Money for Puget Sound Clean Up-Good News for Orca

http://www.northwesthub.org/epa-10-million-grant-puget-sound-245

EPA to Offer $10 Million in Grants to Protect Puget Sound

By Laura Kaliebe

Published: October 28, 2009

Photo by Erwyn van der Meer, Flickr CC

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it is accepting project proposals for $10 million in grants targeted specifically to protect and restore Puget Sound watersheds.

Tribes, local governments and "special purpose districts" are eligible for this round of funding. Proposals must be submitted by Jan. 5, 2010.

According to Michelle Pirzadeh, acting EPA regional administrator in Seattle, this funding will help local tribes and government agencies turn their plans into action.

"Puget Sound needs our help," said Pirzadeh. "This funding will go directly to our local and tribal partners who are on the front lines of protecting and restoring Puget Sound. These dollars come at critical time when budgets are stretched thin and help is needed to recover the Sound by 2020."

EPA is now soliciting proposals that will help local and tribal governments implement the Puget Sound Partnership’s Action Agenda. EPA is asking for proposals that integrate land use decisions and watershed protection efforts and projects that help meet EPA’s goals for Puget Sound that include:

- Improving shellfish growing areas;

- Cleaning up contaminated sediments and controlling upstream sources of contamination;

- Restoring and protecting estuarine wetlands.

Grant proposals are due to the EPA by Jan. 5, 2010. Approximately 15 awards will be made, ranging from about $300,000 to $1 million. Tribal and local governments and special purpose districts are eligible to apply. EPA is holding a workshop to answer questions about the solicitation and grant program criteria on Nov. 16 at 1:00 p.m. at EPA’s downtown Seattle office.

State and federal agencies, universities, watershed councils, salmon recovery lead entities and non-government entities are not eligible for this solicitation, but they are encouraged to participate by partnering and collaborating with the eligible entities mentioned above.

Additional solicitations for Puget Sound federal funding are expected in the near future.

Last scheduled tour of 2009 Saturday Oct 24

Turned out to be a beautiful day. Low 60's.
We took off from Friday Harbor and headed south. Only about 15 minutes out we encountered a hand full of harbor porpoise. Shy, they saw the boat and dove down and swam away.

Down near the southern tip of San Juan Island there where at lease a dozen or so huge Stellar Sea Lion. They weigh in between 1500 to 2000 pounds. A couple of them were swimming, but most were hauled out on the rocks sunning themselves and snoozing.

As we cruised a bit north up the west side of San Juan Island, we saw some dalls porpoise. The white tip on the small dorsal helps to locate them.

This tour saw lots of sea birds. We came upon a bait ball (bait fish all balled up near the surface) with herman gulls, glacous gulls, a couple merganzers and even a loon. The air seemed full of bonapart gulls (in non breeding plumage of cours - harder to spot).

We waved at the folks sitting on the cliffs of Lime Kiln park then headed for Speiden Island. There are always some animals to be found there. But this day it seemed like they were all out and all on the side of the island where we were. We had great looks the unusual sheep and deer.

Twenty five minutes later we pulled into Friday Harbor and said good bye too all of our guests until next year.

See you mid April 2010!
Regional interpreter (naturalist), Colleen Johansen

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

November 5 at 5

People for Puget Sound is holding an Open House at their downtown offices
911 Western Ave Suite 580 Seattle.
Refreshments served, meet the board, mingle with some of the most interesting people and see the list of accomplishments that this organization has made.

Recent Accomplishments:

· Maury Island Aquatic Reserve saved from a huge sand and gravel barging dock
· Permanent year-round rescue tug at Neah Bay for oil spill prevention (SB 5344)
· 1,200 miles of Puget Sound shoreline protected through local ordinances
· Low-impact standards to control flows and reduce pollution in storm water
· 46 miles of shoreline habitat and 20 salt marshes, beaches and estuaries restored to health, working with 2,000 volunteers
· Thousands of people educated and engaged at community events, low-tide beach explorations, “pier peers,” films, lectures, teacher workshops, and the biggest ever Citizen Lobby Day in Olympia
· Toxic free toys legislation (HB 2647), a phase-out of toxic flame retardants (HB 1024) and, in Seattle, a ban on Styrofoam containers

What We Are Poised to Accomplish:
· Funding for stormwater improvements and low-impact development (HB 1614)
· Aquatic Reserve designation for Protection Island and Smith Island
· Restoration projects on Orcas Island, Eld Inlet, Titlow Beach, Kayak Point, the Duwamish River, and many more places around the Sound and Straits
· Effective recovery measures for endangered Southern Resident orca whales, focusing on their need for ample, non-toxic salmon to eat
· Many community events to involve thousands more people in saving the Sound

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Trip Advisor Reviews 2009 (just some, not all)

TripAdvisor Reviews - San Juan Safaris Feed
TripAdvisor - get the truth. then go.


Excellent
Friday, October 02, 2009 12:07 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great excursion, we saw many orca, the staff were very helpful and knowledgeable. We were late getting back & and they contacted Kenmore to delay our flight.
San Juan Safaris - GREAT!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 10:06 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

My wife and I took the "Whale Plane" from Lake Union to Friday Harbor. The flight out was fantastic (Kenmore Air does a great job). The flight took 45 minutes and it was very smooth and we had a...
Fantastic time!
Thursday, July 30, 2009 2:27 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

We went on July 23rd and saw the K-Pod, it was an educational and exciting time. Thanks for the great day!

Family fun Whale
Wonderful
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 5:52 AM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

My husband and I went to visit the beautiful state of Washington in June of 2009. Everything about our whale watching experience was great! We called to make the reservations with San Juan Safaris...

Beautiful Tail Slap
Awesome!
Sunday, July 05, 2009 4:53 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

Our whale watching adventure was June 25, 2009 and it was fantastic! Nancy was our captain and Jackie and Tristen were our naturalist. It was very obvious as to how much they love what they do. They...

Young Bald Eagle! Worth the wait! Unbelievable!
Wonderful, Once in a Lifetime
Monday, June 29, 2009 9:28 AM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

My daughter and I went on a whale watching cruise and appreciated the attentiveness of the crew. You can tell they enjoy their jobs and made sure everyone was comfortable on the trip. It was a little...
Safe, informative, responsible and successful.
Monday, June 29, 2009 8:42 AM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

We saw whales; we kept our distance; we learned a bunch and had a great time.
Fantastic!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:56 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

My husband and I were in Seattle for our 10th anniversary, so we went on a whale watching tour. It was great! It was a beautiful day (mid 70's-colder on the water), and we saw seals, harbor porpoises,...
Great choice
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 1:00 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

We spent 2 days in Friday Harbor at the end of May and wanted to do some whale watching, so we selected San Juan Safaris. We were very pleased. The crew was exceptional - extremely helpful. They...
Magical Whale watching
Sunday, May 31, 2009 4:02 PM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had a great time. The guides were very knowlegable, and even gave us history and the various islands that we traveled by. Be sure to bring warm and waterproof clothes though! It's cold and wet out...
Owner response
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:39 AM
TripAdvisor traveler rating: 0 of 5 stars

Thank you for such kind words. We really all to try very hard to pay attention to details.
Reviews like this warm all our hearts and let us know it is all worth while.
Happy Adventures! Hope to see...







Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

People for Puget Sound-Orcas Best Friend

Here is the link to a video from this years annual Harbor Lights dinner and auction gala - People for Puget Sound. Plan on attending next year. Put it on you calendar right now 2nd Saturday in October.
http://www.davekrupa.com/videos/harborlights/harborlights.aspx?harborlights.







Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Orca Breach Near San Juan Island

Hi, we joined you on a trip back in August. Enclosed is a picture, thanks!

Kelli Callahan
August 30, 2009
Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

So Long San Juans.

This will be my last post of the season....we are now officially finished with all daily trips. My my how the summer has blown by! We'll still be running whale watching & wildlife tours for the next 3 Saturdays of October...the 10th, 17th, & 24th.

A wonderful way to end my season out here with Orcas still in the waters! A bit of a breezy day with whitecaps and chop, the wind out of the north, and the crisp feeling of autumn in the air. The Orcas were first seen coming south from Henry Island in Haro Strait. We met them off of Eagle Point. They were very spread out, lots of foraging going on and very long dives of 5 or more minutes. A mix of Killer Whales today....members of J & K pod....with L87 apparently being out there as well. We left them as they continued to move offshore.

At least 2 dozen Steller Sea Lions were hauled out on Whale Rocks and a few of them letting out deep grunting roars. The clouds parted on our way in and Mt. Baker is looking fresh with new snow from the recent set of storms that passed through! What a sight. Just before arriving back to Friday Harbor, I sighted a Bald Eagle that was posted on the top of a tree on Turn Island. He or she suddenly took flight as if to grab a fish or prey from the water, hovering for minutes until finally looping back to its watch post in the treetop.

The San Juans are a very special place for me and it's been a wonderful season!

Till next time,
Jaclyn, naturalist

Just Keep Swimming

All good things must come to an end and this is just about it. Today was our last weekday trip of the season. As of tomorrow, we will only be going out on Saturdays through the month of October and then we will be done for good. Do not despair though, the orcas will be back next season and so will we. In the meantime, here is the address of a blog that is both educational and entertaining and will satisfy your daily hunger for blog sustenance.

http://bitterendblog.com/

It is not the end just yet though, so as Dora from "Finding Nemo" sings, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming". And swim we did today. Okay, so we were not the ones swimming, because that would have meant breaking the first rule on the boat. No Swimming. But the whales were swimming and we motored right along with them.

Capt. Craig made my opening monologue quite difficult today by constantly coming to the back of the boat from the wheel house to give us updates about the orcas, to point out a seal, and to point out that I had not yet gotten the fenders up. Well of course I hadn't, he wouldn't let me finish my speech so that I could. Finally we were on our way and there surely were whales. Just south of Kellett Bluff we met up with ~9 orcas traveling north. They were well spread out and simply swimming north with no other apparent goal in mind. We followed along with them for about an hour before turning toward Spieden Island and home.

With the orcas popping up in ones and twos at various distances from the boat, I was not able to identify many of them. We did get a great look at L87 "Onyx" though, and he appeared to be on a date with L77 "Matia". Maybe there will be another new L baby. It was a special time spent with the orcas and we saw several eagles, as well as lots of animals on Spieden Island. But, the big highlight for me was when a peregrine falcon swooped past the M/V Sea Lion chasing after seagulls. The gulls were doing everything that they could to stay out of the peregrine's talons and while we were there none of them became dinner. It was a very climactic ending to our trip and helped to cap a most excellent summer spent on the water here in the San Juan Islands.

So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you excited by the wonders of nature, thank you and we will...

See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Mt. Baker off the back of our Whale Watching vessel

Orca Whale Dorsal Fins

Two Orca Whales

Colleen,

I wanted to send a picture I took off the back of the boat after watching the whales on 18-Sep-09. Also included is picture from the watch showing four whales. That afternoon with you all was one of my best days and I am 66 and have two children. You can use the pictures as long as you let me know, that way I can tell my Friends about it.

Thanks

George and Glenda Graves

Houston, Tx


Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

With the whale watching season slowing down, Captain Craig and I were racking our brains for boats that may be going out to try and view the orcas. As we were boarding the boat, Captain Craig informed us that while I was gathering the guests he had heard word of Transient orcas off of Victoria. However, there were also small craft warning in the Haro Strait.

Captain Craig decided to head north around the island and than make a decision once we rounded Henry Island. Once we hit Kellet Bluff, off of Henry Island, we decided to GO FOR IT and hightailed it toward Victoria.

We crashed and thrashed through 1-3 foot swells - all of the guests were luckily up for the adventure. We caught up with three transients (T10, T10B and one I couldn't ID) by Trial Island off of Victoria. We followed them into the Haro Strait, where they went this way and that. Although transients are often harder to view then the residents, our boat was lucky to get some fantastic views of these three animals. I love seeing transients and was ecstatic to see orcas on my last day aboard the MV Sea Lion this season!

Until next season!
Ashley, Naturalist

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©