Looking ’round….

It was a great evening at our Library - Johnny Moses kept our crowd entertained & engaged with his humor, knowledge, and spirit this past weekend...storytelling at its best, and a nice connection to the First Nations of the Salish Sea. You can read more about Johnny at www.johnnymoses.com...photo by Kevin Holmes. We sure have great people come to visit us here on San Juan Island....one of the notions he shared was something his grandmother said after the Depression - you can live without money, but you can't live without people.

Things are happening ’round the island…let’s check in:

Peter, afloat

• I love it that Emily Reed & Peter Fromm are working together to make a visual display about what it means to live here, and offer it in a way that we all can see it & celebrate what we have going here. There’s a bit of a longing for the way it used to be (both in memory or imagination), and the gentle, comforting air the island can surround us with.

CALL for ARTISTS:  ISLAND SCENES  – A Celebration of Place

Emily

In San Juan County we see  historic rural and small town views becoming suburban. The Island Scenes project is an effort to record images of what is here now which represents “old island” and what we hope will be here in the future. These scenes will be a display at the 2011 San Juan County Fair.

Artists of all ages and skills are asked to portray a scene which strikes them as “old island.” One image/person, in any two-dimensional medium, matted or framed, minimum 8″x10″ to maximum 16″x20″ with a brief description of the scene’s location.

DEADLINE to Reserve your Place:  MAY 1.
(Artwork is not needed until the day before the fair begins in August. Details will be sent in July.)
Phone Peter Fromm: 378-8378 or Emily Reed: 378-2750 or e-mail Emily: oatmeal (at) rockisland.com

Paul Simon talks about the way he deals with the layers of his art....

• Is Paul Simon an islander, or what?

Last weekend, I heard his new album playing in three different shops, and his older work in two others. I have his songs on my albums, and I’ll bet you have those tunes in your head, too…here’s a nice article about the creative process he employs, in a conversation with artist Paul Close, in the The Atlantic.

See what you think.

I think it may change the way you see your painting, your sculpting, your writing.

• Roy has “George of the Jungle” at the Library today at 3…take a break & drop by when you can! And watch out for that tree!

This weekend!

• Jenny & Kari from the Whale Museum & Soundwatch were glad to see the new NOAA regulations…here are their remarks, which include explaining the role Soundwatch plays in enforcing the rules:

Whale Museum Applauds Increased Protection for Orcas

The Whale Museum applauds NOAA Fisheries for exercising their authority to enact federal vessel regulations for killer whales in Washington State waters.

While we acknowledge that vessel disturbance is but one of the three main threats faced by the endangered Southern Resident orcas, reducing acoustic and behavioral impacts will make important synergistic contributions to the recovery of this important icon of the Salish Sea. The Whale Museum believes that while whale watching provides crucial conservation, education and outreach opportunities important for marine mammal protection, continued boating pressures and noncompliance with the current “Be Whale Wise Guidelines” and the “Washington State Vessel Regulations for Killer Whales” show a clear need for the new federal regulations.

We fully support both parts of the new rules:  prohibiting vessels from approaching any killer whale closer than 200 yards and forbidding vessels from intercepting a whale or positioning a vessel into its path. We are in favor of the 200 yard limit and do not think there is any justification to continue with a “universal 100 yard approach distance.”  Endangered species listed populations deserve greater protections from vessels – this includes the Southern Resident orca community. Recent research indicates that vessel presence in a whale’s path may elicit behavior changes and/or impede a whale’s or group of whales’ ability to capture and/or share prey. We believe there is a clear need to reduce the chance that a vessel in the whale’s path could reduce a whale’s ability to successfully forage during the summer months when salmon are the most plentiful.

The west side of San Juan Island is a critical area for whales as they often travel and forage there. In this highly congested area, boaters are routinely out of compliance with existing guidelines and laws as measured by Soundwatch. We originally supported NOAA Fisheries’ 2009 proposal to create a Vessel Restriction Area along the west side and recommended an alternative plan that the same area be considered a Special Vessel Management Area (see our  2010 Comments to NOAA). While we are disappointed a restricted area was not designated at this time, we are encouraged that NOAA Fisheries has not ruled out the idea of creating a protection area for whales and will consider doing so in future rulemaking decisions.

What is needed now is critical funding for federal and state marine wildlife enforcement efforts. Our Soundwatch program stands ready to help educate boaters about the new regulations both on and off the water this summer. However, Soundwatch is an education and monitoring program and is not out to enforce the new regulations. We are concerned that the funding needed for enforcement may not be forthcoming with both federal and state budget shortfalls. The Whale Museum would like to thank the community for continued support of Soundwatch. Donations to help with this summer’s Soundwatch efforts are gratefully accepted anytime. And if you, too, are concerned about funding for enforcement to provide better protection of our orcas, please let your representatives know.

Respectfully submitted by,

Jenny L. Atkinson, Executive Director, The Whale Museum

Kari L. Koski, Program Director, Soundwatch

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