Doris Estabrooks sent this over – look at it & I think you’ll say “Wow!” Click here to start, and then click to zoom in…. Gyre, 2009, by Chris Jordan 8×11 feet, in three vertical panels Depicts 2.4 million pieces of plastic, equal to the estimated number of pounds of plastic pollution that enter the  Continue Reading

It’s a special and wonderful thing – and I’m telling you now so you make plans to come. One of the foremost authorities in the world about how plastics are polluting & killing our oceans is Captain Charles Moore. He’ll be here on the island giving a presentation at the Community Theatre on Tuesday, October  Continue Reading

There’s gotta come a time when we knock off using stuff that comes in plastic bottles…the things are not good for us, for the beach, for the planet, for the oil supply, even for the water they hold. Listen to this little vid & you’ll get the idea. And I’ll say it again: We need  Continue Reading

You’ve seen the little garden across from the middle school/high school…it’s going great! The plot was started this spring by students from the school, led by Albert Strasser (FHHS ’09), who came back from his first year at the University of Colorado to get things started. It’s called the Slow Food Land & Sea Garden…and  Continue Reading

It’s pretty common to see trumpeter swans around San Juan Island, but usually they hang out where there’s fresh water – ponds, wetlands, lakes. So, ace photographer Keith Busha was a little surprised to see this one out in the salt water of the marina at Roche Harbor. Here’s the Wikipedia treatment of the birds…maybe  Continue Reading

It starts here: Getting kids to eat crap is good for business & bad for them, bad for the earth, and bad for the future. Here’s an 11-year-old who has more sense than the FDA folks who allow what you eat. He’s the real deal – listen. Please listen. (BTW, Bill Keener in the five  Continue Reading

Sometimes when you live on an island, you think you see so much, and yet you see so little…. (cartoon courtesy of our friends at xkcd):

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