While some Southern Resident killer whales are still out of the area, J pod has returned to our inland waterway (Point Roberts at the moment). We also have the L-12s and a few Ks, according to Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research.

We’ll wait and see if any of these whales show up for Orca Sing tomorrow night. See my previous Water Ways entry.

There’s another interesting orca event going on next week, which is worth some attention. It’s called “Southern Resident Orcas, Then and Now: What Have We Learned?” It’s sponsored by Orca Network, the Seattle Aquarium and Puget Sound Partnership.

I’m anticipating that the highlight of this social event will be recently unearthed film footage of the 1971 killer whale capture in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island. The late Don McGaffin, a reporter for KING 5 TV, became thoroughly involved in the story, asking the right questions.

Ralph Munro, former secretary of state for Washington and a longtime advocate for orcas, helped bring this dramatic footage to light and make it available for Tuesday’s event. I’ve previewed the film, which takes us back to what seems like another world.

You will see in the film orcas thrashing about in a tiny pen, as people with ropes looped around the animals try to move them around.

At one point, McGaffin sits down on a dock with the water behind him and looks into the camera.

“Whale catchers and oceanarians keep pounding the public relations drum, taking the position that one of the reasons the killer whale is taken is for scientific reasons,” McGaffin notes. “Yet some marine biologists don’t know whether to laugh or cry at that suggestion.”

McGaffin then points out that one may study the physical structure of a captive killer whale — but what about their social structure, their feeding choices, their travel patterns?

“What they really don’t know is if the whales taken by (Ted) Griffin and (Don) Goldsberry these past seven years are from the same family or the same pod, yet the captures go on.”

At the time, researchers knew little about Puget Sound orcas. Of course, McGaffin could not know that these whales would become one of the most studied marine mammal populations in the world. Today, thanks to Ken Balcomb and a convenient family structure among the whales, we can draw all the family trees going back 35 years.

The recently unearthed film also includes interviews with biologists and politicians who talk about the captures from their points of view.

“The struggle to protect the Puget Sound killer whales has many heroes,” Ralph Munro says. “Perhaps first and foremost is the late Don McGaffin of KING 5 television and publisher Wallie Funk of the Whidbey News Times newspaper. Both Don and Wallie risked their lives to get detailed pictures of the captures and the sorting of whales during the 1970s.”

Ralph will provide commentary to the film. Others expected to make comments are Bill Ruckelshaus of Puget Sound Partnership, Howard Garrett of Orca Network and Gary Chittim of KING 5 TV, who will provide more recent footage of killer whales.

Tickets are $50 per person to cover expenses. Any proceeds will go to special projects by Orca Network.

For information or to purchase tickets, go to Orca Network or call (360) 678-3451.

Ralph sent the following letter to promote Tuesday’s event:

(more…)

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UPDATE

A group of orcas swam by Lime Kiln State Park earlier in the day Saturday, but they were gone by the time OrcaSing started in the evening, according to notes with photos by People for Puget Sound. Still, everybody seemed to have a good time, according to reports. Also, check out the YouTube video by The Whale Museum.

——————–
With luck, J pod will be back in the San Juan Islands Saturday in time for “Orca Sing,” an annual celebration of Puget Sound’s beloved killer whales on San Juan Island.

Three members of L pod shown in a rare "triple tail lob" Wednesday off the western shore of San Juan Island.
Photo by Jim Maya, Maya's Westside Charters

This morning, I received a report that J pod had been spotted with a portion of L pod near Jordan River at the southern end of Vancouver Island, west of Victoria. That’s just a spy hop and a jump away from their summer waters in the San Juan Islands.

Charterboat operator Jim Maya told me about J pod hanging out with a group called the L-12s when I contacted him about using the photo on this page — a rare “triple tail lob,” in which three orcas slap their flukes at once. Maya, who has 20 years experience on the water, says he has never seen one of these maneuvers before, let alone capturing it with a camera.

The L-12s have been in and out of the San Juans lately, but J pod has not been seen for about a month. Many people have been worried, since J pod is known to spend much of its time in inland waters, especially at this time of year. (See Water Ways, June 12.)

If J pod really is at the south end of Vancouver Island as of this posting, the whales could be back to the San Juans by tonight or tomorrow — though there are never any guarantees that they will show up for Orca Sing.

Experts at the Center for Whale Research are ready to see if all the animals are accounted for and if their are any newborns in the group.

Orca Sing, now in its 10th year, begins at 6 p.m. at Lime Kiln State Park with “Stories and Sounds,” an update on the orcas and their activities by Cindy Hansen, education coordinator for The Whale Museum.

Music by the City Cantabile Choir and guests begins at 7 p.m., as participants watch for whales off the western shore of San Juan Island. Last year, a large number of orcas showed up to make it one of the most memorable events in the series.

Some years, the whales have not been seen, however.

“We tell people to come and make a day of it,” said Jenny Atkinson of The Whale Museum, who has helped to organize the event.

She suggests bringing a picnic dinner and carpooling to the park, since parking is limited. For information, e-mail Atkinson or Hansen or call (360) 378-4710.

Sponsors include City Cantabile Choir, The Whale Museum, People For Puget Sound, Friends of the San Juans, Whale Trail and the American Cetacean Society’s Northwest Chapter.

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President Obama is being praised for his decision to pull together all the ocean-related challenges this nation faces and for plotting a unified course of action.

On Friday, the president issued a memorandum calling for a task force to develop a national ocean policy along with a “framework” for action and a set of objectives. See the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, along with a news story by reporter Doug Palmer of Reuters.

I was tempted to state cynically that actions speak louder than words, so we should curb our enthusiasm about what can be done to save the oceans. But then I talked to Bill Ruckelshaus, who co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission, a national group dedicated to this topic.

Ruckelshaus seems to be thrilled with this latest development, following years of failed promises from the Bush administration.

“This is quite a significant event, really,” Bill told me. “It moves the oceans up on the presidential agenda, which means they will get more attention from Congress and from agencies in the administration. Presidencies are all about setting agendas, and this means more attention will be paid to the recommendations we made.”

I’ll tell you a little more about what my conversation with Mr. Ruckelshaus, but first I’ll review the history.

Five years ago, similar praise was accorded to President Bush after the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy — a presidentially appointed body — released it’s comprehensive examination of the major problems facing the oceans. The report included a list of potential solutions.

Adm. James D. Watkins, a retired Navy officer who chaired the commission, expressed enthusiasm for the reception he felt the report was getting from the Bush administration.

“President Bush’s response to the Commission’s Report and his signing of Executive Order establishing a Secretarial-level Committee on Ocean Policy … sets into motion the important process of developing and implementing a new national ocean policy,” Watkins declared.

Despite the positive reaction, I don’t believe a whole lot came about. (Review the last three “report cards.”) A separate report written by the Pew Oceans Commission received even less attention.

After the two commissions dissolved, some members — including Ruckelshaus — moved into a new organization called the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, a nongovernmental group that maintained pressure for action through annual “report cards” relating the progress, or lack thereof, on ocean issues.

In April of this year, the joint commission issued an urgent new report called “Changing Oceans, Changing World: Ocean Priorities for the Obama Administration and Congress” (PDF 280 kb). I outlined that report in a Water Ways entry on April 7.

And so now we come to today, five months into the new administration, which seems to be trying to do everything at once. Can there really be much energy left for a discussion about the oceans?

Bill Ruckelshaus is undaunted. “I think holding back and doing things one at a time just doesn’t work,” he said. “You have to act while the energy is there.”

Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Nixon, now chairs the Leadership Council of the Puget Sound Partnership, where he is heading the effort to reverse the degradation of our inland waterways.

President Bush created the U.S. Commission on Oceans, which probably seemed like a good idea at the time. But pulling all the environmental agencies together and getting Congress to focus on budgets, regulations and international treaties just never came to pass.

Why is Obama’s action different?

(more…)

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has raised objections over a planned demonstration of fish-throwing at a veterinary conference.

The idea was to invite fishmongers from Pike Place Market to toss fish around as part of their appearance at the conference of the American Veterinary Medical Association next month in Seattle. It’s part of the act at the market.

Now PETA is saying if the demonstration is to be held at all, the fish-tossers should throw rubber fish.

After watching KCPQ (Channel 13)’s story last night about PETA’s objections to the demonstration, I was ready to question PETA’s logic, if not the sanity of the group. PETA already has something of a flaky reputation.

While watching the TV news report, I was literally hooting at what seemed to be the notion that PETA was objecting to the fish-throwing at the Pike Place Market.

“These fish are dead!” I said laughing. “How can PETA say tossing fish around is disrespectful? If you want to talk about disrespect, spend some time on a fishing boat, where fish are rounded up in a net and dumped into the hold. If you want to talk about disrespect, visit a salmon hatchery, where fish are sliced open to remove the eggs. If you want to talk about disrespect, think about killing the fish, cooking the fish, cutting the fish into pieces and eating it!”

OK, I didn’t really say all that in so many words. But that was the essence of my logical argument. I thought PETA was really missing the boat, so to speak, by arguing about fish-tossing, when people have been making an honorable living from fishing for thousands of years.

Then I went to PETA’s Web site and read the press release and letter to the veterinary group. I realized that PETA had not missed these greater points at all. It was the news reports that came up short. Reporters, both television and print, were so amused by PETA’s objections to fish-tossing that they failed to pick up the nuance of PETA’s argument.

KCPQ may have realized the inadequacy of the report, as it held an in-studio interview this morning with PETA’s president Ingrid Newkirk.

It turns out that PETA is not objecting to fish-tossing in general — at least not so much in this letter. The group continues to object to the killing and eating of all animals, and believes that net fishing is a cruel way for fish to die. Organizers were making the point that veterinarians — charged with protecting and treating animals — should not celebrate such cruelty by tossing fish about in an amusing way.

PETA promotes veganism. It is pretty well established that eating lower on the food chain has less impact on the environment. I find the argument against meat-eating logical, and I have cut back my personal consumption of meat and chicken to some degree.

But some of PETA’s campaigns are so removed from common sense that a large number of people refuse to take the group seriously. PETA organizers acknowledge that they do crazy things to get attention, but maybe they should work harder on their nuanced message. To be effective, PETA representatives must make a connection with people who don’t already agree with them.

As hard as PETA tries, the message frequently seems off the mark, especially if the group is trying to reach logical people — let alone hard-bitten folks who believe in human domination over other species.

PETA’s letter protesting the fish-tossing demonstration includes this: “Surely the AVMA would not describe an event as ‘fun, educational and inspiring’ if the animals being tossed around were lambs, hamsters, or cats.”

I would have to say that most of us don’t eat hampsters or cats. Personally, the idea of tossing dead bodies does not bother me much, as long as these animals were treated well while they were alive.

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Thanks to Port Ludlow muralist Bob Jamison, a freeway overpass near Silverdale is being transformed from a gray mass of concrete, marked with occasional graffiti, to a seascape of fish and whales.

Bob Jamison, an artist from Port Ludlow, paints a mural on the Anderson Hill overpass near Silverdale.
Kitsap Sun photo by Larry Steagall

It will make a nice entrance to Silverdale from the Hood Canal side of the Kitsap Peninsula. The overpass is on Anderson Hill Road. (See slide show in today’s Kitsap Sun.)

The idea originated more than two years ago in a brainstorm by two Central Kitsap High School students, Victoria Cartwright and Laura Fedorko. (See Kitsap Sun, Jan. 9, 2008)

The two organized a fund-raising campaign for paint and other materials and enlisted the help of other CK students to paint the background of the bridge and help Jamison move the mural to reality. (See Kitsap Sun, Jan. 25, 2009.) Kitsap Sun reporter Brynn Grimley has been following the developments.

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Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains from a home on Kitsap County's shoreline.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Dale Ireland

Planning the future of Puget Sound’s shorelines is under way or soon will be under way among most local governments in Puget Sound.

Some counties have completed the work because of early funding by the Legislature (King and Pierce) and some because they pushed ahead on their own (Whatcom). Some counties started early but have faced delays (Snohomish and Jefferson).

Kitsap County planners started early but focused their efforts on an “inventory” of existing conditions along the entire shoreline. That inventory, which includes prospects for habitat restoration, could be a major tool in the update of Kitsap’s Shoreline Master Program.

Do I need to remind anyone how contentious this issue is likely to become in counties with substantial shorelines?

In Kitsap County, both property rights advocates and environmental groups have already announced that they are getting ready for a fight.

Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners came out recently with guns ablazing: “Kitsap County is getting ready to update its shorelines master program,” KAPO President Tim Matthes says in a postcard to shoreline owners. “You will find very little in the news informing property owners of changes.”

That’s an interesting comment, considering that I have already written two stories before the process even starts. I can tell you now that there will be plenty to write about when this issue begins to boil.

The card also states, “County staff wants to treat every inch of shoreline as ‘critical area.’ They want to prohibit bulkheads, ban docks, force you to replace your gardens with ‘native’ plantings and control what kind of trees you plant, trim or remove.”

I’ll let others respond to those specifics if they wish, but clearly this message is designed to lead the charge into battle.

KAPO is not the only side getting ready for a fight, however. Beth Wilson of Kitsap Conservation Voters recently informed the county commissioners rather forcefully during a recent “Meet the Commissioners” forum that shoreline planning could be the most important issue of the year among the local environmental community.

While Kitsap County planners prepare for two years of work on the Shoreline Master Program, cities in Kitsap County are getting ready for updates as well. There was talk at one time of strong collaboration between the county and the cities, but it appears that jurisdictions are starting to drift apart. It remains unclear whether any kind of coordination will take place.

Kitsap County Planning Commission was briefed on the upcoming planning effort a couple of weeks ago (see Kitsap Sun story, May 20). The county commissioners discussed the same information today.

Some of the key ideas include:
(more…)

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You may have noticed some extra type up above this entry and next to my picture. It may not look like much, but these few lines represents my ability to share with you a vast amount of important or otherwise interesting information that has landed on my computer.

As part of my daily work, I visit dozens of Web sites and generally read more than 100 news releases and e-mails about environmental issues. When I started Water Ways, I wanted it to be a forum where we could share some inside stories about water-related issues, describe the process of news gathering and reveal a few personal stories. These are topics that don’t fit within the confines of a typical newspaper story.

I also realized that many people are interested in environmental news but don’t have the time to sift through dozens of Web sites. Many get by with Google News and maybe a couple of Web sites that aggregate their news of interest. Since this is part of what I do all the time, I can tell you that the effort does not feel very satisfying.

Now, with the help of some software created by the company Publish 2, I can share the water-related links that I find valuable but don’t have time to discuss in Water Ways, at least not right away.

I thought it might be helpful to divide this information into four categories:

Latest Water News will take you to news stories, generally written by professional reporters working for recognizable print or broadcast media.

Research Findings may come from a variety of sources — news releases, science publications, general media, sometimes research reports themselves. It may take a little time to figure out what I should share, since most science journals offer no more than a summary or abstract without a subscription. In some cases, that may be enough, however.

Government actions: Government agencies usually announce their decisions and findings in written reports and press releases. These often make the news, supported by interpretation from reporters and various sources. You may find me writing a story about an issue, linking to other news reports under the category “Latest Water News” and then linking to the agency’s official announcement in this category. If I write a comment for Water Ways, I may put the links in the entry and skip the rest.

Upcoming Events is a category where the links take you to Web sites of groups sponsoring conferences, educational workshops, public hearings, social gatherings, award presentations, work parties or any combination of these. Sometimes it is tricky to make this work right, because the links point to a Web page, and some groups put all their events on a single page. It won’t work for groups that just send out a news release without a Web link. I also have not established criteria for a listing, but I may do that later. And, unfortunately, I believe these entries must be shown in the order they are added to the list, whereas I would prefer to manage them chronologically.

I hope you find this new feature useful. I’m always open to suggestions. If you wish, comment on the concept and its implementation in the comment field below. If you would like to submit something to the list, please send me an e-mail.

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State and local officials are waiting anxiously to learn who will get the federal stimulus money passing through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The money will be targeted for habitat improvement.

I can’t find the national numbers, but I recall that NOAA had requests for maybe 10 times the money it had available. That means there are going to be a few disappointed people and groups around the country.

Some people expected to hear an announcement of the results several weeks ago, but the Obama administration appears to be making a list and checking it twice — maybe trying to figure out which groups are naughty and nice.

Anyway, the Puget Sound Leadership Council moved ahead to award some state funds to make sure critical projects get under way this summer one way or another.

The Nisqually estuary restoration has been named a priority and will receive a good share of the money, but Hood Canal also remains a priority, with projects moving from the drawing board to construction on the water. Two Hood Canal estuary-restoration projects, totaling $2.7 million, are among five Puget Sound projects approved for state funding this week.

The Hood Canal projects are a $1.7 million restoration in the Skokomish River estuary and a $1 million restoration in the Little Quilcene estuary. The other three projects, totaling $1.6 million, are associated with the Nisqually River restoration project.

Check out the press release from the Puget Sound Partnership. Here’s the brief story I prepared for Saturday’s Kitsap Sun:
(more…)

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I tackled Washington Department of Ecology’s budget in a story published today in the Kitsap Sun.

My original plan was to lead the story with the water resources program and its 25 percent cutback in staffers who process water-rights applications. The cutbacks will put the state further behind in managing our limited water resources.

Because Ecology has taken a precautionary approach, the result will be less water available to serve growing communities and businesses. That becomes especially frustrating for developers and water utilities, but a lack of overall management is not so good for the environment either.

And we still kind of ignore that fact that people are allowed to drill wells for their single-family homes without much regard for the overall amount of water available. That issue will come home to roost one of these days, because these are the wells most likely to affect streams and wetlands. Conflicting demands will inevitably rise to the surface one day.

Anyway, my original plan was to lead this story talking about water resources, but I chose to focus first on litter. Litter is easier for people to understand, and I thought more people could get into the story from that angle. I know my blood boils when I think of all the trash along the highways. I also discovered some interesting details for my story.

Statewide, Ecology’s Youth Corps will be cut by half. That means less litter will be picked up. As some folks pointed out in comments on the story, we still have work crews from the jails, but that effort also takes money for supervision, transportation and disposal — and not all inmates are eligible to work. The state will still support the inmate crews, though I need to check whether the county will continue the program at the same level. (I’ll try to report that here and in a comment on the story.)

Overall, Ecology will be able to make it through the downtown in the economy without major problems. As with many organizations, the biggest problem will be losing experienced, knowledgeable employees and hiring back rookies when money becomes available.

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A flurry of activity took place yesterday on climate change issues at both the state and national levels.

That’s not to say anything will change overnight regarding environmental laws, but the problems of global warming are getting serious attention at all levels of government.

Packaging all the information flying out of from state and federal administrations, as well as from Congress, has been difficult for reporters and editors.

I threw some of the new information into a Kitsap Sun story based on a hearing yesterday in Seattle, then I wrote a short item from U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee’s perspective as the U.S. House advances a historic piece of climate legislation.

Let me break down these developments and offer some sources for additional review:

Governor’s executive order and Governors Climate Coalition
I dropped the highlights into my story, thinking that this was the most significant development of the day. Other reporters referred to the order as what she didn’t get from the Legislature.

Read the order itself (PDF 32 kb)
Read a summary on the Department of Ecology’s Web site
Questions and answers from Governor’s Office (PDF 64 kb)
Watch and listen to the governor’s announcement on YouTube.

EPA public hearing

The EPA’s Web site explains the ins and outs of a proposal to find that six greenhouse threaten the public health and welfare and also that four greenhouse gases in automobile emissions contribute to climate change.

Reporter Gary Chittim of King 5 News offers his perspective on the event as well as video from a noon rally outside.

House Committee on Energy and Commerce

A bill capping greenhouse gas emissions has a long way to go, but it made it out of a key committee.

Committee press release on historic action
Bill information

New York Times (John M. Broder)
Grist (Kate Sheppard)
Wall Street Journal (Ian Talley and Stephen Power)

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island) news release

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