Swift and silent killer whales, known as transients, must be finding a good number of seals or sea lions to eat, because a group of a half-dozen or so of these animals appear to have been swimming around Puget Sound for about a week.

This video was recorded this afternoon in Puget Sound by KOMO News. Although KOMO’s Web site does not say specifically where the whales were sighted, they were reported between West Seattle and Vashon Island.

Orca Network’s recent reports include sightings of T87, 88, 90 and 90B south of Victoria last Tuesday. Later that night, transients were heard on the hydrophone off the West Side of San Juan Island. They stayed around the San Juans on Wednesday.

Then on Thursday, they were spotted in Tacoma’s Commencement Bay and near the ferry lanes on the Fauntleroy-Vashon Island route. From a KOMO video that day, Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research identified T87, T88, T90 & T90B, plus the T30s (which may include a mother and two adult offspring).

Since then, these same whales apparently have been spotted several times in Central Puget Sound. About halfway through the video above, it appears the orcas catch and kill a seal, evidenced by blood in the water.

Transients are orcas that eat marine mammals rather than fish — the primary food of our familiar Southern Residents of the Salish Sea. Transients usually travel in smaller groups and seem to give residents wide berth when they come within range of each other.

Transients roam widely from Alaska to California, though some stay farther north and others farther south. Because they hunt seals and sea lions, which can hear them coming, they are stealthier in their hunting than residents and appear to have a more limited vocabulary of vocalizations.

According to estimates by biologists, transients generally need to eat an average of one or two harbor seals a day to maintain their caloric needs. In that sense, transients are friends to both resident orcas and fishermen, because they eat the animals that eat the salmon.

In 2005, a group of six transients stayed in Hood Canal a remarkable 18 weeks, consuming a feast that amounted to an estimated 700 seals and sea lions. See Kitsap Sun, June 3, 2005.

With the help of Orca Network, we’ll report where these animals go over the next few days.

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Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, deserves recognition for his patience with me and the numerous sport and commercial fishers who ask him questions. He and WDFW Director Phil Anderson are two of the most mild-mannered guys you will ever know, and yet they manage to work through tough salmon negotiations year after year.

Let me recount some of the issues expected to come up over the next few weeks, with a focus on things not covered in my story.

— Ocean chinook fishing should be up this year, with run size up higher by 234,000 fish. If selective fishing is adopted, recreational fishers should have plenty of time on the water this summer, and the charter boats should do well.

— Ocean coho fishing could be down this year. About 390,000 returns are forecast, compared to about 1 million last year. It is not yet clear how reduced quotas will translate to time on the water. (If the catch is down, fewer people usually go out, which can extend the seasons.)

— In addition to protecting threatened and endangered salmon species, new state regulations are designed to protect rockfish, three of which are likely to be listed under the Endangered Species Act before salmon season begins. See NOAA Fisheries. For most areas of Puget Sound, you must return any rockfish you catch and fishing for bottomfish is prohibited in waters deeper than 120 feet. In Hood Canal, no fishing for bottomfish is allowed.

— Fishing in the Skokomish River could go selective this year. The number of anglers has been growing in recent years. Human waste problems became acute last year, and everybody will be watching the health issues next time around. This fishery could be a hot topic, since managers for WDFW and the Skokomish Tribe must figure out a way to reduce the exploitation rate on wild salmon from 60 percent to below 50 percent, as proposed in the new management plan for chinook.

— Tribal managers are leery of the state’s ability to manage a selective fishery in the Skokomish River. In the Nisqually, selective fishing apparently has worked, but the Skokomish involves far more fishers and remains somewhat untamed. Both state and tribal managers would like to resolve ongoing conflicts on the river between state and tribal fishers.

— In Hood Canal, last year’s four-fish limit for coho will be reduced to two. Hood Canal might become be a driver stock — meaning low returns could limit fishing in other areas — but that will be determined through modeling. There is some talk about a selective fishery in Hood Canal.

— Director Anderson talked about budget problems, saying it will be difficult to add selective fisheries in most areas, because they take more staff for monitoring and enforcement. The Skokomish selective fishery could be funded through a special account set aside to improve coded-wire tag data in freshwater fisheries. (Coded wires, imbedded in the fish heads, provide info about the specific stocks of origin.)

— Concerns continue for coho in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but measures adopted the past few years to protect Thompson River coho in British Columbia may be adequate to protect those returning to rivers in the Strait without reducing fishing seasons.

— Coho numbers look pretty good for rivers in North Puget Sound, namely the Skagit, Stillaguamish and Snohomish.

— Conservation efforts negotiated under the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada will allow more fish to return to the United States, but those fish must be passed through to spawning grounds. Under the treaty, the U.S. fishery cannot be allowed to scoop up savings negotiated in the treaty, officials said.

— A plan to protect threatened Puget Sound chinook will expire this year. State officials hope NOAA Fisheries will approve an interim plan based on a draft that the state has submitted to the feds and is currently undergoing review.

— With less snowpack in the mountains, managers will need to keep an eye on what streamflows are doing to salmon stocks. Where salmon have not entered streams because of low flows, fishing may be restricted to protect fish waiting in front of rivers for higher flows.

— Anderson said he has heard the call from people who would like to discontinue fishing altogether for a number of years to allow threatened stocks to recover. While that would provide a temporary increase in returns to the rivers, it would do nothing to address habitat issues, which ultimately limit salmon production. Anderson said he does not want to give a “free pass” to those responsible for restoring habitat.

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Like it or not, political power is what gets things done in our city councils, Legislature and Congress. Voting by qualified citizens is certainly one form of political power.

Whether Congress spends our money to fight wars or to restore the environment is a result of political power. Some would say we have no choice but to fight wars at key times in history. Others would argue that we have no choice but to save the Earth. But, of course, there are choices in how Congress spends our money.

I got to thinking about this after I wrote a story for today’s Kitsap Sun about U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks and his change in chairmanships in the House Appropriations Committee. Dicks will soon move from a position where he has a major say about environmental spending to a position where he will have a major say about Defense spending.

His predecessor on the Defense Appropriations Committee, Rep. John Murtha, held a reputation for wielding political power to bring federal projects to his home state of Pennsylvania.

Dicks enjoys a favorable reputation among environmentalists nationwide for his work on restoring national forests and national parks as well as his support for regulations to protect the environment. But Dicks is celebrated in his home state of Washington for his intense focus on our local forests and waterways.

That makes this Bremerton native a target for those who think our money is better spent on other things or not at all. I wonder how that perception will change when he becomes more focused on Defense issues, which attracts a more conservative constituency. That’s not to say that Dicks has not already wielded political power on defense issues, given the large number of military bases and defense-oriented companies in Washington.

For some reason, this very notion of political power seems a little distasteful, but it is how government gets things done — or not done. It is political power, after all, that the brings Republicans together in a solid block —without a single vote out of line — to block some of President Obama’s prize initiatives.

What actions would you like your government to take? As they say, political power is a little like sausage. We may not want to see the process that gets it done, but we can enjoy the result nonetheless.

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I outlined the major legal issues in a story in today’s Kitsap Sun.

You may wish to return to this blog tomorrow, when I will give “live blogging” a try for the first time. At that time, you will be able to watch as I write from the courtroom, providing blow-by-blow arguments as they unfold before the judge.

Here’s the key question: If you buy a piece of property on a lake, do you have the right to open it up for public access?

When this issue first came up, I thought the outcome could set a precedent for other lakes where anglers would like to build a boat launch. But there are many aspects of this issue that are relatively unique. Here are a few:

— The question of whether Lake Tahuyeh was a natural lake or a bog.
— The point that Lake Tahuyeh was not a navigable waterway, which means the state does not own the lake bottom.
— The idea that the lake was changed substantially when it was dammed up.
— The fact that the state has never contributed to the cost of maintaining the dam or other operations on the lake.

Of course, attorneys for the state will argue that the public gained access to the lake in 1939 before most homes were built and that public rights to use the lake cannot be extinguished by any of these issues.

It will be interesting to see how these various points are argued in court.

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It is the best of streams. It is the worst of streams.

There’s been talk lately about Big Beef Creek in Central Kitsap, where a much-traveled bridge has been closed to heavy traffic because of a washed-out bridge abutment. It appears the bridge will be closed for a couple of weeks, beginning next week. See my story in today’s Kitsap Sun.

There’s reason to believe we’ll be hearing a lot more about this stream in the future.

In my mind, Big Beef Creek is a beautiful salmon stream that has been much abused through the years. Despite a large population of people in the watershed, the creek has managed to hold onto its populations of salmon. Somehow, pollution has been mostly avoided.

For a reporting project, I once explored the entire reach of Big Beef Creek, talking to hobby farmers, backcountry residents and lakeside home owners. That story does not seem to be in the Kitsap Sun’s public archives, but I’ll see if I can track it down and post a link here later.

Big Beef Creek begins in an extensive wetland called Morgan Marsh and drains toward Hood Canal near Lone Rock, north of Seabeck. The creek’s origins in the marsh are just a short distance from the beginnings of the Tahuya River, which drains in the opposite direction into Southern Hood Canal outside of Belfair.

Big Beef Creek flows through a developed area, including Lake Symington. Migrating salmon are forced to navigate a fish ladder at the dam that impounds Lake Symington.

Development has been a problem for the stream, which has seen a decline in salmon. But the stream has been a problem for development, particularly for houses built too close to its meandering banks. During heavy storms, the stream has been known to take out private bridges. And in 1994 it wiped out a bridge on Holly Road. At least two homes have been abandoned below the dam, and others are threatened by its rushing waters.

Out of nearly 60 streams monitored by the Kitsap County Health District throughout Kitsap County, Big Beef Creek is the fifth cleanest in terms of bacterial pollution. Its waters sometimes show low oxygen levels — probably because the waters slow down as they pass through Lake Symington.

Near the mouth of the creek, the University of Washington operates the Big Beef Creek Research Station, where studies of salmon are taking place. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife manages a fish trap that catches adult salmon going upstream and juveniles going downstream. Those counts are used to help gauge the production of salmon for all of Hood Canal.

Big Beef Creek flows into an extensive estuary, where people often stop to watch bald eagles feeding in the spring before the salmon runs begin. The eagles often find midshipmen (bullheads) or else steal fish from the herons that congregate there. Some observers have counted up to 40 eagles at one time.

Seabeck Highway crosses the Big Beef estuary on a narrow strip of fill dumped there years ago when the road was built. The small bridge allows water to move between the upper and lower portions of the estuary. But high tides and rains can create a lot of flow through that tiny opening, which contributes to the risk of bridge failure.

The county’s chief road engineer, Jon Brand, told me that flows during the rains and high tides last week were the primary factors in undercutting the bridge abutment, and a log next to the bridge may have contributed to the problem.

There has been talk about removing some or all of the earthen causeway and building a much longer bridge. Biologists say that would dramatically improve estuarine habitat for juvenile salmon.

For now, a $79,000 study has been approved for the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group to develop a restoration strategy for the lower one mile or so of the stream. Stay tuned for further details and check out the study description on the Hood Canal Coordinating Council’s Web site.

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It is not one of the Hood Canal hatcheries we’ve often talked about that are focused on rebuilding wild salmon runs. Still, the hatchery is being operated to minimize impacts on wild salmon, as outlined in the Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan (PDF 188 kb).

Because of state budget cutbacks, McKernan was one of the salmon- and trout-rearing facilities placed on the chopping block earlier this year by the Legislature. See the story I wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun.

State Rep. Fred Finn, D-Olympia, and other legislators believe that private organizations should be given the opportunity to operate the hatchery. Perhaps revenues from the sale of eggs and salmon returning to the hatchery could help to keep the operation going, he said in a news release.

Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, which got its start in salmon production, is one group taking a close look at the financial end of the operation.

In the next couple of months, we’ll see how things pan out under the guidance of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Otherwise, the hatchery is scheduled for closure at the end of June.

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Following a review, Gregoire’s supplemental budget now includes $10 million for such projects, including a new bridge over Carpenter Creek, as I describe in a story in Saturday’s Kitsap Sun. The Carpenter Creek bridge, a high-priority project for years, turns out to be the most expensive item on the list from the Puget Sound Partnership.

What I did not report in my weekend story was the remainder of the projects. They include work on stormwater projects in Bremerton and Seattle, restoration work on the Nooksack River in Whatcom County and the Dungeness River in Clallam County, removal of pilings at the Asarco site in Ruston, and various other projects.

The Legislature always has the option of adding more money to pick up projects further down on the priority list or else cutting some or all of the money proposed. Here are descriptions of projects that made the $10-million cut:

Nooksack Tribe, Whatcom County, $746,508: Construction of stable log jams in the South Fork Nooksack to form deep pools with complex cover to improve holding and rearing habitat [Todd Creek reach phase 2 and River Farm Reach phase 1 phase 2]

Pierce County or Department of Natural Resources, $1.03 million: Removal of 2,300 pilings would allow for completion of in-water remediation of the Asarco Superfund site, Ruston. The Docks are on state-owned tidelands. This will improve substantially the shoreline habitat by removing 1.6 acres of over-water shading, removing substantial quantity of creosote from the environment and allow sediment capping to be completed, thereby making clean substrate available to the benefit of the aquatic life and also the community who will for the first time in 100 years have access to this mile long waterfront free of contamination.

Kitsap County (sponsor), $2.78 million: Carpenter Creek estuary restoration; remove blocking culvert, restore tidal function.

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Clallam County, $1.03 million: Build engineered log jams in Dungeness River from river mile (RM) 2.7 to 18.8 and in the Gray Wolf River from RM 0.0 to 1.0. Project would ultimately build approximately 120 stable log jams in 20 miles of main stem river.

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Whatcom County, $185,400: Barrier removal / Provide passage to 1.4 miles / large woody debris placement / 41 acres of riparian planting along 2,900 linear feet of stream and several adjoining wetlands.

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Whatcom County, $381,100: Middle Fork: Install 6 Large woody debris structures along 1.5 miles of Middle Fork in vicinity of Porter Creek; North Fork: Augment 20 large woody debris structures on 5 channel islands between Maple Falls and Welcome.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Puget Sound, $1.03 million: Preliminary engineering and property assessments for a portfolio of priority nearshore restoration opportunities. This project will complete preliminary design work for a portfolio of projects that would be eligible for federal funding through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Seattle Public Utilities, King County, $824,000: Use low impact development techniques to reduce stormwater runoff and achieve TMDL implementation objectives in the most important subbasin of Seattle’s Piper’s Creek. Project will significantly benefit water quality, wet weather flow reduction, and salmon survival in the watershed. Implements action item Urban 4 from Washington State’s nonpoint plan.

City of Bremerton, Kitsap County, $1.34 million: Retrofit of streets and drainage systems in “ultra urban” downtown Bremerton using permeable paving, biofiltration, and bioretention low impact development strategies to reduce runoff to 303d-listed Sinclair Inlet. Demonstrating effectiveness and providing thorough documentation will offer guidance to future efforts in Bremerton and other regions. Project implements action item Urban 4 from Washington State’s nonpoint plan.

Various sponsors, various counties, $647,000: Department of Ecology selects the most ready-to-go projects from Ecology’s 2010 Supplemental Clean-Up Toxics and Puget Sound Remedial Action Grants list. All projects on Ecology’s list support Action Agenda near-term priority action C.5(1): “Continue to implement ongoing, high-priority remediation and cleanup projects”

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At the time, Hedrick told me that he regretted not having enough time in the two-hour program to include clips of Billy Frank, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and other folks whose personal histories are tied to Puget Sound. He said he would try to find a way to share these important clips with the public.

That’s exactly what he has done in a new program focused exclusively on Puget Sound, called “Puget Sound’s Poisoned Waters.” It will air Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on KCTS Channel 9.

The documentary repeats and expands on footage shown in the original program — including killer whales, contaminated salmon, underwater footage with scuba divers in Elliott Bay and discussions about the food web.

New segments focus on an ongoing animosity between tribal fishermen and farmers in the Skagit River area. Longtime farmer Curtis Johnson complains that Native Americans “exterminated” the salmon resource by over-fishing and are now blaming others for the result. Both sides acknowledged that trust between them was nonexistent.

In stark contrast, there’s the story of Billy Frank, whose personal charm and determination bridged a similar gap between tribal members and property owners in the Nisqually Valley — including Jim Wilcox of Wilcox Farms, a huge dairy operation. And now the potential enemies are friends.

At the end of the show, KCTS reporter Enrique Cerna discusses Puget Sound issues with Hedrick Smith and Bill Ruckelshaus, chairman of the Puget Sound Leadership Council.

Ruckelshaus makes the point that people need to learn about the problems facing Puget Sound and to “put their interests on the table, not their positions.” He means that everyone has personal needs and wants, and it is quite possible to find middle ground with the needs and wants of others.

“We have to change the culture of this place,” Bill says, “in order to ensure that the way we live allows other things to share this place with us.”

I was thinking, after watching a review copy of the program on DVD, that this hour-long documentary could serve as a catalyst for discussions throughout the Puget Sound region.

Perhaps the Puget Sound Partnership ought to go on tour, playing “Puget Sound’s Poisoned Waters” in various communities around the Sound. (Be sure to provide popcorn.) Then, after watching the show together, people could talk about how they feel about their community, discuss the local water-quality problems and pose possible solutions to nurse the ecosystem back to health.

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Steve Owens, EPA’s assistant administrator in the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, had this to say in a news release today:

“Though DecaBDE has been used as a flame retardant for years, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has long been concerned about its impact on human health and the environment. Studies have shown that decaBDE persists in the environment, potentially causes cancer and may impact brain function. DecaBDE also can degrade to more toxic chemicals that are frequently found in the environment and are hazardous to wildlife.

“Today’s announcement by these companies to phase out decaBDE is an appropriate and responsible step to protect human health and the environment.”

Alarms bells have been sounding over PBDEs for several years. Concerns relate to liver and thyroid disease, neurological development and potential effects on the immune and reproductive systems.

Because they are persistent in the environment, these chemicals have been accumulating in the tissues of the familiar killer whales that frequent Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. See the story I wrote about toxics in orcas, October 2007.

Deca is used to reduce the risk of fire in electronics, textiles, automobiles and other applications, but other alternatives have been identified.

Today’s announcement relates to agreements with the two U.S. producers of decaBDE — Albemarle Corporation and Chemtura Corporation — along with the largest U.S. importer, ICL Industrial Products, Inc.

Under the new agreements, the companies will end production, importation and sales of decaBDE for most uses in the United States by December 31, 2012, and to end all uses by the end of 2013. Here are the letters of commitment:

Albemarle Corporation (PDF 403 kb)
Chemtura Corporation (PDF 34 kb)
ICL Industrial Products, Inc. (PDF 55 kb)

Brian Carter, global business director of Albemarle’s flame retardant group, made this comment in a prepared statement:

“While hundreds of science-based and peer-reviewed studies have shown Deca-BDE to be safe in use and one of the most efficacious flame retardants in the world, Albemarle is committed to delivering safe and effective products with increasingly smaller environmental footprints.

“Safe and environmentally sound substitutes for decabrom are available today, and we are working with our customers and the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a phase out of Deca-BDE in the coming years.”

Tony Parnell, vice president of Albemarle’s polymer solutions division, added this comment:

“In addition to our existing alternatives, Albemarle fire safety scientists have developed GreenArmor, a polymer-based flame retardant technology which is a recyclable and an eco-friendly alternative to current decabrom technology.

“Our investment in this new fire safety technology demonstrates Albemarle’s commitment to constantly seek higher-performing, sustainable alternatives to existing fire safety products.”

Meanwhile, the state of Washington remains on track to phase out PBDEs —with deca being the only one remaining. I was wondering how EPA’s agreement would mesh with Washington state’s requirements, so I called Curt Hart at the Department of Ecology.

“It is not an exact match, but it is very close,” Curt told me. “We are very pleased with the agreement that EPA has reached with these manufacturers. The good thing is that everyone now recognizes that deca is a problem as well (as other PBDEs).”

Visit Ecology’s Web site for the state’s phase-out schedule, including an important report called “Alternatives to Deca-BDE in Televisions and Computers and Residential Upholstered Furniture.”

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In a story in today’s Kitsap Sun, I list the projects in the Hood Canal and East Kitsap areas and remind readers of the work going on in the Skokomish River watershed. A grant of $1.7 million to the Skokomish Tribe was the largest given out for next year, though it actually was approved last May.

If you haven’t seen my four-part series, “Taming the Skokomish,” you may wish to take a look. It outlines the historic problems in the watershed and describes actions being taken to correct them.

In a news release (PDF 20 kb), Steve Tharinger, chairman of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, explains the purpose of the grants:

“Salmon are an important part of Washington’s economy and culture. These grants are helping us reverse the decline in salmon populations we’ve seen over the past two decades. These grants are not only good for salmon, the environment and the people of Washington, but they are good for the economy because much of this money will be awarded to local organizations to do restoration work in their local communities.

“Local watershed groups develop these projects based on regional recovery plans and with the support of regional salmon recovery organizations. This ‘bottom-up’ approach to salmon recovery ensures that funding is focused on what they see happening in their communities. The projects are then checked by the state’s technical review panel to make sure they will help recover salmon in the most cost-effective manner. This local and state partnership has made Washington a national model in salmon recovery.”

To review all the projects listed by county, download the project document (PDF 178 kb) from the SRF Board’s Web site.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray announced in a news release that she was able to keep $80 million in the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund for FY 2010. This is the fund that provides much of the money for these salmon recovery grants.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration eliminated this fund dedicated to Northwest states and put money into a fund for the recovery of fish stocks nationwide. I was told at the time that it was kind of an oversight by some staffers who had proposed the change during the Bush administration.

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, secured a promise of $50 million in the overall fund to be set aside for Northwest salmon. But Murray and other senators were able to restore the fund itself and increase the federal contribution. That fund has now survived the conference committee’s review and is expected to become law. Some of that money will come to Washington state for the next round of funding.

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