Watching Our Water Ways

UPDATE, DEC. 3

Sir Muir Russell, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow from 2003 to 2009, was appointed by the University of East Anglia to head up a review of allegations against the Climate Research Unit.

The review will look at the stolen e-mails for evidence of data manipulation or suppression, review CRU’s overall data-handling policies, and investigate compliance with disclosure laws. Review is designed to determine whether activities were at odds with acceptable scientific practices.

The university has asked that the review be completed by spring, 2010.
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UPDATE, DEC. 1

Phil Jones has stepped aside as director of the Climatic Research Unit pending completion of an independent review of allegations involving e-mail hacked from the server of the University of East Anglia in England. Details of the investigation will be announced within days. See news release from East Anglia.
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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.
(more…)

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Mount Vernon artist Sukey Jacobsen has been named the first-place winter in the “Puget Sound — I Love You” contest.

"Planting in the Riparian Zone" by Sukey Jacobsen won first place in the "Puget Sound — I Love You" art contest.
Photo courtesy of People for Puget Sound

The winning watercolor, which depicts “Planting in the Riparian Zone,” is now on exhibit at Sea Side Gallery in La Conner.

The contest, sponsored by People for Puget Sound, recognizes artwork that focuses on a Puget Sound theme, especially stewardship to save the sound. Jacobsen was among 26 artists submitting their work.

Second place was awarded to La Conner artist Ken Hansen for his sculpture, “Returning Sockeye.” Third place went to Peter Naylor of Sedro Woolley for his photograph “Candystriped Shrimp on Crimson Anemone.” An outstanding mention certificate was awarded to Coupeville artist Shirley Ashenbrenner for her mixed media piece “Party Night.”

Sea Side Gallery is at 112 Morris St., Suite A, in La Conner. The work will be on exhibit through June 15. Phone: (360) 466-5141. A portion of sale proceeds will benefit People For Puget Sound.

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The Kitsap Peninsula largely escaped the onslaught of rains on Wednesday, thank to the “rain shadow” effect of the Olympic Mountains. See Brynn Grimley’s story in yesterday’s Kitsap Sun.

The rain shield eventually broke down as the storm direction changed, and we got hit pretty good yesterday. But the scattered flooding and mudslides didn’t come close to what we saw in December of 2007.

The biggest problem in this area was Highway 166 between Port Orchard and Gorst, where perennial mudslides disrupt the normal traffic flow. See Travis Baker’s story in today’s Kitsap Sun.

As for other areas of the state, it’s worth noting that the Sun’s Web editor, Angela Dice, and other newspaper Web editors used some relatively new online tools — including Twitter and Publish2 — to keep people updated about the weather. If you logged onto the Sun’s weather coverage, you would have access to a growing list of links about weather events taking place all over the state.

This flood of information was made possible through a collaboration of online journalists and others who believe that getting information out to people is more important than old-fashioned competition, which used to dominate the news business. It’s actually one of the few bright spots in an shrinking industry where news coverage suffers amid the evaporation of advertising revenues.

The story of this week’s collaboration was featured today in the online publication “Publishing 2,” which reports on developments regarding an online system that helps connect journalists together. The author of the piece, Josh Korr, calls this week’s effort a “quiet revolution” in which “four journalists spontaneously launched one of the first experiments in collaborative (or networked) link journalism to cover a major local story.”

For the average reader, this new approach means that newspaper Web sites become richer with breaking news. You could use the Kitsap Sun, for example, to figure out which roads were blocked at any one time pretty much anywhere in the state.

Want to be even more current with events? Go to the search engine on Twitter and type in “#waflood.” You’ll see a twittering of reporters, highway engineers and other people tweeting about the latest developments on the roads and rivers.

Meanwhile, geologists for the Washington Department of Natural Resources have developed a network to share information about mudslides with the hope that knowledge will help reduce future problems. Check out the map of recent mudslides and learn about the hazards and what you can do about them.

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I realize that many people are getting sick of snow in the Puget Sound area as well as other parts of the country. I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the snow and post a few pictures or videos that might lighten the mood for those who need a lift.

Unfortunately, most of the locally produced snow videos show little more than stuck cars and car crashes, which I rarely find amusing. And I cringe at ski accidents and injuries on snowmobiles, which are often compiled and promoted as funny.

So here’s a compilation of photos showing what snow can do. Yes, I’m posting this “Amusing Monday” a day earlier than normal.

Animals are sometimes funny in the snow, but the reactions of people are more amusing.

OK, I need to show you one car accident.

If you’ve seen enough snowy car accidents, as I have, then watch how this one turns out.

Seriously, I know that the snow can be a pain. But we don’t often see anything like this snow we’re getting. While you have a chance, bundle up warmly and venture out into the world of snow. Let the joy of childhood overtake you, and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate for me.

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This week, I’d like to share some videos in which the creators take a crazy look at some large birds that, in real life, walk about awkwardly but swim with unusual grace.

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You may have seen this video before. Circulating on the Internet for at least four years, this clip has generated a lot of excitement. Several people have sent it to me by e-mail, and YouTube keeps getting mileage from it. The video shows a killer whale breaching and coming down on top of a nearby kayaker. But things are not always as they seem.

It turns out that the video is the Korean version of a commercial for Poweraid, an energy drink made by Coca Cola, according to Snopes.com, which is a good place to check out Internet rumors and falsehoods.

I have yet to see the English version of this commercial. But the footage of the killer whale breaching without any kayaks around can be seen in the trailer for the movie “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment.”

So it appears that this video has a Northwest connection. As many of you know, Lolita, captured in Puget Sound in 1970, is the last orca from this area to remain alive in an aquarium, and she can be seen doing tricks in Miami.

Meanwhile, opponents of captive orcas continue their effort to return Lolita to Puget Sound, a subject that has been debated in Water Ways over the past year.

Orca Network provides a lot of background information on its Lolita Web page. The organization also holds fundraisers to help in the effort to return Lolita to her native waters.

Since Lolita was captured as a calf, the whale in this video cannot be her. Can anyone can identify the orca that so gracefully crushes a kayaker? Also, if anyone has information about the footage in “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment,” I’d like to hear more.

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Puget Sound Partnership has posted on its Web site a recording of yesterday’s interdisciplinary meeting in Friday Harbor focusing on the plight of Puget Sound’s killer whales. The link is on PSP’s Home Page.

I did not attend the meeting, but afterwards I interviewed folks who did attend. As I described in a story in today’s Kitsap Sun, participants included marine mammal and fisheries biologists with a smattering of other experts.

One of the key messages coming out of the meeting is that the orcas do not do well when they don’t get enough chinook salmon to eat. That might seem like a no-brainer, but the conclusion is complicated, because we don’t fully understand the nutritional needs of the orcas or how to measure how much food they are getting.

I’m working on a story that should shed a little more light on this issue.

Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released its biological opinion about the effects of three pesticides on salmon. The biop includes recommendations directed at the Environmental Protection Agency, which is in charge of pesticide registration. The EPA is called on to change the registration and label to prevent pesticide use within 500 feet of a salmon stream, among other things.

Read the story in today’s Kitsap Sun or download a copy of the biological opinion (PDF 11 mb) from NOAA’s Web site.

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I have gotten to know quite a few marine biologists through the years. I’ve generally admired their dedication and devotion. In the first video below, I found it interesting to compare the attitudes of whale researchers to xxxx, who has studied ant eaters for many years. Here he is featured in a piece from The Onion News Network.

Also, it may be worth noting that I have covered more than a few whale strandings in my carrier. In the second video, it was interesting to see how The Onion captured the drama of a rare beaching of a different creature.

Expert On Anteaters Wasted Entire Life Studying Anteaters

Barbara Bush Runs Aground Off Coast Of Maine

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I’m not sure if I did something bad or if the blog software had a brief meltdown. But the outcome is that a bunch of recent blog comments were deleted all at once.

I’ve been able to recover most of them, because I get a notice of the comments in my e-mail. But I could not find all of them. In the future, I will move the comments into an e-mail folder in case this happens again. But it has never happened before, and I hope I don’t have to go through this recovery effort ever again.

Anyway, I truly regret this, because I believe we have a very good discussion taking place, including the ongoing Navy-versus-environment issue. I always look forward to opening Watching Our Water Ways to see what people have to say in response to my postings as well as the new ideas that people have about water and environmental issues.

So if anybody sees a comment that is missing, I encourage you to post a new one — or the old one if you happen to still have it. I can even post-date a comment to place it in the appropriate time frame.

Thanks for hanging in there with me through good times and bad.

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These photos have been floating around the Internet. I believe they meet our standards of amusement.

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