Summary of August 25 CAO Workshop

For those of you who were unable to attend the recent County Council Workshop on the Critical Areas Ordinance Update, here's a link to an article that gives a good summary of the meeting. It's from

http://orcasissues.com/our-shorelines-and-critical-areas-complex-differences-in-environmental-protection-aired-at-county-meeting

SJC Beach Watchers Cruise on Research Vessel

Cheryl Kummer, James Lobdell, Cynthia Hubbard, Geneva Mottet and Susan Muckle had a great day last Saturday aboard the M/V Indigo cruising the waters of Guemes Channel and Rosario Strait. Along with Beach Watchers and marine volunteers from Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties, as well as oceanographers from the U. of Washington in Seattle, we spent the day analyzing the density, nutrient values, plankton, and other components of the water at various locations off Fidalgo Island. The trip was part of the "Ocean Inquiry Project" (OIP) and was co-sponsored by COSEE-OLC. (Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence, and Ocean Learning Communities.) To make some sense from this alphabet soup, Here are links to these organizations, and a short paragraph explaining what they do:

"COSEE-Ocean Learning Communities is a partnership funded by the National Science Foundation between the University of Washington College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and College of Education and the Seattle Aquarium. In 2008, the Ocean Inquiry Project, joined the Center after recieving a partnership grant from NSF. COSEE-OLC is a thematic center with the long-term goal of developing models of Ocean Learning Communities in the Northwest region and sharing these models with the COSEE Network.

"At COSEE-OLC we are actively building a community of scientists, marine volunteer organizations, formal and informal educators and interested citizens to form an ocean learning community."

http://www.oceaninquiry.org/
http://www.coseeolc.net/how-we-help.cfm

In addition to enjoying a beautiful day on the water and getting to know beach naturalists from surrounding counties, the trip introduced us to oceanographic sampling techniques and the importance of this research in monitoring the quality of our ocean environment.

If this opportunity is available again in the future, we would encourage everyone to sign up!

New County Internet GIS Maps

At the County Fair the County Public Works Department is demonstrating its new GIS mapping system. Here is the link: https://www.sjcgis.org/ All photos were taken in June 2008. It is a great improvement over the current system. The photos are clear and you can make copies.

Last daytime low tide cycle of the season

August 17th and 18th
Russel Barsh would like volunteers to help with the last intertidal surveys and fishing for the season. Both days will begin at 9:30 at Fishing Bay.

Next week is also a good time to either begin, or continue your Invasive Species surveys and record your data on the MISM website.

Save the Date

An evening with Hedrick Smith. Producer of FRONTLINE'S 'poisoned waters' documentary. He will be sharing stories and video from his latest film.

Place- The Orcas Center
Date-Sunday, September 13th
Time - TBA

Poisoned Waters

I'm sure many of you have already seen Hedrick Smith's 'Poisoned Waters' special. For those of you who have not, below is a link to view the PBS website or you can view the video right here. I finally got around to watching it and found it very moving. I encourage you to take the time to watch it and to pass the link on to others who might be interested. The more people who see it, the better.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/

Vanishing Salmon in Alaska

Here is a link to an article I read in the Associated Press. Not good news, but thought you might be interested.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090802/ap_on_bi_ge/us_vanishing_king_salmon_5

Beach Watchers Reunion

Several Beach Watchers from all four classes attended the picnic yesterday at South Beach. The food was wonderful and plentiful. Updates on various activities from some of the areas scientists and marine advocates were given. Thank you Shann for arranging a great event. I hope others who attended will add more information so those that missed it will be informed. I hope this is an annual event.

County Meeting Scheduled for CAO

The County Council has scheduled a workshop on possible revisions to the county’s Critical Areas Ordinance for August 25 at 1 p.m. in the San Juan Island Community Theatre.

Critical Areas Ordinance

As Beach Watchers it is important for us to educate ourselves on the CAO. The following link to the San Juan County website contains all the documents you will need to better understand the potential new regulations. Follow the link: http://www.sanjuanco.com/cdp/default.aspx?dept=cdp&listname=CAO

Orcas Library Fair

Volunteers are needed to help with the Beach Watcher Booth at the Orcas Island Library Fair, Saturday August 8th. Please contact Ulanah McCoy if you are interested in volunteering your time. Ulanah needs several volunteers during the fair, 10am-3pm, 1 person to help set up at 8:30am and 1 person to help break down at 3pm. You may contact Ulanah at sharksneedfins@earthlink.net or 376-3427.

Have Kayak? People for Puget Sound Needs You to Survey Spartina

PPS is asking for volunteers with kayaks to be trained to locate and record Spartina infestations. Training sessions will be held in July through mid-September. After training you will be qualified to go out on your own. For more info check the website: http://pugetsound.org/soundspotlight/spartinakayak or call Rachel Benbrook, trainer and project coordinator, at 360-230-1353.

Beacher Watchers needed to staff BW Booth at County Fair!

The San Juan County Fair is coming up on August 12-15. We need volunteers to help staff the booth! It is a great time to celebrate community and wonderful way to let others know about Beach Watchers and about stewardship of our marine environment. Pencil in the dates and watch for an email soon to come.

Whale Museum Lecture - July 15 - Southern Resident DNA Analysis

The Whale Museum's 2009 Lecture Series continues with a talk from Michael Ford of NOAA on Wednesday, July 15 at 7 pm. In his presentation entitled "Who's Dad?, DNA-based Paternity Analysis in Southern Resident Killer Whales," Michael Ford will be discussing the DNA parentage studies on the endangered Southern Resident orcas.

4th of July Beach Watchers Booth on Orcas

Marcia Spees did a fabulous job putting together a Beach Watcher information booth at the Orcas Saturday market on the 4th of July. Bruce Hall, Ulana McCoy, and Kim Secunda all volunteered to help Marcia educate the public. It was a big success.

Pictured are Nancy Alboucq, Marcia Spees and Bruce Hall.