San Juan County Has An Oil Spill Response Organization Ready & Willing

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(Randall Waugh & Don English lay out a boom during a drill -IOSA Photo )

By Jackie Wolf

The recent oil rig disaster and subsequent endless flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has once again raised the horrifying specter of a really big oil spill here in our own precious part of the world. Sitting as we do right in the middle of major shipping lanes, islanders pay close attention when a spill such as the Exxon-Valdez occurs and now the pouring of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

What many islanders are discovering as a result of this latest disaster is that, thanks to the awareness of so many of us, and the incredible spirit of commitment to protect this place, our own local oil spill response organization already exists.

It is non-profit and community-based, with over 300 island residents throughout the years who have taken the training that is freely offered several times a year in the islands by Islands' Oil Spill Association (IOSA), the only spill response group in the San Juans.

Nine thousand four hundred feet of IOSA-owned containment boom (plus another 4000' which IOSA manages) is ready for immediate use in the event of a spill. The boom is spread between 11 locations, all within 5 minutes of a launch site, which allows quick access to boom in all corners of the islands.

IOSA has six dedicated spill response vessels and we work with many trained responders who have their own workboats. Equipment trailers containing anchor systems, sorbents, pumps, skimmers and other gear are stationed at strategic locations throughout the islands, including the outlying islands of Stuart and Sucia.

Nearly 130 IOSA responders are also trained and have their state-required 8-hour certification for Oiled Bird Search & Rescue, Basic Care and Stabilization. At least 20 of these responders have put their name on the list to work down along the Gulf Coast if needed. As of this date, May 13, oiled wildlife responders from outside the region are not yet being asked to help but the situation is ever-changing.

In addition to classroom training, IOSA holds 5-6 on-the-water boom deployment/containment drills a year. IOSA crews have completed 68 site-specific field tests of protective booming strategies for sensitive areas/bays in the San Juan Islands and installed rock anchors in many locations where no other suitable shore attachment exists. Ongoing training keeps us prepared and allows responders to update their certification on a regular basis. It also allows new people to get involved in local oil spill response.

If you would like more information on our own community's preparedness for a major oil spill, as well as the smaller spills that frequently happen and have required a full IOSA response over 100 times, please go to the IOSA website at: www.iosaonline.org. Or call the IOSA office at 378-5322. There are many ways you can help. Watching the ongoing tragedy in the Gulf, one of the many things I feel is a strong sense of gratitude for IOSA and all the people in the San Juans who make IOSA the wonderful organization that it is."

(Jackie Wolf is the IOSA Coordinator )

SeaDoc Octopus Award For Support Of Ecosystem

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(Will & Eleanor Parks, Doug Charles of Compass wines with the Todd Spalti sculpture)

Local wine store receives the SeaDoc Society Octopus Award for its efforts to ensure the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystems.

Thursday May 13, 2010, Orcas Island, Washington. Compass Wines, under proprietors Will Parks and Doug Charles, received the SeaDoc Society’s coveted Octopus Award. This award recognizes groups or individuals who go above and beyond to help the SeaDoc Society accomplish its mission to ensure the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystem.

During the last two years, Compass Wines has been instrumental in helping SeaDoc fund science needed to improve the health of local marine wildlife populations. In addition to being corporate sponsors for SeaDoc’s major Wine Fundraising Auction, Compass Wines also donates a portion of the proceeds from sales of their “Salish Sea” wine to benefit the SeaDoc Society.

Compass Wines’ support has helped SeaDoc carry out a number of scientific studies ranging from determining best practices for restoring endangered northern abalone, to investigating the origins of contaminants in killer whales. Joe Gaydos, SeaDoc Chief Scientist said, “Compass Wines has truly been like four extra pairs of arms for the SeaDoc Society over the last few years.”

Will Parks was honored to receive the award. Parks, who grew up spending time on Hood Canal and loves the ocean said, “It’s a great program and we are happy to give back to the community and our ocean.” Charles also has a great affinity for marine wildlife. Doug said was “inspired by SeaDoc’s work to find scientific solutions to the problems facing our local marine waters.”

The Octopus Award recognizes an individual outside of the SeaDoc program who has made significant contributions to the success of the SeaDoc Society. Past Recipients include Malcolm Goodfellow (2004), Patti Moran-Hodge (2005), John Klacking (2007), and Lynne Greene (2008).

The SeaDoc Society works to ensure the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystems through science and education. A program of the Wildlife Health Center at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), the SeaDoc Society has a regional focus on improving the health of the Salish Sea. For more information see www.seadocsociety.org.

Sustainable Living Fair Weekend

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(Yellow Island -with buildings no longer allowed in SJC)

The public was able to stretch their sea legs, put on hiking boots -or water shoes- and pick a field trip over land, sea or both for the countywide Sustainable Living Fair weekend that was held in May.
There were five trips for the choosing. All trips were coordinated by the Stewardship Network of the San Juans.
Yellow Island Wildflowers by Kayak

Yellow Island’s carpet of spring wildflowers wawere explored with Shearwater Kayak Adventures by paddling through the Wasp Islands, stopping to enjoy a picnic lunch. Then explored the trails of Yellow Island, with its abundance of native wildflowers. Lilies, shooting stars, camas, stonecrop, and even cactus are just a few of the species which bloom each spring on this Nature Conservancy preserve.

The Creatures of Indian Island

“What lives on and around Indian Island?” was a fascinating presentation about Indian Island and its environs by Russel Barsh and Madrona Murphy of Kwiaht. Dubbed the Indian Island Marine Health Observatory, local WSU Beachwatchers, Orcas Island students and Kwiaht have been working together to protect the East Sound marine environment through research and education.

Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead Tour

Winners of the 2009 “Finnie” for Farmland Stewardship, the Bullock Permaculture Homestead held a tour of their permaculture site. The Bullock brothers founded the homestead, near Deer Harbor on Orcas Island, in the early 1980s. Pursuing the three ethics central to permaculture design - care for the earth, care for people and fair share for all - the brothers grow vegetables, flowers and livestock in a manner that is in harmony with their surrounding environment.

Turtleback Mountain Hike

Kathleen Foley and Dean Dougherty from the San Juan Preservation Trust ledr a hike on Turtleback Mountain. Visible from throughout the islands, the mountain is especially well-known for providing dramatic views over the San Juan archipelago, the Canadian Gulf Islands, the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges, and numerous waterways in between. The mountain has a wide variety of habitats and is home to an intriguing variety of plants and animals.

Geology of Sucia Island, a boating and hiking tour

For the “Geology of Sucia,” a boating and hiking tour with Shearwater Kayak Adventures involved hiking a total of approximately two miles over level ground. The short course covered the tectonic evolution of the Pacific Northwest, focusing on the intriguing geology of Sucia Island, including colorful Protection Formation b

The Sustainable Living Fair at the Village Green in Eastsound on May 1 and field trips the next day were cooperative efforts of the Stewardship Network of the San Juans and Sustainable Orcas Island. For more information, please visit the Stewardship Network website at www.stewardshipsjc.org

Western Grebe: A Vanishing Icon

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( Western Grebes' stepping out -Gumm-Poleschook photo)

Joe Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society will gave a talk on Western Grebes, iconic diving birds, once seen locally in the hundreds, are rapidly disappearing. With it, we are losing one of our most charismatic birds.

With folk names that include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe" the Western Grebe is the largest of the North American grebes and can weigh up to 3 pounds, almost half the weight of a bald eagle. These large, black and white birds have a long neck and a sharp pointed bill designed to spear or grab fish. In fact, its bill is the source of the bird's Latin genus Aechmorphorus, meaning "spear-bearer. Fish, specifically herring, make up over 80% of the Western Grebes' diet.

In Washington, Western Grebes winter on marine waters and summer on freshwater lakes. They are strictly aquatic and never go on land. They even but build floating nests. Well known for their spectacular courtship display, male and female birds will rear up and patter across the water's surface in a breathtaking dance that makes a movie and dinner look like adolescent small talk.A century ago this bird's elegant, snowy-white plumage was nearly its demise when its feathers were used to decorate women's hats. Now the Western Grebe faces new challenges including derelict fishing gear, changes in prey abundance and loss of breeding habitat. Come learn more about these incredible birds and what is being done to save them.

The 2009/10 Marine Science Lecture Series is presented by program partners The SeaDoc Society and YMCA Camp Orkila.It is made possible through generous sponsorship by Tom Averna (Deer Harbor Charters), and The Gould Family Foundation and co-sponsorship by Barbara Brown, Eclipse Charters, The Kingfish Inn, Shearwater Sea Kayak Tours, Jim and Kathy Youngren and West Sound Marina.

Feb 24 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.Potluck / Lecture

The Marine Science Associates Potluck / Lecture will be held in the Commons at the Friday Harbor Laboratories on Tuesday, February 24 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Anyone interested in current research in the marine sciences is welcome to attend. Signs will direct you to the parking area. Two illustrated talks will be presented following the potluck dinner. Our speakers will be:

Moose O’Donnell, FHL Postdoctoral Fellow: “Ocean acidification: larval growth in a high CO2 world.”

Robin Kodner, FHL Postdoctoral Fellow: “New techniques to investigate the role of biology in the global (and local) carbon cycle.”

Please call 378-2165 ext 11 or e-mail cowelk@u.washington.edu by Monday, February 23. Let us know if you plan to attend the Potluck/Lecture and to find out what is needed for the potluck. Please bring a potluck dish and your own table settings. We will provide cups.

Hidden extra dimensions and short distance gravity,

San Juan Nature Institute in collaboration with UW Friday Harbor Labs presents the 2009 Arthur Whiteley Lecture Series

Eric Adelberger, Emeritus Professor of Physics at University of Washington, is the speaker at the second Arthur Whiteley Lecture to be held at 7 p.m. in The Commons, UW Friday Harbor Labs on Thursday February 12. He has changed his title to: “Hidden extra dimensions and short distance gravity”.

Our speaker will discus how remarkable small scale experiments can address important open issues in fundamental science such: “why is gravity so weak compared to all the other fundamental forces?” String theory ideas (extra space dimensions and new particles) hint that the extraordinary weakness of gravity could be understood if Newton’s Inverse Square law breaks down at distances less than 1 m.

We will learn that the notion of more than three dimensions in space is not ridiculous, and how to design and experiment to measure gravity at short distances. Dr Adelberger will describe the techniques used in recent experiments that studied gravity over extremely short distances no bigger than the diameter of a human hair. These experiments reveal that any extra dimension must be even smaller than that.

Like the previous lecture on Stardust this lecture will stretch the imagination and illustrate how scientists go about the business of challenging and testing hypotheses. Our speaker is a member of the Academy of Sciences and several other scientific bodies. He has spoken on this subject throughout the country.

San Juan Nature Institute is proud to present world class science to island audiences free of charge and extends an open invitation to the public to attend their Arthur Whiteley Lecture series.

Christmas Bird Count - 109 Years of Audubon Counts

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"Set this date aside - Saturday, December 20th" said the press release, and indeed it was, for the first heavy snow and ice on the roads called for a later date of Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 to be set for the 2008 "Christmas Bird Count."

Every year’s count brings something different from climbing over downed trees after a big wind storm, watching a magnificent flight of Pacific Loons or maybe finding a flock of Western Bluebirds! There are many ways to participate like counting in your down your road or backyard where we really need your help or going out with a group for a good part of the day. You don’t have to be an expert but you do have to have enthusiasm for nature.

Even if you don’t count please let us know if you see any of these species the week of the count or let us know ahead of time so we can look for them: small hawks, mourning doves, owls, hummingbirds, sapsuckers, shrikes, jays, and western bluebirds. If you live on the shoreline we need your help with shorebirds and marine birds.

Many routes need better coverage so call today to see what we have for you. For more information and to join call: Barbara Jensen, 378-3068.