Watching Our Water Ways

This is a quick note to remind readers that I maintain four linkable lists that focus on news, research findings, government actions and upcoming events, all related to water. You can access these lists by clicking on your choice under “Water, Water Everywhere” above (next to my picture).

I try to choose only items of general interest, although I take into account that readers of this blog don’t shy away from technical issues. Lately, some of the research findings have been especially interesting, and you may want to browse the research list. Just so you know, I take these items from a variety of sources — including Science Daily, which does an excellent job of keeping up with a wide variety of research.

By the way, I’m thinking about using a Twitter account that would post regular entries from “Watching Our Water Ways” along with additions to “Water, Water Everywhere.” In other words, it would be another way for readers to reach this blog, but it might not add new information, at least at the outset. Would anyone be interested in following WaterWatching if I fire up the Twitter account?

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I recall a day in February of 2003 when Al Adams, Neil Werner and several others involved in the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group called me to Belfair to unveil their vision for a Pacific Northwest Salmon Center.

They had been thinking about it for years, but it was time to bring their dream out into the open and try to raise $18 million to build a 40,000-square-foot building, including an exhibit hall, classrooms, computer lab, research facilities, museum and a small theater. Check out my first story on the salmon center and initial fund-raising efforts.

Raising that amount of money has proven difficult, but the salmon center was able to acquire enough funds to secure its own property adjacent to the Theler wetlands in Belfair. Buildings at the old Jack Johnson farm have been or are being remodeled to accommodate the basic idea for the center, and managers have plans for expansion as time goes on. See my story in last Sunday’s Kitsap Sun.

Future expansion may be limited by provisions added to Mason County’s zoning code, which affect educational facilities located on agriculturally zoned land. But Salmon Center organizers say they will cross that bridge when it is time to grow.

For now, many people feel a sense of accomplishment at realizing their dream, scaled back at least for now. More than a few people believe that things have turned out for the best. After all, building the salmon center on a farm, with its ties to history and the community, may be a better fit for Belfair and this critical wetlands where Hood Canal begins.

An open house has been scheduled for Dec. 9 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the center, which is located at the end of Roessel Road in Belfair.

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Prospects appear to be fading for any meaningful international agreements for addressing climate change, as originally planned for a conference in Copenhagen next month.

Meanwhile, climatologists and those familiar with recent studies continue to warn us that, if anything, early climate models were too conservative in their predictions of climate change. The longer we wait to take action, the harder it will be to slow the rate of warming. Plants and animals (including humans) will have a harder time adapting to new conditions. Some populations, possibly entire species, may have no place to go as they attempt to adapt or face extinction.

I tend to take such warnings seriously, although I am not oblivious to the many skeptics on this topic. In fact, in my search for understanding, I’ve read more than my share of blogs written by folks who either don’t believe the planet is warming or else don’t believe man has anything to do with it.

This morning, I participated in a national telephone conference with three climate experts: Richard Somerville, coordinating lead author of the last report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Eric Steig, professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington; and Michael Mann, professor of meteorology at Penn State University.

They answered a variety of questions — ranging from new climate data to the implications of more than 1,500 “stolen” e-mails that have revealed the hidden, personal side of a few climatologists.
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“Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss turns out to be a great piece of music to accompany this wonderful video footage of Yellowstone geysers taken by Russ Finley.

I found some video of a totally different kind of geyser, which is amusing with or without music. Click here to watch the street geyser. Try playing the first video at the same time in another tab or window so you can listen to “Blue Danube” while watching the street geyser.

The next amusing video shows a woman who decides to use a geyser to wash her clothes “naturally.”

If you’ve never seen the “geyser tube” that makes the Mentos trick work much better, then check out this video.

The final video may be all too familiar for anyone who has taken care of a baby, particularly a baby boy. They call it the Huggies Geyser.

Finally, back on the serious side, I found a series of great photos of geysers from around the world.

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Navy officials have approved a plan to deploy specially trained Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to protect the Navy’s submarine base at Bangor.

Dolphins will be used to guard the Navy's submarine base at Bangor, similar to operations at King's Bay, Ga., and other places.
U.S. Navy photo by Veronica Birmingham

Roger Natsuhara, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for installation and environment, signed the record of decision (PDF 1.7 mb) on Wednesday. Check the document for official details about the program.

Reporter Ed Friedrick wrote a story about the decision for Thursday’s Kitsap Sun. His article includes the following description of how the Navy plans to use the marine mammals.

The dolphins, accompanied by handlers in small power boats, will work at night. If they find an intruder, they’ll swim back to the boat and alert the handler, who will place a strobe light on a dolphin’s nose. It will race back and bump the intruder’s back, knocking the light off. The light will float to the surface, marking the spot. The dolphin will swim back to the boat, join the handler, and they’ll clear out as security guards speed to the strobe to subdue the intruder.

Sea lions can carry in their mouths special cuffs attached to long ropes. If they find a suspicious swimmer, they clamp the cuff around the person’s leg. The intruder can then be reeled in.

The dolphins’ sonar is better than any that man has made and they’re best for moving quickly in open water. Sea lions can see and hear better underwater and are better for shallower work around piers

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Early next year, two reports will be released focusing on the conditions of the nearshore ecosystem throughout the Puget Sound region. These reports will mark a turning point for the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project, an effort that could lead to a multi-billion-dollar restoration effort. Read some details in a story I wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun.

I haven’t had a chance to dig deeply into all the reports written for this project the past few years, but they provide a true framework for understanding the structure and function of shoreline habitats. I hope to find time to study these reports, as I would a college textbook. I encourage anyone seeking to increase his or her level of knowledge about ecology to take a close look.

Following is a list of reports you can find on the Web site of the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project.
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As part of an effort to rebuild Northwest populations of endangered frogs — specifically Oregon spotted frogs — two inmates at Cedar Creek Corrections Center near Olympia were given 80 frog eggs with the goal of growing them into adult frogs.

Oregon spotted frog// Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

The two — Harry Greer and Al Delp — not only took the job seriously, their frogs grew larger and with a higher survival rate than identical frogs grown by experts at Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo.

Sarah Waller, a reporter for KUOW News, tells the story well, and I encourage you to listen to her report. Other accounts are provided in a news release from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and in a newspaper story by Jennifer Sullivan of the Seattle Times.

What Sarah Waller does not tell us is why the inmates were able to grow larger frogs, so I contacted Marc Hayes, project leader for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research has announced that the newest killer whale calf, designated J-46, should be known as “Star,” because the young animal has garnered so much attention.

This newborn calf could become a poster child in the effort to save the Southern Residents from extinction.

Ken’s naming announcement came as a surprise to me, because he rarely uses names for our local orcas. Like most killer whale researchers, Ken and other staffers at the Center for Whale Research generally call the whales by the alpha-numeric system set up by researchers many years ago.
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The photo below, titled “Quiet Waters” by Michele Lewis of Kingston, won the People’s Choice Award at a recent photo contest sponsored by Stillwaters Environmental Center near Kingston. The photo, taken at a pond along Hansville Road, was chosen to adorn the cover of the first Stillwaters Calendar, a fund-raiser for the nonprofit organization. To view and order the calendar, visit the MagCloud Web site.

The calendar also features the photos of other winners of the photo contest: Brandy Dickinson of Port Orchard in the beginner category; Kathy Henry of Kingston and Teresa Heather of Poulsbo, both winners in the amateur category; Bonnie Block of Kingston in the talented amateur category; and Paula Suter of Poulsbo in the professional category.

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I often play a guessing game that involves rainfall and streamflows: Are we getting the right amount of rain to help our salmon, or are the rains causing streamflows to be too high or too low?

A coho salmon tries to leap into a culvert against the rushing water in a stream above Wildcat Lake Kitsap Sun photo by Meegan M. Reid

It is easy to come up with an answer when we’ve had hardly any rain. The streams are running low; salmon are ready to swim upstream; and fish in the stream are obviously struggling through shallow water. We’ve seen this kind of condition in early fall during many recent years.

When can we say we’ve had enough rain? Well, certainly when a wide variety of streams and rivers are flooding over their banks. But because of the complexity of natural systems, there may never be a “just right” level for salmon.

I was up above Wildcat Lake in Central Kitsap yesterday, discussing the conditions with Jon Oleyar, a biologist for the Suquamish Tribe. Thanks to recent rains, coho salmon are well distributed throughout the Chico Creek watershed, which includes Wildcat Lake.
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