Atmospheric River(s) in the forecast again

[Diana Holbrook]

Important distinctions - for me, that I haven't seen discussed yet:

We are not facing loss of Orcas in Puget Sound, only one sub-type. There are two distinct subgroups of Orca in Puget Sound, one, The Southern Residents, will feed only on salmon, and the other, the Transients and Bigs, who eat mostly seals, sea lions and other prey. While the Residents have had years where they have less due to the highly variable numbers of salmon, the Transients are growing and thriving on a bounty of protected seals and sea lions. When I went to school, we used to talk about Darwin, and adaptation, and survival of the fittest as natural processes that have always, and will always occur, yet we never hear of it in current discussions about threatened species... why? One is adapting to the food that is prevalent, and the other is not.


We have the ability to have far more salmon. There is a problem of ideology and perception on some rivers where hatchery salmon are released and returning in record numbers, but they are not counted, only the wild fish count in the minds of many naturalists, even though they are the same fish, with the same genetics and ancestry, that are caught and raised at the hatchery on the same river each year. There are ecological reasons to try to maintain some wild fish in the runs upstream from the hatchery, mainly to help other species who feed on them upstream. But the dams really don't have to be removed or even matter in the debate about saving salmon or Orca. We can and have raised and released record numbers in the past, and could again. The current thinking is an ideology that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

All of the dams in question have been there at least 50 years, some even older, dating back to the 1930s. Salmon live 4-7 years. Every salmon alive today, and the previous many generations back to the 1930s, have lived and coped with dams, and locks. They aren't the only problem and they may not even be the biggest one. I think there are other methods and other politics that could be tried before we remove even one dam, which really should be a precious perpetual source of green energy for us.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I’ve seen gill nets at the spit.
Good to know that the locks help.

Other than fish, shellfish and a few game birds I’m not much of a hunter.
Not really against it, it’s just not me.

That being said,
Maybe it’s time we revisit the idea of trimming down our pinnipeds.
A healthy ecosystem relies on balance.
This system currently lacks balance.

There are several different ways we can help the orca and salmon.
We should get serious about that.
As another person mentioned we might be the last generation that has this opportunity.

Canada does it, with a bounty I might add. It makes a big difference. One of my friends has a co-worker friend who is dual citizen US/CDN. Once he started fishing up there with him, he realized the fishing is much better with longer seasons even with Vancouvers far larger population tapping into the resource. We've both since sold our boats and no longer bother with Washington licenses/fisheries.
Seals and nets aren't discriminate. The last time I fished I caught a rockfish and it was a protected species, we already have to use barbless hooks and fish shallow so they can safely be released. The tide was ripping pretty good, and about 75' from the boat, a seal ate it. The spines didn't even slow it down it just went gulp heads first and it was gone. The seals and sea-lions also prey on the salmon coming up Whatcom Creek(narrow & shallow entrance) in Bellingham. The hatchery there has the poorest returns in the state with only a couple fish returning for each 10,000 smolts released.
If nothing is done, we'll see a slow collapse of the food chain in Puget Sound. Crab though, may benefit from all the starved dead seals and maybe dead Orcas if they don't adapt and start eating the seals. The geography of the sound though, affords the seals the special opportunity to work the "pinch points" for salmon, yet simply run ashore if the Orcas show up. Due to this, human intervention is likely required to get control of the pinniped population before it's too late.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I remember that last year. That took place just a few weeks after I left. And Mt. Vernon narrowly escaped getting flooded, thanks to its flood wall. I was asking about current conditions, though. I didn't know if I'd be able to drive through to Anacortes, and later--onward to Lynded, but I'm told everything's ok.

We have 3" more rain in the forecast, but it's been spread out enough and cool enough that it's not looking to be a major issue. We are expecting sub-freezing temperatures and possibly snow next week though.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by 509

Western Washington residents need to decide IF they want to save THEIR natural environment.

The days of blaming eastern Washington for the environmental ills of western Washington are rapidly coming to a close.

? What? I am guessing there is some history to this statement, but as an average/typical western Washingtonian, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[CalWorth]

I'm on Olympic Peninsula. I watched the pasture go from crispy brown to bright green in 2 days. Amazing.