Salish Sea Communications

Friday, October 27, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 27 2023

Aloha Lemur Friday!
There are over 100 species of lemurs. By one count there are 112, but the number changes when new ones are identified through discoveries and genetic testing. Subfossils indicate there once were more and that some became extinct, possibly from being hunted by humans after humans arrived on Madagascar. The 2020 update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species indicated that almost all lemur species were threatened with extinction and that almost a third were critically endangered.

What will B.C. do when disaster strikes again?
As the climate crisis intensifies, experts weigh in on proposed changes to province's decades-old emergency legislation.

WA still suffers from drought despite rain — and El Niño won’t help
Despite recent rainfall most of Washington still suffers from drought and climatologists say the months ahead aren’t likely to offer much relief.

‘Crabs everywhere’: off Canada’s Pacific coast, Indigenous Haida fight a host of invasive species
The unique wildlife of Haida Gwaii’s 150 islands is under attack by invasive crabs, rats and deer – echoing how local people also became vulnerable to outside forces.

Northwest sinks millions into derelict vessel removal on region’s waterways
Leaking fuel and other toxins from hundreds of abandoned ships in Oregon and Washington pose serious environmental risks.

Port of Vancouver posts record-breaking cruise ship season
The Port of Vancouver staff knew they would welcome a record 332 cruise ship visits but hose vessels reached a 90 per cent occupancy rate to close out Vancouver’s cruise season at a record 1.25 million passengers.

WA lands chief: State just had one of its ‘most challenging’ fire seasons ever
Lands commissioner Hilary Franz says while responders kept most fires contained, the overall number of blazes was at a historic high, and more burned in western Washington.

B.C., Wash. agree to address Nooksack River flooding, set no timeline
A recent agreement signed by B.C. and Washington State to come up with projects to address flooding from the Nooksack River does not lay out a timeline or funding obligations.

BC Overhauls Water Management as Scarcity Looms
Mopping up British Columbia’s water management mess is now the responsibility of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Nathan Cullen.

‘The money that’s needed’: B.C. announces $300-million Indigenous conservation fund to protect old-growth forests
The new funding is welcomed by conservation groups that say the province has voiced support for old forest protections while continuing to allow clearcut logging in rare ecosystems and in the habitat of endangered species.

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, October 20, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 20 2023

Snoop Dogg

Happy Birthday, Calvin!
Happy birthday to Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., known professionally as Snoop Dogg, an American rapper, actor and entrepeneur. His fame dates back to 1992 when he was featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Deep Cover", and then on Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic.

How Megafires Are Remaking the World
Fire is a natural phenomenon; some species actually benefit from its effects and even those that don’t can be remarkably resilient in the face of flames. But as fires intensify, they are beginning to outstrip nature’s ability to bounce back.

The Supreme Court rejected a Republican challenge to Biden’s climate math
The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the “social cost of carbon,” one of the most important calculations in U.S. climate policy. Tclimate-related regulations. Kate Yoder reports.

The oldest Puget Sound orca: L25 may be approaching 100
L25 is the world’s oldest known living wild orca, the uncontested reigning matriarch of the southern resident orcas that frequent Puget Sound.

What killed Lolita? Necropsy findings released for the Seaquarium’s beloved orca
The Seaquarium’s beloved performing killer whale, Lolita, appears to have died of old age and multiple chronic illnesses, according to the executive summary of her necropsy released Tuesday afternoon.

Indigenous people in WA incarcerated at higher rates than any other group, data show
Washington in recent years imprisoned Indigenous people at more than six times the rate of white people. That’s according to U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics data that the Prison Policy Initiative assembled and released last month.

‘It’s never too late’: Canada taken to court for near-extinction of spotted owls
As the species hangs on to survival in the country, the federal government will defend its role in delaying emergency measures that could have helped the raptor from disappearing in B.C.’s heavily logged forests.

Lead pollution from small planes threatens human health, EPA finds
Agency takes first step toward regulations aimed at reducing exposure to a dangerous neurotoxin, a potential health benefit for people who live near smaller airports.

Friday, October 13, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 13 2023

Aloha Paddington Bear Friday!
The popular children’s literature character first appeared in English author Michael Bond's illustrated book, "A Bear Called Paddington" on this day in 1958. Paddington is a polite Peruvian spectacle bear with a special fondness for marmalade. The success of the first book was followed by 20 more books featuring the lovable bear and a successful toy franchise.

Ginormous South Tacoma warehouse project gets green light despite social justice, environmental concerns
A major warehouse project big enough to cover 43 football fields can go forward in South Tacoma, following a decision by Tacoma's hearing examiner. That’s despite concerns by environmentalists and social justice advocates.

‘Poster child’ estuary preserved at Edmonds’ Meadowdale Beach Park
A 5-foot-wide culvert had previously been the only way water from Lund’s Gulch Creek at Meadowdale Beach Park could enter Puget Sound. Now, the opening is 100 feet across. It’ll preserve and protect what’s called a pocket estuary.

World’s Hottest Summer: Map of Extreme Temperatures in 2023
The planet just experienced its hottest months on record, and by a large margin, scientists said.

Tribe catches coho salmon on free-flowing Elwha River, a first since dam removals
Two dams blocked nearly 90 miles of river and tributary habitat on the Elwha, or more than 90% of the river, since 1911. But both the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were gone by August 2014 after a couple of years of demolition in what was the largest dam removal project ever undertaken. And on Monday, the wait for a run of salmon healthy enough to be fished was over.

Inslee pushes for Washington to become offshore wind manufacturing hub
The Biden administration has a goal of generating 30 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind by 2030. Washington government and business leaders want manufacturers of offshore wind turbines to build equipment in the state.

What impacts did wildfires have on the Northwest this summer?
In Washington, a total of 165,365 acres burned. The 10-year annual average for acres burned is 472,881.

B.C.'s last spotted owl faces uncertain future
The federal government will not intervene to prevent logging in spotted owl habitat in southwestern B.C.

A no-death census year for Puget Sound’s orcas, with observations about a recent shift to more female births
For the first time since Census Year 1993, no deaths were reported this year among the Southern Resident killer whales, which frequent Puget Sound. Two new births were reported among the whales, increasing the population from 73 to 75.

Friday, October 6, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 6 2023

Aloha Badger Friday!
The American badger is a mid-sized (10 to 11 pounds), burrowing mammal of the weasel family that uses underground burrows for resting, denning, and prey caching. They are well-suited for burrowing and digging: they have large, powerful shoulders; stout front legs and feet; large front claws; and short ears. They are a solitary species, and they use large home ranges that may overlap with other American badgers of either sex. The current distribution of American badgers includes portions of eastern Washington from the eastern Cascade foothills to the Idaho border. They have also been detected in the high-elevation parklands of the North Cascade Ecosystem. (WDFW)

Most of Western Washington's largest Caspian tern colony is dead. Can the seabirds rebound?
More than 1,500 adult Caspian terns made Rat Island, near Port Townsend, their home. Now 80% of them are dead. See also: Avian flu comes to the Salish Sea A new strain of avian flu has been sweeping the globe since 2020, leaving thousands of dead seabirds in its wake.

Salish Sea on cusp of losing tufted puffins
Endangered in Washington state since 2015, there was only one confirmed tufted puffin nesting pair active on Protection Island this breeding season. Smith Island, roughly northeast of Protection Island, now has about 27 nesting pairs.

Northwest's pond turtles to get federal protection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protecting the turtles as a threatened species on Friday. Fewer than 1,000 pond turtles are thought to live in Washington state. Populations in Oregon’s Willamette Valley have plunged 99%, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

Millions of dollars for ‘tree equity’ head to Snohomish County
Federal grants are giving the Snohomish Conservation District and the city of Lynnwood a total of $3.7 million for separate urban forestry projects. The new trees are going to areas with little canopy cover.

Washington state is trashy, and there's a study to prove it
Cigarette butts, construction and demolition debris, and food wrappers. That's what Washingtonians are littering the most across the state.

Squamish Nation asks for Mount Garibaldi to be officially renamed Nch'ḵay̓
The Squamish Nation is asking for Mount Garibaldi be officially recognized by its historic Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim name "Nch'ḵay̓" (in-ch-KAY), which has been used for thousands of years.

Deadly bird flu jumps to harbor seals in Salish Sea, first for West Coast
Bird flu, already killing seabirds in the Salish Sea, has jumped to harbor seals in the first documented instance of marine mammals dying from the disease on the West Coast.

Coastal Gaslink Is Facing 11 More Potential Fines
The company’s current total for penalties is $800,000. But that number is likely to grow.

Massive dam removal project spurs hope in the Klamath Basin
As four Klamath River dams come out over the next year, many seek solutions to chronic environmental problems.

Friday, September 29, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 29 2023

[Maria Tenev/UN]

Aloha Reducing Food Waste and Loss Friday!
The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, with the 2023 theme “Reducing food loss and waste: Taking Action to Transform Food Systems”, is an opportunity to call to action both the public (national or local authorities) and the private sector (businesses and individuals), to prioritise actions and move ahead with innovation to reduce food loss and waste towards restoring and building back better and resilient-ready, food systems. (United Nations)

The secret dispute behind cleaning Seattle’s only river
Toxic legacy of Seattle’s only river could cost Boeing, taxpayers $1 billion. Talks over who pays more are secret.

Money, power and an ecosystem are all at stake in Canada-U.S. negotiations over a massive river
The Columbia River Treaty, hammered out between Canada and the United States and ratified in 1964, is being negotiated again — a process that has already lasted years — and the potential deal could have profound consequences both for the electrical output of the river and the people and wildlife that depend on it.

Warm ocean waters work their way into Puget Sound
Unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean — now pushing up against the Washington coast — are keeping oceanographers on alert for changes that could reverberate through the food web, potentially affecting fish, birds and marine mammals in coastal waters and in Puget Sound.

This has been the worst wildfire season on record. What could 2024 have in store?
Dry conditions and warmer-than-usual temperatures helped fuel a long and unrelenting wildfire season that, to date, has burned more than 17,500,000 hectares, a 647 per cent increase over the 10-year average.

Mineral claims require First Nations consultation, B.C. Supreme Court rules
The decision transforms the province’s mineral rights regime, which previously allowed almost anyone to stake a claim in First Nations territory without a duty to consult or even notify them.

Biden calls for ‘abundant’ salmon populations, directs agencies to honor tribal treaty rights President Bidendirected federal agencies to restore healthy and abundant wild salmon populations to the Columbia River Basin. The presidential memorandum also called for tribal treaty and trust obligations to be honored.

Court order that prevents protest blockades at Fairy Creek expires
The court order that made it illegal to block logging activity in the forest near the Fairy Creek watershed on southwestern Vancouver Island has expired.

Puget Sound orcas beat up and even kill porpoises, new research reveals. But why?
In a study published Thursday in Marine Mammal Science, researchers analyzed 78 documented interactions between southern residents and porpoises in the Salish Sea, mostly around the San Juan Islands, beginning in 1962.

There are new proposals to bring back grizzly bears in the North Cascades
Federal plans to reintroduce the bears in Washington derailed during the Trump years. A grizzly hasn’t been seen in the region since the 1990s.

Friday, September 22, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 22, 2023

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled
with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby,
young, star-forming region called NGC 3324
in the Carina Nebula. [NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI]

Aloha Astronomy Friday!Astronomy Day takes astronomy out of lofty places and brings it to the people. It provides a means of interaction between the general public and astronomy enthusiasts, groups, and professionals, and provides information, resources, and encouragement related to astronomy. Doug Berger started it in 1973 while president of the Astronomical Association of Northern California. Astronomy Day has expanded over the years. Now more than a dozen astronomical organizations cosponsor it, and events and festivities related to astronomy are held all around the world.

What is the Trans Mountain pipeline — and why should I care?
New roadblocks, ballooning costs, legal actions and its impact on endangered species — we explain the timeline and lingering mysteries behind this contentious Canadian pipeline project.

Lawsuit against Washington cap-and-trade program set for hearing
The first legal showdown over Washington’s cap-and-trade program, which went into effect in January, will be Sept. 22 in Thurston County Superior Court.

‘Marred by litter’: Millions of pounds of trash soil Washington roads and state lands
Washington has a litter problem. Nearly 38 million pounds of garbage and other debris were strewn across roads, rest areas and state lands last year, according to a new Department of Ecology-commissioned study.

Blazes spread in center of Olympic National Park
Large helicopters were requested this week to fight fires in Olympic National Park as blazes chew up acreage in the interior of the park.

Heat pumps key to WA, coalition’s plan to end building emissions
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee vowed this week to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from new buildings, in large part by rapidly expanding the installation of heat pumps. Inslee is joined in that promise by 24 other governors representing states that belong to the Climate Alliance (of which the Washington governor is a founding member). In all, the governors agreed to install 20 million new heat pumps across their states by 2030.

Wanted: 20,000 Young Americans to Fight Climate Change
President Biden intends to use executive authority to train and employ thousands of young people in jobs to fight global warming. The American Climate Corps, as the White House has named the organization, would provide young people with skills to work in wind and solar production, disaster preparedness and land conservation.

‘Treated like machines’: wildfire fighters describe a mental health crisis on the frontlines
Extreme working conditions, low pay and high turnover are leading to a crisis exacerbated by more intense wildfires. Eighteen firefighters tell their stories of the mental toll — from burnout to PTSD to the loss of peers to suicide.

Biden administration promises $200 million to help reintroduce salmon in Columbia River
The Biden administration agreed Thursday to spend more than $200 million to fully fund Native tribes’ plans to reintroduce salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin — more than 80 years after construction of the Grand Coulee Dam rendered the fish extinct in parts of Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.

Friday, September 15, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September15 2023

ʻŌhiʻa (National Park Service)

Aloha ʻŌhiʻa Friday!
ʻŌhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a member of the diverse Metrosideros genus, which are widespread over the southwest Pacific. It is the state tree of Hawai‘i. (Wikipedia)

How the humpback whale made a massive comeback in the Salish Sea
hey are big. They are beautiful. And they are back. The return of the humpback whale to greater numbers than observed in decades is part of a larger revival of marine mammals in the Salish Sea.

Humpback whales find their voice
During the fall months, the Salish Sea comes alive with “whups,” “moans,” “growls” and an assorted variety of “creaks,” “trumpets,” “buzzes” and other humpback whale vocalizations.

About a decade after an outbreak of disease, researchers find mixed results for sea stars
Almost a decade after a massive outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome, researchers are working to measure sea star populations. Derek Smith, Shannon Point lab manager and a research assistant professor in the marine and coastal science program, said sea star numbers are still low compared to the pre-2014 numbers.

‘Frustrating as hell’: advocates say old-growth still being cut years after protections promised
The province promised to implement more than a dozen recommendations made by an independent review. Some worry change for the old forests home to at-risk species hasn’t come fast enough.

Walking Among Vancouver’s Urban Giants
Most of the city’s old growth was cleared long ago. But not in Stanley Park.

Biodegradable Fishing Gear Isn’t Good Enough
Lower efficiency makes the eco-friendly nets and ropes fall short. That’s a trade-off we might have to accept.

Tracing the sticky history of slug races
The annual racing of slugs on Bowen Island, B.C., highlights life in the slow lane and the importance of this small, slimy species. Francesca Fionda reports. (The Narwhal)