Diane from the Land Bank is lining up folks to help with the Beaverton Marsh Restoration (remember that?) Here’s the deal: The Land Bank is scheduling multiple work parties between mid-November and mid-December for the ongoing Beaverton Marsh restoration project and invite groups and individuals to join us! Work Party schedule: • Saturday November 20th  Continue Reading

The wildlife around here is amazing – and varied…yesterday, Jim Maya reported Pacific white-sided dolphins – wow! Here’s his story: I have been on the waters of the Salish Sea since 1986, and only five or six times have I ever seen Pacific White-sided Dolphins, or Lags, from their Latin name, Lagenorhynchus. As we headed  Continue Reading

Here’s more from Judy at the Land Bank: Beaverton Valley Marsh Restoration is Underway The San Juan County Land Bank is leading partners in an effort to protect and restore Beaverton Valley Marsh, the largest wetland complex in the county at over 250 acres.  The latest achievement in this project was the acquisition in September  Continue Reading

You know those long, scientific-sounding messages we who live in Town get from the Town of Friday Harbor about how our drinking water is doing….I’d like to report a bit of good news from the last one. For the past few years, the levels of THM (Trihalomethane – here’s an explanation & here’s a bit  Continue Reading

Helen Venada works pretty hard to make our County just a little greener…here’s the scoop on how the kids are increasingly players in this game: Thank you to the Friday Harbor businesses that recently donated “green” prizes to Friday Harbor High School and Middle School students. These special prizes were awarded to students who exceeded  Continue Reading

Amy is looking for a few good volunteers…. The San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network (SJCMMSN) is currently recruiting volunteers on all islands in preparation for the upcoming stranding season.   Members of the Network respond to calls on both live and dead marine mammals that come ashore or wash up on local beaches. Amy  Continue Reading

Late last week and on Saturday there were humpbacks around…as Ivan from Western Prince noted, there have been few sightings of the resident whales (Sandy Buckley says she saw the L’s yesterday, though) but lots of transients and some surprise visits from gray whales and humpbacks. Jim Maya saw some transients  – he’s pretty sure  Continue Reading

In case you didn’t get it – there’s an orca named Lolita who was captured in 1970 from Penn Cove (off Whidbey Island) and has been held in the Miami Seaquarium ever since. It’s time for her to come home to the resident pod here in the San Juans, where she belongs. Here’s the writeup  Continue Reading

Howie & Susan at the Orca Network have been lobbying, protesting & agitating for the release of Lolita for decades – here’s their writeup of the Free Lolita Campaign. Meanwhile, locally, Debbi Fincher & friends are pulling together for Lolita, who has been captive in the Miami Seaquarium since 1971….here’s her story: Please come show  Continue Reading

That showing of Good Food (the movie) went great last weekend – and Maureen & Linda wanted to say thanks: The Land & Sea  wants to thank everyone who came to see “Good Food” – we had a great total turnout for the three showings, and we heard good things afterward! We would like to  Continue Reading

You know, I love the way the island looks & feels when it’s all clean & tidy – and you have a chance to help jump in & do your part to keep it that way. Here’s more from Lori Stokes & the Anti-Litter folks: Can You Help? About 100 San Juan Islanders are already  Continue Reading

This is cool: talking with experts about practical strategies for rehabbing to save energy, money, and the “character” of our fabulous historic buildings, including existing buildings built 40 or more years ago. Here’s more from Sandy (sign up now!): Rehab Green: Historic Preservation, Weatherization and Sustainable Rehabilitation This event is going to be great and  Continue Reading

The County Conservation District has an election between now & the 16th – here’s how it works: The San Juan Islands Conservation District election for one position on the Board of Supervisors will be held on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. There are two candidates running, Ed Kilduff of Lopez Island and incumbent Henning Sehmsdorf, also  Continue Reading

Most geologists rate our chances to host the next big quake as pretty good. Here’s more.

Frank Penwell sent this over: CAPR San Juan’s March 2nd, 2010 speaker will be Norm Macleod.  Please join us for an educational evening and dinner at the Grange Hall at 5:30pm. Norman MacLeod is the president and CEO of Gaelic Wolf Consulting, a natural resource policy design and Internet strategy firm with locations in Hockessin,  Continue Reading

2/24/2010 Just off the wires…an orca kills a worker at SeaWorld in Florida, where the killer whale is being held captive. Here’s more, from the BBC. 2/25/2010 I thought that the response by the Orca Network folks (Howie & Susan, co-written with Ken Balcomb & former Secretary of State Ralph Munro), sums up the situation  Continue Reading

Looks like the President has the San Juan Islands on a list of proposed national monuments. This is a big deal – here’s more, from the New West Communiy Blogs.

Jeff Hanson says the annual hunt is underway to identify the stewards of the islands: Nominations Sought for the 2010 Good Steward Awards You can help recognize individuals, families, and businesses that have made a significant impact on the conservation, preservation, and protection of the San Juans. The Stewardship Network of the San Juans is  Continue Reading

In the aftermath of the events in Haiti, Time magazine ran a bit called, “Where will the next five big earthquakes be?” Tucked in with LA, Indonesia, Tehran & Tokyo is…the Pacific Northwest. Here’s the story. Not satisfied with that thinly-presented rundown of our seismic setup here? (I wasn’t.) This story in Wired has a  Continue Reading

Captain Jim Maya reported that he saw a large number of transient killer whales off Race Rocks yesterday, including T100′s baby calf….

J pod was here earlier this week, as you can see in this amazing photo by Mark Malleson from Victoria…if you’d like to see a much bigger, much cooler picture – click here. Mark works with Prince of Whales in BC – thanks, Mark!