Salish Sea Communications

Friday, April 19, 2024

Salish Sea Mews Week in Review April 19 2024

Aloha garlic Friday!
Garlic (Allium sativum) is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeastern Iran and has long been used as a seasoning worldwide, with a history of several thousand years of human consumption and use. It was known to ancient Egyptians and has been used as both a food flavoring and a traditional medicine. China produced 73% of the world's supply of garlic in 2021. 'Tis chic to reek...

'We were born knowing this is ours': B.C. signs deal recognizing Haida Nation title over Haida Gwaii
The B.C. government and the Council of the Haida Nation have signed an agreement officially recognizing Haida Gwaii's Aboriginal title, more than two decades after the nation launched a legal action seeking formal recognition.

Puyallup Tribe to have 17 acres of waterfront land added to reservation
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians Land Into Trust Act transfers land along the Tacoma waterfront to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, allowing the Tribe to expand its reservation and access to federal benefits associated with it.

Washington to adopt new U.S. PFAS limits, but may take two years
The Washington Department of Health plans to lower the limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new lower limits on Wednesday.

Statewide drought declared due to low snowpack and dry forecast
With winter’s snowstorms largely behind us and summer just weeks away, our state’s low snowpack and forecasts for a dry and warm spring and summer have spurred the Department of Ecology to declare a drought emergency for most of Washington.

Court ruling clears way for carbon storage projects on state logging lands
A timber industry group and two counties challenged a plan to set aside about 10,000 acres of trees to absorb carbon dioxide and help combat climate change.

Plans for WA’s largest wind farm slashed in half
A state energy board cut in half the largest wind project proposed in Washington on Wednesday after a yearslong and contentious planning process. Plans for the $1.7 billion Horse Heaven Hills wind farm originally included up to 222 wind turbines across 24 miles of hillsides near the Tri-Cities, plus three solar arrays covering up to 5,447 acres.

Bird flu in cattle stressing Northwest dairy operators
Some Northwest dairy farmers have experienced low milk prices, belly-high flooding, extreme heat, extreme cold events and fires in the past couple of years. Now, the challenge is highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, in cattle.

Campaign to defend Washington state's climate law raises $11 million, far outpacing opposition
A campaign focused on defending Washington’s Climate Commitment Act from repeal by voters launched Wednesday. The “No on 2117” campaign announced it has obtained more than $11 million in pledges from environmental groups, unions, tribes, and corporations.

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, April 12, 2024

Salish Sea Mews Week in Review April 12 2024

Aloha Yuri Gagarin Friday!

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the first human to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on April 12, 1961, with his flight taking 108 minutes. (Wikipedia)

May startup of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion surprises analysts
Trans Mountain's announcement that its expanded oil pipeline would start commercial operations on May 1 has surprised analysts with an earlier-than-expected commencement on the long-delayed $34 billion project.

Feds deny Washington’s request for stricter PCB standards
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has denied a request from the Washington Department of Ecology to set tighter limits for harmful chemicals used in manufacturing that find their way into the state’s waterways.

Puget Sound Energy facility has violated air permit over a dozen times
The 2-year old liquified natural gas plant on the Tacoma Tideflats has been issued more than a dozen violations of the facility’s air permit by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

Rare sea turtle discovered dead on North Island
Another loggerhead sea turtle has surfaced on Vancouver Island, hundreds of kilometres north of its natural range in the open Pacific Ocean. The turtle was found dead on Friday by hikers at Nels Bight near Cape Scott on the North Island.

National limit for PFAS in drinking water affects all public wells in WA
The Environmental Protection Agency announced the first national drinking water standard for so-called “forever chemicals” Wednesday that will require testing of thousands of drinking water systems across Washington.

Surge in electricity demand spells trouble for PNW, forecasts show
Power planning forecasts in the Northwest show trouble ahead, in spiking demand for energy, transmission worries and no quick or cheap answers.

Friday, April 5, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 5 2024

Aloha Dandelion Friday!

The time of year has arrived when dandelions are sprouting up all over lawns, and with it has come National Dandelion Day. Blooming from early spring into autumn, dandelions take their name from the French phrase dent de lion, meaning "lion's tooth," which refers to the jagged, teeth-like shape of the plant's leaves. The plant's scientific name is taraxacum officinale. The dandelion is a perennial herbaceous plant that can grow almost anywhere—not just on lawns, but between cracks, and even in gravel and cement. Considered by many to be a weed, all parts of the plant are edible and have medicinal properties.

Fires from 2023 still smouldering under snow reveal B.C.'s dangerous new reality
B.C. had 90 zombie blazes burning as of mid-March, holdovers from last year’s record fire season, while Alberta started the year with 64.

For the first time, U.S. dairy cows have tested positive for bird flu
Livestock at multiple dairy farms across the U.S. have tested positive for bird flu — also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI — in an outbreak that's likely spread to at least five states.

New count of gray whales along West Coast suggests rebound
A new count of the gray whale population along the West Coast shows “signs of recovery” five years after hundreds of them washed ashore and the population began declining, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

Western honeybee colonies at risk of collapse, WSU study finds
One of nature’s most important keystone species is working itself to death. Colonies of honeybees — crucial pollinators for a wide variety of plants and cash crops — are at risk of collapse because of climate change, a recent study by scientists at Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture found.

Extinction risk to southern resident orcas accelerating as researchers raise alarm
New research published Tuesday https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01327-5 inidcates that the endangered southern resident killer whales that frequent Puget Sound are facing an accelerating risk of extinction.

Rescuers plan helicopter airlift of orca calf stranded in B.C. lagoon
Plans are now underway to airlift a stranded killer whale calf out of a remote tidal lagoon off northern Vancouver Island in an effort to reunite the young orca with its extended family.

Friday, March 29, 2024

Salish Sea Mews Week in Review March 29 2024

March: In like a lion, out like a lamb?
According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the weather folklore stems from ancestral beliefs in balance, meaning if the weather at the start of March was bad, the month should end with good weather. The Paris Review outlines a few origin theories for the March folklore, including an astronomical connection. In March, the Leo zodiac is the rising sign and when we reach April, it is a ram. Another theory gives the saying a biblical origin. Check with your local weather team for the latest.(Nexstar Media Wire)

Beached orca in B.C. dies despite life-saving efforts
A female killer whale that beached on northern Vancouver Island died on Saturday despite efforts by the community to push the mammal back into the water.

Orca calf rescue team considers changing tactics to save stranded B.C. whale: DFO
A rescue team working to coax a stranded killer whale calf from a lagoon off northern Vancouver Island is prepared to change tactics to save its life, including the possibility of lifting the orca out to the open ocean.

Estimated cost for North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant balloons to almost $4B
Construction on the long-awaited North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant will soon begin again, according to Metro Vancouver, but it now comes with a much more expensive price tag of $3.86 billion.

How the drought hit WA’s farms, forests, fisheries and drinking water
Virtually every aspect of life in Washington suffered during last year’s drought. Groundwater wells ran dry, fields produced fewer crops, trees died in greater numbers, fish faced disease and famine.

As WA tackles PFAS pollution, some worry about ‘piecemeal’ approach
State-mandated testing revealed a San Juan Island community was drinking toxic water. But who is responsible for paying for a new water source? The question is one public officials are grappling with as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are found in drinking water sources and watersheds across the state.

Rising temperatures from climate change depleting oxygen in coastal waters, threatening marine life
During the summer of 2021, half of coastal waters from northern California to the Canadian border had oxygen levels too low to support marine life.

Under a new proposal, our local orcas — resident and Bigg’s killer whales — would each become a new species
This single-species convention could soon undergo a decisive change, thanks to advanced genetic techniques used to discern evolutionary patterns. Following years of study and consideration, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have proposed two new species of killer whales, Orcinus ater for residents and Orcinus rectipinnus for Bigg’s.

Baltimore bridge crash puts new focus on role of ship pilots
The tragedy has put focus on the people who pilot ships in ports, a job that is little known outside the maritime industry but is extremely important.

EPA sets strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks and buses in bid to fight climate change
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday set strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses and other large vehicles, an action that officials said will help clean up some of the nation’s largest sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 22 2024

Aloha Seal Friday!
Pinnipeds, commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae, Otariidae, and Phocidae, with 34 extant species and more than 50 extinct species described from fossils. (Wikipedia)

Alaska lawsuit claims feds owe state $700B for quashing mine
A complaint filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is part of a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn the EPA decision barring development of the controversial mine.

How one river in south Puget Sound tells the story of salmon’s plight
Carving his boat through the the river, Willie Frank III, chairman of the Nisqually Tribe, called out nearby bald eagles over the roar of the motor. “My grandfather Willie Frank Sr. used to say the Nisqually Indians lived in paradise before the white man came,” he said Thursday morning. “We still live in paradise. We’ve just got to protect it, restore it and bring it back to life.”

Orcas seen attacking other whales may be new population, according to UBC researchers
After observing a group of killer whales hunting other marine mammals off the coastline in California and Oregon, UBC researchers think that a new population of orcas may exist.

B.C. officials warn of early, 'challenging' wildfire season
Government and wildfire officials in British Columbia are warning that the province could see an early and active spring wildfire season due to persistent drought conditions that have left soil parched and snowpack levels low.

Herring fishery is wrapping up around Vancouver Island
The annual herring spawn is wrapping up this year and it appears “pretty encouraging” on the west coast of Vancouver Island and in the Strait of Georgia. This year’s total catch for herring for the entire coast has been set at 9,251 tonnes, up somewhat from the previous year. Carla Wilson reports.

Salmon-spilling company ends fight to resume farming at Puget Sound sites
The company behind a massive spill of Atlantic salmon in 2017 has thrown in the towel on its efforts to keep farming fish at two sites in Puget Sound. Cooke Aquaculture withdrew its appeal Friday of a 2022 Washington Department of Natural Resources order to shut down its floating farms off Bainbridge Island, just west of Seattle, and Hope Island in Skagit County.

$34B Trans Mountain expansion pipeline begins filling with oil with first shipments before Canada Day
The odyssey of developing and building the Trans Mountain expansion project in Western Canada is finally nearing the finishing line as sections of the pipeline begin filling with oil. The project will transport oil from Alberta to the West Coast and triple the amount of crude that is shipped on an existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 bpd.

Climate change is bringing earlier springs, but it's wreaking havoc on animals
With Canada coming out of its warmest winter on record, some may be enjoying the signs of spring that are showing up much earlier this year: plants beginning to pop up out of the ground, the earlier calls of robins or migrating birds or even just the warmer and sunnier days. But this isn't good news for the natural world.

Agencies release final environmental impact statement evaluating options for restoring grizzly bears to the North Cascades
The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have announced a preferred alternative that would restore grizzlies to their historic homelands, where they are functionally extinct.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Salish Sea News Week in Review March 15 2024

Aloha Ides of March Friday
The Roman calendar, which dates back to 753 BCE, had three fixed points throughout the month: Nones, Ides, and Kalends. Ides took place around the midpoint of each month, occurring on the 13th or 15th. In March it took place on the 15th. The Ides of March is most remembered as being the anniversary of the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated, in 44 BCE. It is believed that a seer had warned Caesar that harm would come to him on the Ides of March. In William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, the seer has ascribed the phrase "Beware the Ides of March." Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate at the Theatre of Pompey.

Removing WA salmon barriers surges to $1M a day, but results are murky
Washington, rushing to meet a court deadline in a tribal fishing rights lawsuit, spends billions on construction, but some of it may be useless for salmon today.

Sea otter's return opened path to restore West Coast salt marsh
The multi-decadal study, carried out in central California, could hold lessons for British Columbia, whose sea otter population was nearly exterminated through decades of poaching.

Flurry of mini earthquakes off Vancouver Island hints at undersea expansion
Swarms of mini earthquakes along tectonic plates five kilometres underwater on the Pacific Ocean floor off the coast of Vancouver Island have caught the attention of ocean scientists because they point to an “impending magmatic rupture” on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 240 km from Vancouver Island.

Companies to pay for Duwamish salmon, wildlife habitat restoration
Several industrial businesses have agreed to pay for the harm they caused to natural resources in the lower Duwamish River as part of two proposed settlements announced in recent days.

As the Northwest spring arrives, so do anxieties over water for farming, and summer wildfires
Across the Northwest, federal, state and regional officials are in general accord, there isn’t enough snow and with the start of spring just days away, the next couple of weeks will determine just how challenging it could get this summer for agricultural irrigators, fish and wildfires.

A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals
Over the past year, electric utilities have nearly doubled their forecasts of how much additional power they’ll need by 2028 as they confront an unexpected explosion in the number of data centers, an abrupt resurgence in manufacturing driven by new federal laws, and millions of electric vehicles being plugged in.

Province seeks input on plan to protect Clayoquot Sound
The province is seeking public input on proposals to establish 77,000 hectares of protected, old-growth forest around Clayoquot Sound — about 70 per cent of which is more than 250 years old.

The world’s largest ‘dark sky sanctuary’ is now in Oregon
A section of southeastern Oregon is now home to the largest “dark sky sanctuary” in the world. The area spans 2.5 million acres of Lake County. It was certified this month by DarkSky International, a U.S.-based nonprofit that aims to reduce light pollution.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Salish Sea Mews Week in Review March 8 2024

Aloha International Women's Day!

International Women's Day commemorates the movement for women's rights and celebrates the political, cultural, social, and economic achievements of women. It is also a day to continue fighting for gender equality: for equal pay and work opportunities for women, and for equality in access to education and healthcare worldwide. It is also a day to work to eradicate violence against women. It is celebrated around the world and supported by various groups. Small and large gatherings and conferences take place. It is a day of celebration, but also a day of taking new initiatives and action.

Washington’s first state park in nearly 40 years is closer to completion
The development of Nisqually State Park outside Eatonville has been in the works for nearly four decades and is expected to be fully completed by next summer. It’s the first time a local tribe, the Nisqually Tribe, has been made a serious partner in the development of a new park.

‘They’ve destroyed the land’: Illegal dumping on BC farmland
It’s against the law to dump construction material on land reserved for farming but its increasingly being used as a cheaper alternative to authorized sites, which can charge more than $1,000 a load.

Long-term forecast predicts increased forest fire activity in Oregon and Washington’s dampest areas
Hotter and more intense fires are likely coming to the Pacific Northwest’s cooler and wetter forests. That’s from new research led by an Oregon State University scientist.

Can Marine Mammals and Munitions Coexist?
As the humpback whale population rebounds in an area of the Salish Sea used for military weapons training, scientists raise concerns. andrea bennett reports.

B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman won't seek re-election
Heyman will endorse former Vancouver councillor Andrea Reimer to seek NDP nomination.

Sanmar embarks on construction of world’s first methanol-fueled escort tugs
The new tugs will service Canada’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), escorting tankers from the harbour limits of the Port of Vancouver to the open Pacific Ocean through the commercial shipping lanes of the Salish Sea.

U.S. hydropower output drops to 20-year low as Northwest snowpack shrinks
Washington hydropower fell 23% in “water year 2023”— the 12-month period from October 2022 to September 2023. In Oregon, the next-biggest hydro producer, it fell 22%.