Look, that thing has mercury in it – you CAN’T just dump it in the landfill! Here’s more from Helen with the scoop about how to ditch it: It’s almost a year since Washington State began one of the most successful recycling programs for waste electronics.  Manufacturers who sell televisions, monitors, computers and laptops in  Continue Reading

As you probably know, Friday Harbor is the international HQ for Sea Shepherd…. Traci Walter wrote me this afternoon with news that a big, well-known donor has stepped forward. Here’s more: The Time is Right for Bob Barker to Rescue the Whales: Bob Barker Donates $5,000,000 to Sea Shepherd for Ocean Conservation Another anti-whaling ship  Continue Reading

It’s the new year’s baby…J47! Here’s more from the Orca Network, including pictures. And…here’s Howie’s proposal to retire Lolita from her forced labor at the Miami Seaquarium & bring her, finally, home. Here are some pictures he took of her recently, and yes, if that tank seems too small for a killer whale who would  Continue Reading

It’s the new year’s baby…J47! Here’s more from the Orca Network, including pictures. And…here’s Howie’s proposal to retire Lolita from her forced labor at the Miami Seaquarium & bring her, finally, home. Here are some pictures he took of her recently, and yes, if that tank seems too small for a killer whale who would  Continue Reading

That was the low-hanging mist off Beaverton Valley Road across from the entrance to Xtreme Fitness over the weekend….

In November, President Obama signed the bill that included $6 million dollars to purchase the Mitchell Hill property & add it on to the national park at English Camp (or British Camp – I gotta ask Mike Vouri which is right. Or Canadian Camp – maybe they want it back.) It’s a beautiful 320-acre gift  Continue Reading

It was neat to see this wild turkey up near the dump…there used to be tons of wild turkeys here on the island fifteen years ago – you’d see them walking around in little mobs downtown, and out in the parks. Someone introduced fox to the island in the early 1990s, and that seems to  Continue Reading

As you may know, Ivan from Western Prince is operating in San Diego this winter as Jackie works on her grad degree there…he tells me he went out on the 21st to look for gray whales & fin whales & saw a minke….but then saw a pod of about 20 orcas, which is pretty unusual  Continue Reading

First, a very happy birthday to Jim Maya, with my thanks to him for today’s report. He was out on the water yesterday and saw & photographed a gray killer whale calf hanging around with the transients – here’s more, from yesterday: We were near the Victoria waterfront…I called Goldwing as we got close, about  Continue Reading

You and I heard enough people say Wednesday’s winds were the worst they’ve seen in ages, and we all saw enough branches scattered around, trees down, and chainsaws going to know it was a strong one. Heck, it even knocked down the flagpole at American Camp (here’s more on that.) Next up on the weather  Continue Reading

There was a big one at 7:30am this morning, off the British Columbia coast, near Alaska – here’s more (including the huge aftershock) from CNN.

Marc Islam reports that Corelia Peacock has completed the Appalachian Trail & the former Island rec recreation specialist has stories to tell: Hello All- A few highlights from our last few weeks on the trail.

Looks like there’s a new baby calf in J pod! Here’s more from Monika (http://orcawatcher.blogspot.com/) and Jeanne (http://whale-of-a-porpoise.blogspot.com/), including some awesome pictures. Looks like they’re calling her/him J 46. Happy birthday!

Rachel at the ferry landing (right) said someone dropped their leaves at the top of the ferry landing last week.

There was this pileated woodpecker in the yard walking around in my yard, so I snuck up on him and took a picture of him. Here’s more about them – looks like this one is probably a male….

It’s called micro-plastics, and it’s a worldwide problem – the plastics can pollute & kill parts of the sea, and ruin a beach. Our Beachwatchers (led by Shann Weston) were collecting samples the other day – here’s more. The Town’s ban of styrofoam is a good first step (which the County needs to pass as  Continue Reading