Island Guardian

Locally Owned & Operated
- islandguardian.com -
(360) 378-8243 - 305 Blair Avenue, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
The Island Guardian is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists

The Whale Museum's Summer Lecture Series Presents

ig_RedJellyFish_Cyanea (18k image)
Jellyfishes in our Inland Waters: What Are They and What Difference Do They Make?
(C. Mills Photo)

Jellyfish occur in all parts of the ocean from shallow coastal bays to the abyss. Claudia Mills will give an introduction to the variety of animals known as the "gelatinous zooplankton", featuring primarily jellyfish and ctenophores (known also as medusae and comb jellies) with examples from local waters, the open ocean and the deep sea. She will discuss how these simple animals that lack an organized brain can actually perform rather complex behaviors including in some cases being quite specific about the prey they select, and also controlling to some extent where exactly they live in the seemingly undifferentiated open ocean. The talk will conclude with some local particulars including the two decade jellyfish "fishery" in Friday Harbor in order to extract bioluminescent and fluorescent materials that are now made in the laboratory, the stranding phenomenon of large red jellyfishes on our beaches in late summer, and general environmental trends indicated by the local community of some 60-70 different species of "jellies".

This presentation will take place at The Whale Museum at 7 p.m. Thursday, August 25. There is a suggested donation of $3.00. All proceeds benefit the Whale Museum. For more information, call (360) 378-4710, ext. 23 or email marcy@whalemuseum.org. The Whale Museum is located at 62 First St. N., Friday Harbor, WA 98250. We thank the Friday Harbor Inn for co-sponsoring this lecture. This is the final lecture of this series.

The Whale Museum promotes stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research.

[more..]

Fuel Tank Ruptured As Truck Leaves Ferry

As a loaded lumber truck and trailer was driving off of the ferry dock Wednesday night at Friday Harbor it struck the loading ramp, causing a leak in one of the diesel fuel tanks.

Matt Whitlaw, an employee of Brown's Lumber, had met the truck at the ferry landing. "When I saw the leak," Whitlaw said, "I got in the truck drove it up the hill, away from the shoreline, as fast as I could. Fortunately," he added, "the tank was only half full." The leaking tank left a trail of diesel fuel a foot wide up Spring Street to the best place he could find to park it, at -appropriately enough- the old Brown's Lumber building.

A Fire Department truck responded to the scene to assist in containing the leak, and stood by if needed for more serious consequences of the leak. But for the half-empty tank, and Whitlaw's quick thinking in getting the truck away from the shoreline, the results of the leak would have been much worse.

[more..]