Showing posts with label marine life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marine life. Show all posts

Scene on the Sound: Cruise season is about to start

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Photo by Jan Hansen


The Norwegian Pearl  7-Day Alaska with Glacier Bay from Seattle cruises are scheduled to start May 13th, but Sunday evening she sailed through the Shoreline Sea -- a preview of the parade we get to see during the season.

--Jan Hansen



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Mayor Hall named to Killer Whale Recovery Task Force

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Mayor Will Hall appointed to
Killer Whale Task Force
Governor Jay Inslee has invited Shoreline Mayor Will Hall to serve on the new Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force. Governor Inslee created the Task Force in an Executive Order last month.

The endangered southern resident killer whales spend part of the year in Puget Sound. Their population has dwindled from a high of 98 in 1995 to only 76 animals today. Very few of them are breeding and they are suffering from lack of food, toxic pollution, and disturbance from noise and vessel traffic.

Learn more about breeding difficulties of the southern resident killer whales in a Seattle Times article: ‘Two guys are doing all of the work’: Southern-resident orcas’ inbreeding may devastate the population.

In his Executive Order, Governor Inslee asked state agencies to take immediate action to improve conditions for the whales. He created the Task Force to develop recommendations for long-term recovery and sustainability.

“Killer whales have thrilled me since I was a kid,” said Mayor Hall. “Crowds enjoy watching and taking pictures when they show up at Richmond Beach. It is an honor to be chosen for this important work.”

Orcas off Richmond Beach Saltwater Park
Photo copyright Marion Woodfield


Killer whales, also called orcas, can live 30 to 70 years. The local population depends on Chinook salmon for more than half their diet. Puget Sound Chinook salmon are so depleted they are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is not just about whales,” said Mayor Hall. “They are literally starving because there isn’t enough food. It is an ecosystem problem. It affects our economy and quality of life. Human activities have altered our waters and watersheds so severely that the entire food chain is at risk. We need to take action to save these whales and the Puget Sound ecosystem for ourselves and our kids.”

Mayor Hall is the only city official on the 31-member Task Force, which includes representatives from federal, state, tribal, and county governments, and business, fishing, and environmental organizations. The Task Force will meet over 18 months and make recommendations to the governor. All meetings will be open to the public. The first meeting will be in Lacey on May 1, 2018.

“This is a great opportunity to continue the environmental work I have done for decades,” said Mayor Hall. 
Hall has represented cities on the Puget Sound Partnership Ecosystem Coordination Board since 2011 and he has chaired that board since 2016. He worked on Puget Sound and salmon issues professionally for twenty years, most recently as Snohomish County’s Surface Water Management Director. He left that position earlier this year to have more time for environmental work and service on the Shoreline City Council.

Mayor Hall has a master’s degree from the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, where his research focused on salmon recovery. He was elected to the Shoreline City Council in 2009 and reelected in 2013 and 2017. In addition to the Ecosystem Coordination Board, his external committee responsibilities include serving on the Board of Directors of the Association of Washington Cities and on regional Sound Transit committees.



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Scene on the Sound: Raising Cain

A fireboat on display
Photo by Jan Hansen


It’s another beautiful Shoreline morning. The sailboats are coming in like colorful butterflies. A familiar vessel is also displaying her special skills; today she looks like a fire fighter.

This 30 foot rescue vessel was a joint project of the Edmonds Police Department, Port of Edmonds, and the Edmonds Fire Department. The money for purchase was granted by the Department of Emergency Management.

Since then the Edmonds Fire Department consolidated with Fire District 1 which has assumed ownership. Charles W. Cain was an Edmonds firefighter, and Marine 16 is named in his memory.

--Jan Hansen



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Scene on the Sound - an east coast cruise ship

Saturday, April 21, 2018

The Constellation
Photo by Jan Hansen

By Jan Hansen

It was a bit overcast by Saturday afternoon, but sailing through the Shoreline Sea was a vessel scheduled to take passengers on cruises of the Eastern Seaboard.

The American Constellation, part of American Cruise Lines, was built in 2017, has five decks and carries 170 passengers in high style.

Her schedule of seven and ten night sailings begins on the fifth of May and continues through October, departing from Baltimore, Boston, Providence, and New York.

This ship has a long trip ahead to get to the East Coast.

UPDATE: Reader Bob Mathisen says 'According to their brochure we received from them this vessel is cruising Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands this summer."

Aha! Mystery solved. That's why they are in Puget Sound.

And isn't there a class of aircraft carriers called Constellation class?

DKH


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Scene on the Sound: the Fairweather

NOAA vessel Fairweather

Photo and text by Jan Hansen

Another beautiful NOAA vessel visited the Shoreline Sea Friday morning on her way to her homeport in Ketchikan, ETA 27 Apr. 09:00.

The Fairweather paused here for quite a few minutes before turning her engines up to 12kn as she headed toward Alaska.

The Fairweather is a hydrographic survey vessel. On board her officers, technicians, and scientists collect data that NOAA cartographers use to create and update the maps that support safe pleasure, commerce, and military navigation.



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Scene on the Sound: Sun rays on the water

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Photo by Lee Lageschulte

After a week of rain and cloudy skies, it was wonderful to see the sun rays on the water tonight.

At sunset, nature is painting for us—day after day pictures of infinite beauty.” John Ruskin

Sunsets are proof that no matter what happens every day can end beautifully.” Kristen Bethe

LL


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Fifth Annual Kenmore Hydroplane Cup April 7

Friday, March 30, 2018

fifth Annual Kenmore Hydroplane Cup on April 7

Get ready to hear the nostalgic sounds of hydroplanes on the Sammamish River in Kenmore! 192 Brewing Company and the Seattle Outboard Association proudly present the fifth Annual Kenmore Hydroplane Cup on April 7. The opening ceremonies start at 10:00am with races taking place between noon and 4:00pm.

The two- and three-cylinder outboards will leave the Kenmore Boat Launch, 17150 68th Avenue NE, for a timed exhibition race at the entrance to the river. Kenmore native Kay Myers Brewer will be announcing the river race along with Jim Olsen.

Drivers will individually race upriver past the Boat Launch, Squire's Landing Park, around the bend to Kenmore city limits, and return back to the Kenmore Boat Launch. The best viewing areas will be on the Sammamish River Bridge multi-use path and at Squire's Landing Park, 7353 NE 175th Street. Admission is free for the event.

The Vintage Inboards will be doing a show and shine at the Kenmore Boat Launch, so be sure to bring a camera.

On Friday, April 6, the community is invited to the Fifth Annual Hydro Happy Hour at the 192 Brewing Company, 7324 NE 175th Street. Come meet drivers past and present and view the hydroplanes on display.

This historic event brought the community to the banks of the Sammamish River between the years 1938 and 1976. The event idea was reintroduced to the community after local artist Amberly “Gaul” Culley organized the Sammamish Slough race exhibit at Kenmore City Hall in 2013.

This year, you are invited to witness history in the making. Bring your friends and family out to create your own Sammamish River hydro memories.



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Coasties meet for lunch on the 29th in Centralia

Sunday, March 25, 2018

A coast guard vessel sailing through the
Shoreline Sea
Photo by Jan Hansen
For over ten years Coast Guard veterans have been meeting for lunch in Lewis county in southwest Washington.

On the last Thursday of every month, they all meet for lunch at the Denny's in Centralia at 1052 Harrison Ave, Centralia 98531

Senior Chief Petty Officer Duane A Fuehr reserves a back room for them. He says that about 14 attend each time. In ten years over 70 different Coasties have attended.

They start around 11:30am and stay about two hours.

He welcomes all Coasties to come join their compatriots at lunch and swap stories and share memories.

He said you can see Denny's sign from I-5, take exit 81.



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Scene on the Sound: Ships that pass in the day on the Shoreline Sea

US Aircraft Carrier John C. Stennis on the Shoreline Sea

US Aircraft Carrier, John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier named for Mississippi senator was commissioned December 9, 1995.

She departed Saturday, March 24, 2018 for an undisclosed location in the world.

Container ship Greenwich Bridge
headed for Tacoma


As she left, she passed a container ship registered in Panama. This ship "Greenwich Bridge" departed Tokyo on March 15, 2018 and was headed for Tacoma.



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Photos: Touring the Edmonds Salt Marsh

Friday, March 23, 2018

Edmonds Saltwater Marsh

Text and Photos by Janet Way

An informative evening tour of the beautiful Edmonds Marsh was held on March 22, 2018.

Over 35 members of various organizations, such as Pilchuck Audubon, Sierra Club Snohomish Group, and Save Our Marsh, joined together for an informative tour and conversations.

Point Edmonds condos overlook the salt marsh


The Edmonds marsh is the only significant saltwater marsh of this size in any urban area between Everett and Tacoma.

Susan Paine of Edmonds led the tour

It is home to many wildlife species such as Great Blue Heron, Cooper’s Hawk, Anna’s Hummingbirds, coyotes and could be a refuge for salmon if a creek there is successfully daylighted.


Students from schools such as Edmonds-Woodway High School have successfully revegetated the edges with native species like salmonberry.


According to NOAA,

Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by salt water brought in by the tides.

They are marshy because the soil may be composed of deep mud and peat. Peat is made of decomposing plant matter that is often several feet thick. Peat is waterlogged, root-filled, and very spongy.

Because salt marshes are frequently submerged by the tides and contain a lot of decomposing plant material, oxygen levels in the peat can be extremely low — a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia is caused by the growth of bacteria which produce the sulfurous rotten-egg smell that is often associated with marshes and mudflats.


Contact Sierra Club Snohomish Group for more information.



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Scene on the Sound: Submarine

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Photo by Jan Hansen

A submarine and its accompanying boats travel slowly down the Shoreline Sea, headed for its Kitsap port, probably Bremerton.

Photo by Jan Hansen

You have to be looking out over the Shoreline Sea at the right time to know that a sub is there because it is never announced in the normal fashion.

Jan Hansen did some research and believes that this may well be the USS Bremerton which is scheduled to be decommissioned this year. The SSN 698 is the oldest submarine in the Navy.

According to Navy information, "Measuring more than 300 feet long and weighing more than 6,000 tons when submerged, Bremerton is capable of supporting a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and mine warfare."



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Scene on the Sound: Coast Guard Cutter Midgett

Friday, March 16, 2018

Photo by Jan Hansen

Photo by Jan Hansen


Jan Hansen has identified this as the Coast Guard Cutter Midgett, sailing at a speed of 14.4 knots in the Shoreline Sea.

Wikipedia says USCGC Midgett (WHEC-726) is the twelfth and latest of the United States Coast Guard's fleet of 378 ft (115 m) high endurance cutters. With her crew of twenty four officers and one hundred sixty enlisted men and women, she is homeported in Seattle, Washington under the operational and administrative control of Commander, Pacific Area (COMPACAREA).

She was named for Chief Warrant Officer John Allen Midgett, Jr. and built in the Avondale shipyards on the Mississippi River in 1971.



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Scene on the Sound: Sails on the Shoreline Sea

Monday, March 5, 2018

Sails in the Shoreline Sea
Photo by Jan Hansen

Sailboats took advantage of a sunny, windy day on Saturday to run a course in the Shoreline Sea.

The course ran north to the mid-channel buoy, round the buoy, then turned back south.

Rounding buoy and heading back south
Photo by Jan Hansen


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Scene on the Sound: Clippers and Cutters

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Victoria Clipper meets CGC Mellon
on the Shoreline Sea
Photo courtesy Jan Hansen


The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mellon (WHEC-717) is a Hamilton-class high endurance cutter based out of Seattle. It has a long and dramatic history, having served in Vietnam, been outfitted with guns during the Cold War, and involved in dramatic rescues in the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean. See the Wikipedia article.

But this day was a peaceful sailing into her home port in Seattle, as she crossed paths with the Victoria Clipper, which was taking tourists to Victoria, B.C.



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Scene on the Sound: the Oscar Dyson

Sunday, January 28, 2018

The Oscar Dyson
Photo by Jan Hansen


Jan Hansen muses, "NOAA sent the Oscar Dyson to do some work in our Shoreline Sea. Can you call a  vessel named "Oscar" she? If so, she was  built in 2005 and is 63 meters in length."



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Scene on the Sound: Windsailing on the Shoreline Sea

Saturday, January 13, 2018



Marc Weinberg says, "Friday was a perfect Day At The Beach for several Kite Boarders who were enjoying the gray overcast weather because the wind was blowing just right to have a spirited dash across the water."



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Scene on the Sound: RV Thomas G. Thompson running sea trials on the Shoreline Sea

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Framed through Pampas Grass, the Thompson
gets ready for a long trip

On a hazy and flat calm sea the 'THOMAS G. THOMPSON' floated off Shoreline Saltwater Park Thursday. She is a survey and research vessel built in 1991 and carries a US flag. She is 83.26 meters in length and 16 meters in beam.

After a trip to B.C. she has been performing sea trials on the Shoreline Sea in preparation for a trip to New Zealand.



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Saving Endangered Species Through Film: sea otters and other marine mammals


Rough Cut Saving Endangered Species Through Film
Deconstructing Eden” Sea Otter Documentary Film Premiere and Presentation
January 28th starting at 7:00 pm at McMenamins Anderson School, Haynes Hall

Free Admission, Public Welcome

Rough Cut: Saving Endangered Species Through Film, a free, public presentation at McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell on January 28, will include a talk by author and filmmaker Rick Wood about sea otters and other marine mammals.

It is the Washington premiere for the documentary "Deconstructing Eden."

Q /A session to follow the film, and book signing to follow the reading. Books will be available for purchase at the venue.


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Scene on the Sound: three vessels - circling each other

The Thompson being circled by the Cain
Photo by Jan Hanson


The Research Vessel Thomas G. Thompson was back on the Shoreline Sea Tuesday and with company.

Jan Hanson says "The smaller vessel is the Charles W. Cain, a law enforcement vessel. After circling the Cain headed toward Edmonds and the Coast Guard vessel, Osprey came into view. Such an exciting trio."

The Thompson and the Osprey
Photo by Jan Hansen

The Thompson is a UNOLS whole ocean capable vessel and normally operates between Seattle, the South Pacific and all the way up to the Arctic Ocean.

She just returned from a student research cruise to Knight Inlet, B.C. and will soon head south to New Zealand.

The Osprey is a Coast Guard boat, assigned to patrol Puget Sound.


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Scene on the Sound: U S Coast Guard

Friday, December 22, 2017

Look at the wake
Photo by Jan Hansen


Jan Hansen says "It was a treat to see a holiday ballet from my kitchen window today. The US Coast Guard vessel Anacapa ( Military Ops) performed maneuvers near the mid channel.

After a few pirouettes, she took her bouy (bad pun) and headed back to port.



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