Salish Sea Communications: February 2022

Friday, February 25, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 25 2022

Aloha Skip the Straw Friday!
The Coral Keepers, a group of nine eighth grade students at Whitehall Middle School in Whitehall, Michigan, founded National Skip the Straw Day with their advisor, Susan Tate, in 2017, "to encourage Americans to give up the straw habit and help spread awareness about the damage caused by disposable plastics." National Skip the Straw Day encourages people to switch to renewable straws or to forgo straws altogether when drinking on the day—or on any day.

Pipeline expansion would increase the flow of natural gas through the Northwest
A Canadian company is proposing a project to increase the capacity of its pipeline transporting natural gas across the Northwest.

Nearly half of US bald eagles suffer lead poisoning
While the bald eagle population has rebounded from the brink of extinction since the U.S. banned the pesticide DDT in 1972, harmful levels of toxic lead were found in the bones of 46% of bald eagles sampled in 38 states from California to Florida

Banning toxic chemicals in cosmetics moves forward in WA
A measure advancing in Washington’s Legislature would ban the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in cosmetics.

Hundreds of new native bees species added to Oregon database
The Oregon Bee Atlas just got bigger. In an update announced this month, the largest bee and plant database in the state added hundreds of new native bee species that were discovered all over the state.

Flush with taxpayer dollars, Washington Democratic lawmakers release new budget proposals
The supplemental budget proposals make changes to Washington’s two-year, $59 billion state operating budget approved last spring, which funds everything from schools, prisons, parks and public lands to economic assistance, mental health services and other social supports.

Climate Change Could Increase Risk of Wildfires 50% by Century's End
A landmark United Nations report has concluded that the risk of devastating wildfires around the world will surge in coming decades as climate change further intensifies what the report described as a “global wildfire crisis.”

Save salmon, create jobs: A new plan for Snohomish watershed
State Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz has a 100-page plan for the Snohomish watershed.

Biden administration suspends approval of controversial Alaska mining road
The Biden administration on Tuesday said it found “significant deficiencies” in a Trump-era environmental analysis of a controversial mining road that would cut through wilderness and Indigenous territory in northwest Alaska.

US Supreme Court declines to hear Dakota Access appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by developers of the Dakota Access Pipeline seeking to overturn a mandated environmental review of their project, closing a years-long chapter in the legal fight over the pipeline.

Salish Sea providing a 'window' into the future of ocean acidification
WDFW is currently studying whether crabs could be impacted by ocean acidification, a process some scientists say Puget Sound is particularly susceptible to.

Tracking what we know — and don’t know — about the attack on a Coastal GasLink worksite
Following millions of dollars in estimated damages at a natural gas pipeline worksite in northwest B.C., no arrests have been made and many questions remain.

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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Friday, February 18, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 18 2022

Aloha Pluto Friday!
Astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930, at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Percival Lowell was the first to propose that the planetary body that turned out to be Pluto existed. Wobbles in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune had been detected, and he thought they must be caused by the gravitational pull of an unknown planetary body. Lowell determined the approximate location of the body and tried to locate it for more than a decade, to no avail. Tombaugh found Pluto while using a blink microscope combined with photographic plates. The discovery was publicly announced on March 13, on the anniversary of Lowell's birth and of the discovery of Uranus.

Cargo-spilling ship leaves Northwest, returns to Asia. Its debris remains
Nearly four months after spilling 109 shipping containers off the Washington and British Columbia coasts, the Zim Kingston left North American waters on Wednesday.

Oregon Dungeness crab season breaking records
After starting on time for the first time in years, Oregon's Dungeness crab season is bringing in a record-breaking haul. Fishermen have brought in about $80 million this season, which began Dec. 1.

Scientists question state plan that doubles sewer bills at Puget Sound treatment plants
Sewer bills could double by the end of the decade under a state plan that will require billions of dollars to construct new systems at wastewater treatment plants that discharge into Puget Sound.

Plan for Snohomish River Watershed meant to tackle threats to salmon 'head on'
Calling it the “Watershed Resilience Action Plan” for the Snohomish River Watershed, Washington state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz outlined a system of fixes to bring back salmon and other fish to the river on Tuesday.

Court Rules on No Discharge Zone, Blocking Lingering Trump Administration Attempt to Allow Vessels to Dump Sewage into Puget Sound
Late February 14, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., denied a move by the American Waterways Operators and the previous Trump Administration U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to halt the implementation of a No Discharge Zone (NDZ) for Puget Sound in Washington state.

Pacific Salmon Treaty failing to address harvest of B.C. stocks
Significant numbers of salmon returning to spawn in British Columbia are being caught in southeast Alaskan fisheries, hindering Canada’s efforts to preserve and rebuild stocks that are declining to historic lows, B.C. salmon advocates say.

Study suggests climate change made B.C. floods twice as likely
Catastrophic floods that swamped much of southern B.C. last fall were at least twice as likely because of climate change, suggests new research from Environment Canada.

Washington researchers identify new tool in fight to contain invasive green crabs: eDNA
State wildlife officials are requesting more than $8.5 million in emergency funding from the Legislature to boost the fight against invasive European green crabs.

Violence erupts at Coastal GasLink site near Houston, B.C.
Very early Thursday, just after midnight, Coastal GasLink security called RCMP for help, reporting it was under attack by about 20 people, some wielding axes.

Mysterious bubbles in Puget Sound: UW researchers track hundreds of seeping gas plumes
Data collected since 2011 shows 349 methane plumes in Puget Sound and Hood Canal. Researchers are exploring a potential correlation between the distribution of plumes and fault lines. Nicholas Turner reports.

Friday, February 11, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 11 2022

Aloha Women and Girls in Science Friday!
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is the 11th day of February, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on 22 December 2015. The day recognizes the critical role women and girls play in science and technology.

For the first time in generations, the Snoqualmie Tribe has land
The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe has purchased thousands of acres of ancestral forestlands in east King County, land that holds special meaning to the people who have been without a reservation for generations.

Hidden research lab at Seattle Aquarium studies microplastics pollution
The Seattle Aquarium attracts visitors from all over to the city’s central waterfront. Perched on Pier 60, it has a commanding view of Elliott Bay. It’s also an ideal place to study the tiny bits of plastic that wind up in the water and threaten marine wildlife.

Climate change impacting local shellfish health
Extreme climate events are making shellfish less safe for human consumption, leading to harvesting closures across the county.

Transient whales, whose Salish Sea visits are increasing, spending time in Hood Canal
Monika Wieland Shields, director of Orca Behavior Institute on San Juan Island, said there was a record-breaking presence of Bigg’s killer whales in 2021.

Deschutes restoration project in Tumwater reveals history of poor forestry practices
The Deschutes River, which snakes its way north through Lewis and Thurston counties and out to Puget Sound through Budd Inlet, is fragile... Each year, experts say the erosion pushes approximately 2,380 cubic yards of sediment into the river.

Barge stranded on Vancouver's Sunset Beach to be dismantled and removed
Contractors working on the project say the piece-by-piece removal will take up to 15 weeks.

Bellingham OKs measure to curb commercial natural gas use
Bellingham has become the third Washington city to require new buildings to use electricity for heat as part of an effort to decrease the city’s greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuels that propel climate change.

WA House, Senate Democrats release $16 billion transportation package
House and Senate Democrats in Washington state on Tuesday unveiled a $16 billion, 16-year transportation revenue package that spends on a variety of projects ranging from building new hybrid electric ferries and funding more walking and biking corridors to highway maintenance and replacing fish passage culverts.

'Once in a millennium' rogue wave recorded off Ucluelet
A giant wave off Ucluelet in 2020 is the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded, says a group of Victoria scientists. The 17.6-metre swell — as high as a four-storey building — was recorded with sensor buoys at Amphitrite Bank, about seven kilometers off Ucluelet.

Giant Kelp Is Getting Less Nutritious
For myriad ocean residents, such as jellyfish, crabs, urchins, fish, and prawns, giant kelp is an important source of food and shelter. A new study, however, shows that this dietary staple is becoming less nutritious.

Delta wants federal government to delay or deny Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project
The City of Delta is requesting that the federal government postpone or altogether deny the approval of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) project because of the adverse, unmitigable effects it would bring to the surrounding community and environment.

Scientists make final bid to stop Port of Vancouver’s terminal expansion: ‘they can’t mitigate the consequences’
The port promises it can mitigate the impacts of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion on endangered species like Chinook salmon and southern resident killer whales, but scientists argue the port’s final plan still impacts more than 100 species of concern in the heart of the Fraser River estuary.

Friday, February 4, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review February 4 2022

Aloha Hemp Friday!
National Hemp Day was started in 2019 to increase awareness of the entire hemp industry, to support hemp farmers, and to encourage people to research what type of hemp products are right for them. Hemp and marijuana both come from the Cannabis sativa plant. Whereas marijuana is high in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive cannabinoid, hemp contains less than 0.3 percent of it. Hemp has numerous uses: hemp fiber can be used to make rope, string, yarn, cable, canvas, bioplastics, and clothing. Hemp seeds consist of approximately 30 percent oil, and the oil can be used to make paints, soaps, biofuels, and varnishes, and can also be eaten. The seeds themselves can be eaten and be used to make milk. Hemp also contains cannabidiol (CBD), another cannabinoid, which can be taken in the form of tincture drops, capsules, gummies, vape oils, topicals, bath bombs, and more.

Bans on fossil fuel heating in new homes gain steam as world aims for net-zero emissions
Vancouver and Quebec recently banned certain kinds of fossil fuel-based heating in new home construction. Similar — and, in some cases more extensive — bans are happening around the world, from Norway to New York City.

Canada’s biggest emitters are paying the lowest price on carbon
Oil and gas producers pay among the lowest average carbon costs of any sector – and it’s threatening Canada’s climate targets.

Anticipated Salish Sea vessel traffic increases spark calls for more environmental protections
Fossil fuel and terminal expansion projects up and down the Salish Sea are estimated to boost annual shipping vessel traffic by at least 25% in the near future, and the projected increase has raised concerns about increased risk to the environment.

International research team to probe salmon mysteries in North Pacific
An international team of more than 60 scientists on four vessels is headed out on rough winter seas to investigate West Coast and Alaska salmon in the North Pacific.

US plays catch up with Canada to quiet ships for endangered orcas
Canada’s ECHO Program setting the benchmark for protection of southern resident killer whales, with the US said to be five years behind in its efforts

Executive Sidhu: County Remains Committed to Partnership in Cross-Border Flood Planning Efforts
"Whatcom County does not and has no plans to “send” Nooksack floodwaters north to Canada." Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu.

B.C. extends aerial wolf cull for five more years
A controversial wolf cull in B.C. has been extended for another five years, according to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

Scientists deploy buoy in Puget Sound to measure noise, risks to orcas
Scientists aboard the King County research vessel ‘SoundGuardian’ Tuesday deployed a buoy that will monitor underwater noise in Puget Sound – which poses risks to our southern resident orca population.

Green aluminum? Complex deal seeks to restart the last aluminum smelter in the NW and cut pollution
A complex deal is taking shape to revive the Pacific Northwest's last remaining aluminum smelter. Alcoa idled its Intalco Works smelter near Ferndale, Washington, a year-and-a-half ago and laid off virtually all the workers there.

Think 85,000 invasive crabs is a lot? Wait 'til you see Vancouver Island
While 85,000 invasive green crabs—a record number—were captured near Bellingham last year, trappers have scooped up more than 107,000 European green crabs in Clayoquot Sound, the traditional territories of the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nations, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

There's a tree seed shortage in Washington state. What does that mean for our beloved forests?
As wildfires grow in size and regularity, those millions of acres are going up in flames. Normally, there's an ecosystem of public and private tree nurseries that reseed our forests. But a seed shortage now threatens their future.

To save Western US forests, cut them way back, study suggests
A new study proposes a radical prescription for the ailing health of dry U.S. Western forests: cutting back trees by as much as 80%.