Friday, November 21, 2025

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 21 2025

 



Aloha Cranberry Friday!
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to 2 meters long and 5 to 20 centimeters in height; they have slender stems that are not thickly woody and have small evergreen leaves. In 2020, the U.S., Canada, and Chile accounted for 97% of the world production of cranberries.

WA and Alaska halibut fishing crews see troubling signs
Halibut stocks have plunged from record highs of the 1990s across a broad range of the North Pacific. Halibut now appear to be at, or near, their lowest point of the past century. 

ICE looks to WA tribes to house detained immigrants 
As the Trump administration searches for more space to detain immigrants, it is approaching Washington tribes to see if they will participate. 

EPA moves to limit scope of clean water law to reduce amount of wetlands it covers
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is redefining the scope of the nation’s bedrock clean water law to significantly limit the wetlands it covers, building on a Supreme Court decision two years ago that removed federal protections for vast areas.

BC’s Flood Prevention Promises Remain Unfulfilled
Four years after flooding devastated several British Columbia communities, key government promises made in the wake of the disaster remain unfulfilled.

Jet fuel spill shuts down Northwest's main oil pipeline
Spill-response crews planned to start digging up a blueberry farm near Everett on Tuesday to find the cause of a jet-fuel spill that shut down the Pacific Northwest’s primary oil pipeline. The farm sits on the route of the Olympic Pipeline, a mostly underground, 400-mile system of pipes owned by BP.

Emergency declared as Northwest’s main oil pipeline shuts down again
The Northwest’s primary oil pipeline has shut down for the second time in a week, this time leading Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson to declare an emergency. 

Bear Gulch Fire fully contained after four months and 20,000 acres burned
The Bear Gulch Fire was 100% contained as of Nov. 6, according to the official fire update webpage managed by the USDA Forest Service. Since July 6, the human-caused fire has burned 20,232 acres in Olympic National Forest.

Trump administration seeks to roll back protections for imperiled species and habitat 
President Donald Trump’s administration moved Wednesday to roll back protections for imperiled species and the places they live, proposing elimination of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “blanket rule” that automatically protects animals and plants when they are classified as threatened.

Seattle-bound barge loaded with containers and vehicles sinking off B.C. coast
A barge carrying numerous cargo containers is sinking in the waters off British Columbia's central coast, and the local First Nation says there is concern about possible pollution because it's unclear what's on board. 

Ocean acidification to hit Puget Sound harder, study says 
The waters of Puget Sound are more susceptible to ocean acidification and sliding faster into dangerous territory for its marine wildlife than other places around the world, a new study shows.

Trump administration announces plan for new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida
The Trump administration announced on Thursday new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.


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.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, November 14, 2025

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 14 2025



Aloha Pickle Friday!
The term "pickles" is usually refers to cucumbers that are preserved in brine – salted water – with spices and herbs. In general, however, pickles are vegetables, fruits and other food items that are preserved in brine, salt and oil, or vinegar. The process is called pickling, and it kills bacteria in food, either by immersing them in an acidic solution, such as vinegar, or by fermentation. 

A visit to the pristine Western Arctic, which faces gas and oil drilling
Lynda Mapes discusses the trip she recently made to the Western Arctic, a vast region in the northernmost part of North America where the Trump administration plans to open for oil and gas drilling. 

Dave Upthegrove on land sales, federal funding cuts and wildfire immigration raids
Washington state’s new public lands commissioner came into office with his own ambitious agenda. It’s playing out against a shifting backdrop in D.C. 

Another humpback whale found dead in the Salish Sea
A humpback whale has been found dead in the Salish Sea, the second confirmed humpback death in coastal B.C. waters in just over two weeks. The whale was identified through photographs as Polyphemus (BCZ0342), a 21-year old humpback known to migrate to Hawaii. 

“I've been thinking about this possibility for 15 years": Killer whale experts make new discovery off North American coast
New research has revealed that West Coast transient killer whales – found from south-eastern Alaska to southern California – are two distinct communities that rarely encounter each other. 

Boaters witness epic orca hunt and rescue a seal in Puget Sound
A seal pursued by a Bigg's orca escaped by jumping into a boat where photographer Charvet Drucker caught the action. 

This lab is key for tracking deadly waves. Its sensors are about to go offline.
After NOAA ceased funding to the lab that’s been monitoring seismic activity for more than 25 years, nine stations tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes for the agency will go offline by the end of the month. 

B.C.’s century-long feast on big, old trees has sent forests into freefall 
A close look at the province’s old-growth data reveals a gap between political promises and what’s happening on the ground. 

Wildfire risk is making timberland less valuable
Longer harvest rotations are also becoming less feasible, meaning trees may have to be logged before their optimal age. 

How climate change is threatening the future of winter sport
Melting glacier at Whistler Blackcomb a stark reminder of the toll of a warming planet. 

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)salishseacom.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, November 7, 2025

Salish Sea News Week in Review November 7 2025

 




Happy Birthday, Joni!
Roberta Joan Mitchell (b. Nov. 7 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, painter, and multi-instrumentalist. A highly regarded figure in folk music, Mitchell's influential albums from the 1960s to the 2000s sold millions of copies and inspired generations of artists.

Newest J-Pod orca calf missing, presumed dead
The Center for Whale Research said its latest observation of J-Pod on Oct. 23 did not find J64, born in September, when it encountered the entire pod, including the calf’s mother, J42, in Swanson Channel off Mayne Island. 

Forest Service restarts effort to change decades-old Pacific Northwest forest policy 
The U.S. Forest Service is going back to the drawing board with an update to the Northwest Forest Plan, a set of policies that broadly dictates where logging can occur on 25 million acres of forests in Oregon, Washington and northwest California. 

Tiny birds, and their tiny superfood, could decline due to ‘irreversible’ effects of Vancouver port expansion
The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion at Canada’s busiest cargo port could be fast-tracked by the federal government. It’s a major stop for 3.5 million western sandpipers to eat and recharge while travelling the entire Pacific. 

Young Chinook salmon in Puget Sound near urban waterways found containing ‘forever chemicals’ 
A study led by WDFW’s Toxics Biological Observation System unit and researchers from the University of Washington discovered various “contaminants of emerging concern” in waterways around the Sound. 

WA tribe settles lawsuit over oil-train trespass 
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with BNSF Railway, putting an end to a lawsuit over the railway’s trespass over tribal land. In June 2024 a Seattle judge ordered BNSF Railway to pay the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community nearly $400 million in profits from trespassing on the reservation. BNSF appealed. 

‘Native Grown and Gathered Food Expo’ launches inaugural, and potentially last, gathering
Native food producers and procurers came together for the first Indigenous foods expo in Seattle this October to connect and help build Indigenous food ways economically, but a one-year run may be all that’s in store as federal funding cuts strip monies available for future gatherings.

Elevated levels of 'forever chemicals' found in sea otters near B.C. cities: study
Contamination levels were about three times higher in animals found near shipping lanes and urban centres. 

B.C. premier, First Nations call on feds to continue oil tanker ban
B.C. Premier David Eby stood with members of numerous First Nations from B.C.’s northern coast on Wednesday to support and sign a declaration that asks Ottawa to continue a moratorium on oil tankers in the province’s northern waters. 


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)salishseacom.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