Salish Sea Communications

Friday, July 8, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review July 8 2022

Aloha Math 2.0 Friday!
Math 2.0 Day celebrates math and technology, specifically the intersection between the two. On this day, mathematicians, educators, innovators, and policymakers come together to celebrate and also to raise awareness about math literacy and education. Mathematics and technology are part of everyday life—the symbiosis between them benefits our lives in areas such as transportation, construction, and entertainment.

New land trust creates a rare climate zone ‘backbone’ that stretches Saturna Island
The Nature Trust of B.C. has purchased 143.5 acres for the Money Creek conservation area on the southwest corner of Saturna, which falls in the moist maritime Coastal Douglas Fir bioclimatic subzone, part of the smallest and rarest of the province’s 16 ecological zones.

A race to stop a kelp crisis, with impacts far beyond local waters
Underwater forests that support shellfish, fish, crabs and everything up the food chain are disappearing, and scientists don’t have clear answers why.

WA’s deadline for no more fossil fuel impossible if Snake River dams breached, study says
The four lower Snake River dams are essential to meeting the Northwest’s climate goals to decarbonize the electric grid by 2045, says a new analysis commissioned by Northwest RiverPartners.

NOAA Fisheries issues new recommendations for Makah whale hunt, the long-awaited decision will come within a year
A long-awaited decision on the Makah tribe’s application to conduct a whale hunt will come within a year, according to federal regulators who issued a supplemental environmental impact statement on July 1.

Green crabs in Hood Canal raise questions about invasion; further response is coming
The discovery of a green crab in Central Hood Canal was fairly shocking for those involved. Despite an extensive trapping effort, green crabs had never been spotted in Central or South Puget Sound, and this green crab in Hood Canal was more than 30 miles by water to the nearest confirmed sighting.

State approves proposal to rename San Juan Islands channel after Indigenous leader
The proposed name, Cayou Channel, would honor one of the first Indigenous elected officials in Washington state, Henry Cayou.

Earthquake would trigger 20-foot tsunami in Seattle within 3 minutes, state report says
A tsunami triggered by a major earthquake beneath Puget Sound would arrive at our shores sooner and reach farther inland than previously understood, according to a study published Thursday by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

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, July 1, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review July 1 2022

Aloha Canada Friday!
On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing Dominion of Great Britain, after the passage of the British North America Act. It also became a federation with four provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. These provinces were made from the British colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (previously Upper Canada and Lower Canada). The Act allowed for other provinces and territories to join the country in the future. Canada now consists of ten provinces and three territories. O, Canada!

Dam politics: Why public power utilities are pouring cash into the campaign to support Lower Snake River dams
Northwest power utilities have poured more than $2 million into a public relations campaign to convince the region’s residents that breaching four hydropower dams on the Lower Snake River is a bad idea.

Will the mighty spring Chinook rise again?
Given a clear path upstream after dam removal, Chinook salmon in the Elwha wasted no time swimming past the first dam and later the second.

West Moberly First Nations reach partial settlement over Site C Dam
The West Moberly First Nations have reached a partial agreement with B.C. Hydro and the provincial and federal governments over a lawsuit that says the massive Site C hydroelectric dam in northeastern B.C. would destroy their territory and violate their rights.

‘They beat us into submission’: West Moberly’s decades-long fight against Site C dam is over
West Moberly First Nations reluctantly signed a settlement seven years into construction on the beleaguered hydroelectric project on the Peace River in northeastern B.C.

Southern resident killer whales not getting enough to eat: UBC study
A new study shows the endangered orca pods were underfed in six of the last 40 years — including the final three years of the study.

In ‘emergency acquisition,’ 226 acres of Whidbey Island’s farmland, forest saved
The beachside Keystone Preserve, south of Coupeville, is the Whidbey Camano Land Trust’s largest purchase at $9.1 million.

Sockeye among 'biggest unknowns' for Elwha salmon recovery
hen discussing the future of the Elwha ecosystem, many scientists have advanced the exciting possibility that ALL species of Pacific Salmon — including the lake-dwelling sockeye — could make their home in the watershed.

Podcast | The future of climate activism
Iconic environmentalist Bill McKibben discusses the history of climate change, as well as the challenges and opportunities of the environmental movement.

Lessons learned in the Pacific Northwest from the deadly 2021 ‘heat dome’
A year ago, Washington state experienced a meteorological phenomenon known as a 'heat dome' that lasted for more than a week and killed hundreds across the region. Temps spiked as high as 110 degrees in Olympia and Quileute on the coast; SeaTac recorded an all-time high of 108.

Opening the door for coho, chum, and pink salmon
Restoration managers are hopeful that populations of coho, chum and pink salmon will rebound on the Elwha River as the fish take advantage of newly accessible habitat.

PNW hatcheries aren't saving salmon, investigation finds
After two decades and $2 billion in spending, the U.S. government's promises to Native tribes to boost fish populations in Oregon and Washington haven't held up.

Friday, June 24, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review June 24 2021

Aloha UFO Friday!
World UFO Day is dedicated to the existence of unidentified flying objects. First celebrated in 2001, it was created by the World UFO Day Organization. The day is often celebrated on June 24 and July 2, although The World UFO Day Organization declared July 2 to be the official day. June 24 marks the anniversary of one of the first UFO sightings in the United States, when Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine high-speed crescent-shaped objects near Mt. Rainier in Washington, in 1947. July 2 marks the anniversary of the Roswell UFO incident, which also happened in 1947.

Placing microphones on orcas offers a point-of-whale perspective on underwater noise
Research on the sounds and feeding behavior of Puget Sound's southern resident orcas is providing new insight into how the whales respond to underwater noise.

Fighting Floods, or Living With Water?
Every year, Lower Mainland residents prepare for the Big One. But there’s another type of disaster that we’re reminded about less often: a major flood. We have two choices. Last in a series.

Navy SEAL use of state parks appears over as state declines to appeal judge’s decision
The Washington Attorney General’s office has declined to appeal a judge’s ruling that bans Navy SEAL or other military training in Washington state parks.

B.C. launches strategy to protect communities from climate change
The provincial government says the strategy is backed up with more than $500 million in spending during the next three years.

New study: 2021 heat wave created ‘perfect storm’ for shellfish die-off
A team led by the University of Washington has compiled and analyzed hundreds of these field observations to produce the first comprehensive report of the impacts of the 2021 heat wave on shellfish. Michelle Ma reports. (UW News)

60K green crabs captured in Washington waters so far in 2022 ... that's a lot
State wildlife officials say more than 60,000 European green crabs have been captured in Washington state waters so far in 2022. That is far more than what they captured and killed by this time last year.

Duwamish Tribe Sues for Recognition
....[T]his year, on May 11, 167 years after Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens signed the Treaty of Point Elliott with western Washington tribes, a group of Duwamish sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, and the federal government as a whole.

Returning home: The Elwha's genetic legacy
Following dam removal, migratory salmon have been free to swim into the upper Elwha River for the first time in 100 years. Their actual behaviors and reproductive success may well be driven by changes in their genetic makeup.

Jury awards $595,000 to Lummi tribe for salmon pen collapse
A Washington state jury on Wednesday awarded the Lummi Indian tribe $595,000 over the 2017 collapse of a net pen where Atlantic salmon were being raised

The federal government just extended B.C. salmon farm licences. Here’s what you need to know Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Joyce Murray announced a two-year extension for dozens of salmon farm licences that were set to expire at the end of June.

Budget watchdog says Trans Mountain expansion is no longer profitable
Canada's budget watchdog says building the federally owned Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is no longer a profitable investment after costs ballooned to more than $21 billion.

Wild steelhead still a force in the Elwha
Migration patterns have apparently reawakened for the Elwha River's wild steelhead. Studies show that the fish may have retained much of their genetic drive despite 100 years of being trapped behind dams.

Friday, June 17, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review June 17 2022

Aloha Crocodile Friday!

World Croc Day is a global awareness campaign to highlight the plight of endangered crocodiles and alligators around the world. Crocodiles and alligators are celebrated and there is hope the day will encourage people to get involved in helping them. World Croc Day was organized by the Crocodile Research Coalition in conjunction with the Belize Zoo. Hug a croc today!

B.C. salmon farm sea lice levels five times limit during critical wild fish migration, docs reveal
Sea lice counts at a fish farm in Clayoquot Sound were roughly five times the legal limit during a critical window for out-migrating wild salmon, according to internal government emails.

Campbell River estuary is a restoration showcase to save salmon habitat from climate change
For years, the estuary — Mill Pond in the Baikie Island Reserve — was an industrial wasteland, stuffed full of log booms and surrounded by timber yards.

When the Floods Hit, Will We Be Ready?
The Lower Mainland flooded in 1948. The next one will be worse. A six-;art series exploring life and risk on the Lower Mainland’s floodplain, the stretches of flat land in the region by the Fraser River and the coast.

If this dike fails, Stanwood goes underwater
The levee is over a hundred years old. And it shows. But efforts have lagged to fix it before it’s too late. The four-mile-long mound of dirt and grass is all that is holding back Puget Sound.

B.C. beekeepers grapple with 32% winter colony loss, according to survey
The province's 'spring survey' for beekeepers has shown yet another bad year for colony survival.

Why climate change could mean more jellyfish for B.C
Under a shifting climate, explosive growth of the freshwater jellyfish could damage local ecosystems.

U.S. House passes a major wildlife conservation spending bill
The Recovering America's Wildlife Act, which passed the U.S. House on Tuesday, would create an annual fund of more than $1.3 billion to conserve endangered species — from the red-cockaded woodpecker to the snuffbox mussel.

Conservation groups sue feds to protect old-growth forests
Six environmental groups sued officials of the Biden administration Tuesday, saying a Trump-era rule change that allowed logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates federal laws and was politically motivated.

EPA: ‘Forever chemicals’ pose risk even at very low levels
The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that two nonstick and stain-resistant compounds found in drinking water are more dangerous than previously thought and pose health risks even at levels so low they cannot currently be detected.

Law firm asks B.C. municipalities to back class action lawsuit against oil companies
West Coast Environmental Law launched a campaign called "Sue Big Oil" on Wednesday ,asking people to sign a declaration encouraging municipalities to offer up $1 per resident to go toward a class action lawsuit against fossil fuel companies.

Five proposed protected areas that could help Canada meet its 2030 conservation targets
It is possible to protect 30 per cent of land and oceans in Canada by 2030, if currently proposed conservation areas are protected, CPAWS report finds.

Friday, June 10, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review June 10 2022

Aloha King Kamehameha Day!
Kamehameha the Great was the monarch of Hawaii between 1782 and 1819. He is well-known and respected for uniting and establishing the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. Kamehameha Day is held in his honor on June 11 each year and in 2022 celebrated as a state holiday in Hawaii on June 10.

Tokitae's health improving, locals hope it opens the door to her return home
Feared to be deathly ill, Tokitae – an orca plucked from the Salish Sea in 1970 – is on the mend, according to veterinarians.

Are yelloweye rockfish on the path to recovery?
New research suggests that recovery efforts are working for Puget Sound’s threatened yelloweye rockfish.

Blockchain company buys $1M in carbon credits generated by Issaquah forest, the biggest such deal in U.S. history
King County announced Friday that Regen Network Development, a Delaware-based blockchain software development company, bought $1 million in carbon credits generated by a 46-acre forest in Issaquah.

BC bees face growing threat of deadly virus carried by mite
A variant of a virus that attacks the wing shape of bees is rapidly spreading across Canada, causing beekeepers in B.C. to lose entire colonies.

It’s a moth, it’s a drone, it’s ‘Smellicopter’
Meet the Pacific Northwest-built machine that uses live insect antennae to sniff out disasters.

Major grocery chains failing when it comes to seafood labelling: watchdog
SeaChoice, the retail seafood industry watchdog group, has released its annual report into how the major grocery chains in Canada are performing in terms of seafood sustainability and social responsibility.

‘They were forced off their territory’: all eyes on precedent-setting Vancouver Island title case
For weeks, the B.C. Supreme Court has been hearing arguments by the Nuchatlaht First Nation and province about who has the right to 20,000 hectares of Nootka Island.

How climate change is affecting kelp forests in BC
B.C.’s critical kelp forests withered as climate change has triggered marine heat waves along the entire West Coast in recent years. But exceptions to the rule may provide insights helpful to saving and restoring our underwater forests.

Replacing benefits of Snake River dams would cost billions
The benefits provided by four giant hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state can be replaced if the dams are breached to save endangered salmon runs, according to a new report released Thursday. But it would be expensive.

Friday, June 3, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review June 3 2022

Aloha Egg Friday!
Eggs are laid by female animals of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, a few mammals, and fish, and many of these have been eaten by humans for thousands of years. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen, and vitellus, contained within various thin membranes. (Wikipedia)

Tri-Cities researchers say they can extract lithium from water. That's a big deal.
Researchers in Washington's Tri-Cities say they have devised a way to use magnets to pull valuable elements like lithium out of groundwater.

How climate change will impact recreation in the Pacific Northwest
According to Climate Impacts Group Director Amy Snover, “we should expect warmer winters with less snow in higher elevations, earlier springs, with the snowpack melting sooner than what we have typically experienced in the past, and hotter and drier summers.”

The Paradox of Salmon Hatcheries
The golden dream of hatcheries was to make more fish but that reality is much more complicated.

No movement in efforts to free big red barge from Vancouver beach
Six months after washing up at Sunset Beach during a storm, the 5000-tonne vessel remains unmoved.

Green crab making inroads into Hood Canal
European green crabs continue to creep inward in the Salish Sea as local resource managers remain on the lookout.

Washington launches website dedicated to orcas of the Salish Sea
June is Orca Action Month in Washington, a time to focus on issues facing the killer whales of the Salish Sea. The state recently launched a website, dedicated to saving the endangered Southern Resident.

Female calf a beacon of hope for endangered southern resident killer whales
The birth of calf J59 offers promise for the future of the J pod, but experts say more protection for the orca’s habitat and food sources is needed to curb their decline.

Vessel slow zones expanded to protect whales
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has expanded its slow zone for vessels travelling in the Salish Sea, in a move to reduce noise to protect fragile populations of southern resident killer whales.

A Decade of Successes Against Fossil Fuel Export Projects in Cascadia
The region counts 40 canceled oil, gas, and coal export projects since 2012.

Miami Seaquarium's ‘Lolita' is Improving According to Independent Veterinarians
According to an assessment from two world-renowned veterinarians who examined Lolita, her health is improving since her retirement from performing at Miami Seaquarium.

Friday, May 27, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review May 27 2022

Aloha Three Little Pigs Friday!
In 1933 Walt Disney's cartoon "Three Little Pigs" was released. The animated short film is one of the best-known cartoons of all time. In 1934, it was awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Bacteria causing fish skin disease spiked around fish farms, a study finds
A bacteria known to cause skin disease in fish was found to peak in juvenile Fraser River sockeye salmon in the Discovery Islands region, with one particularly big spike in 2015, a new study finds.

WA will soon put a price on carbon emissions for its biggest polluters. Here’s how it will work
A new program launching in January will put a cap on fossil fuel emissions and require nearly a hundred of the state’s biggest polluters to partake in a carbon trading scheme.

A climate bill that died in Legislature lives on, in plans for future
A bill requiring cities and counties to cut greenhouse gases failed to pass, but they’re planning to do it anyway.

Diving for trash in Snohomish River, biologist fills 59 pickup beds
At Thomas’ Eddy, Doug Ewing estimates he has collected 3,000 pounds of lead fishing weights. And that’s just one spot.

Letting the Sea Have Its Way
Welcome to Medmerry, a community that welcomed back the marsh. [An] excerpt is from the book Water Always Wins, in which Hakai contributor Erica Gies follows innovators in what she calls the Slow Water movement who are instead asking a revolutionary question: what does water want?

The US has spent more than $2B on a plan to save salmon. The fish are vanishing anyway.
The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries.

EPA proposes protections for world’s biggest sockeye salmon fishery
The Biden administration’s decision to protect Bristol Bay deals a blow to a huge proposed gold and copper mine in southwest Alaska.

Could artificial reefs protect B.C.'s coastlines from climate change?
Only ever used on a piece of public art in B.C., Metro Vancouver will trial biorock technology as a way to create new habitat for sea creatures, regrow coastal infrastructure and protect shorelines threatened by climate change.

B.C. to release 'full' climate adaptation strategy this spring
The B.C. government expects to release a climate adaptation strategy in the coming weeks, but it is unclear whether the plan will include elements that experts say are needed to make it effective.

Nearly extinct 30 years ago, Washington’s western pond turtles are slowly recovering
Only two species of turtles in Washington are native. And one of those, the western pond turtle, nearly went extinct here in the 1990s. 30 years ago, the state began collaborating with partners at the Woodland Park Zoo to bring them back.

Docs show turmoil in DFO following fisheries harassment investigation: ‘this article is horrific’
Freedom of information documents reveal that DFO has created a suite of new policies and is spending millions on modernization in wake of whistleblowers speaking up about harassment, intimidation and assault aboard Canadian fishing vessels.

J-Pod whales spotted in Salish Sea
All 25 members of J-Pod have returned to the Salish Sea, including the newest member, born in late February. Scientist Monika Wieland-Shields of the Orca Behavior Institute said it’s only the second time in the past five years that J-Pod has appeared in the Salish Sea in May. That’s a good sign, she said, and the fact the pod seems to be sticking around indicates there is chinook salmon for the whales to feed on.