 2026

 

Aloha Global Cat Day

Global Cat Day, which was known as National Feral Cat Day from 2001 through 2016, is a day when Alley Cat Allies launches an educational campaign around the world to protect the lives of cats in all communities—with a specific focus on the lives of outdoor cats. According to Alley Cat Allies, since feral cats can't adapt to indoor living after being wild, the best way to help them is to treat them with the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) process. When following this process, feral cats are first neutered or spayed, then they are vaccinated against rabies, next they are ear tipped so they can be identified, and then they are sent back to their outdoor home.

$5 million plan protects Olympia-area forest, shoreline and rare cove
The Thurston County-based nonprofit Capitol Land Trust recently announced that more than 200 acres of almost completely undeveloped property with rare environmental features northwest of Olympia has gained permanent protection. 

Lack of rain prompts water restrictions in Comox Valley
Inflows into the Comox Lake Reservoir are at their lowest for the period from May 16 to now since records started being kept 64 years ago. 

Elwha River dam removal project nears capstone with land transfer to tribe
The lands where the Elwha River dams were blasted and a river freed are slated to return to the tribe, marking the capstone of the federal project. 

Washington among 4 states with highest rate of whale entanglements, report shows
Of the Pacific coastal states with the most reports in 2025, California had the highest at 27.6%; Alaska had 23.7%; Hawaii, 15.8%; and Washington, 11.8%. 

Southern resident orca population increases by two; no adult deaths reported in latest census
Four new calves were reported during the recent census year, ending in July, but only two of them have survived. That raises the official population count to 76 whales in 2026, as reported by the Center for Whale Research in its annual census report.

Vancouver sees record-setting number of cruise ship passenger visits in 2026, expects growth next year
Vancouver’s port authority is anticipating even more growth in 2027 after a record-setting year for cruise ship tourism in the city, which the authority says injected more than $1 billion into the local economy.

Fact-checking the B.C. NDP's environmental record

The B.C. NDP campaign released its environmental commitments over the weekend. During the last campaign two years ago, the party made pledges on everything from methane emissions to habitat protection to preserving old-growth forests. Here's how they fared.

Mining seawater? Northwest researchers see a motherlode of critical minerals in the waves
Salt may be the first mineral that comes to mind when we think about seawater, but in every drop, there are actually dozens of elements and compounds. 

Despite efforts, Northwest cruise ships collide with whales, climate
Cruise ship season wrapped up Sunday in Seattle, with close to 1 million people boarding a cruise ship in 2026, a record number, according to the Port of Seattle. Moving these floating resorts through the sea can have big impacts – from hitting whales to heating the planet. 

Docktober invites folks to join citizen scientists in peeking under docks
Luan Roberts' mission is to get more folks involved in the emerging citizen science known as “dock fouling” with Dock of the Month Club meetups around Puget Sound.

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 msato(at)salish-current.org .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