Carbon Offsets in Seattle

3/30 Seattle Times
Band plants trees to offset tour
By Nicole Brodeur
Seattle Times staff columnist

No offense to Mr. Jagger, but it's never only rock 'n' roll.
It's trucks and buses, freight being shipped. It's air travel and hotel rooms. It's electricity in the arenas. It's fans driving to the show and back.
All that rocking and rolling can rack up some 5,400 metric tons of carbon-equivalent emissions.
And for Pearl Jam, it's just bad business, and no way to treat the place its members call home.
So the band has partnered with the Cascade Land Conservancy (CLC) to mitigate carbon-equivalent emissions from its ongoing 2009 world tour.
Pearl Jam will donate $210,000 to plant 33 acres of native trees and plants in four Puget Sound communities: Seattle, Kirkland, Redmond and Kent.
More at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2011475124_nicole30m.html

What Do YOU Think? Post a comment on Carbon Offsets

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Friday Harbor Espresso (and more)

What Laughs with your Latte? Stop in and see Mark At Friday Harbor Espresso.
I asked him " Will I have to see you tomorrow?" He answered " IF you are lucky!"



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Friday Harbor San Juan Island

San Juan Island today is experiencing beautiful weather - in the 60's after two damp and cool days.

3 gray whales were seen off Langley, Whidbey Island and Transient Orca Whales were seen off Victoria yesterday

Here is a website you will want to take a look at. Classes on all types of wildlife.
Adopt A Stream Foundation
Slugs and Snails (it looks interesting - really!) Native Plants, Raptors, Amphibians, Stream and Wetland Basic Training and more.


Dont Forget Saturday April 3 is opening day for San Juan Safaris. Tour departs at NOON.
The Washington state ferry departs Anacortes at 9:30 AM and arrives one hour later.

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Orca and Psuedo Orca?

Maybe you never have heard of the Psuedo Orca?
It became big news in New Zealand recently.
take a read:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/science/news/article.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10634607

What's the difference? The orca knows

4:00 AM Saturday Mar 27, 2010

It was a question many Herald readers wanted answered - what the heck is a pseudorca?

The black marine mammals hit the headlines in a dramatic way yesterday after a boatload of tourists saw a killer whale flick a pseudorca high into the air, break its back and eat it and its calf.

The attack occurred at the Black Rocks, about 7km from Paihia, after a pod of eight killer whales - which are orca without the "pseud" - chased more than a dozen pseudorca.

The Herald yesterday asked scientists for more information about the creatures and discovered the pseudorca - sometimes known as black fish or false killer whales - are members of the Delphinade (ocean dolphin) family, with killer whales and other dolphins.

Whale and dolphin researcher Dr Ingrid Visser said they got their name because their skulls were similar to orca.

"It [the pseudorca] is similar to a pilot whale but the skull closely resembles an orca.

"So when they first found the skulls they thought it was an orca.

"When they found out it wasn't, they called it a false orca or pseudorca.

"They look more like a pilot whale ... with a more pointed face."

Pseudorca live in warm waters in the tropics and subtropics.

Dr Visser said they were seen every year in Northland.

Dolphin researcher Dr Karen Stockin said comparatively little was known about the sociable creatures, which sometimes formed mixed groups with pods of bottlenose dolphins.

The squid- and fish-eaters were listed in New Zealand as "not threatened" but there were no estimates of their population, she said.

Adults were between 4.5-6m long and newborns 1.5-1.8m long.

In rare cases pseudorca have been known to breed with bottlenose dolphins to make wholphins (so called even though both species are dolphins).

But Dr Stockin said it was not known whether that happened in the wild or only among animals in captivity.

In 2001, Department of Conservation workers in Gisborne took a skin sample from a beached pseudorca, which was used to show that their meat was being sold in Japanese markets.

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Orca Whales Seen No. Seattle So of San Juan Island

2 Orca Whales were seen yesterday No of Seattle. There are reports of gray whales near by also.
Bill and I just arrived back from 2 weeks on Kauaii.
We saw Humpback Whales daily from our lanai. What a treat!
The island was hurting for guests. There were almost no boats on the water as the wind kicked up nearly the entire 2 weeks of our stay. The weather could not have been better for me, mid-70's.
One day nearly 100 spinner dolphins came by while I and neighbors were out on the lanai pointing and gasping.

Friday Harbor, San Juan Island has had beautiful weather yesterday and today. Mid-50's, no wind, blue sky.

Our first trip is April 3rd. Coming right up. Book now!


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Shetland Island and San Juan Island: Related?

Friday Harbor could soon have a new sister city — Shetland Islands, Scotland

Mar 05 2010, 11:33 AM

Friday Harbor could soon have a new sister city — Shetland Islands, Scotland.

A visit from Mark Burgess, a member of the Scalloway Community Council in the Shetland Islands, sparked a correspondence between Friday Harbor Mayor Carrie Lacher and Alexander J. Cluness, convener of the Shetland Islands Council (convenor is the equivalent of mayor). That led to an exchange of information about their respective communities, and now Lacher's formal invitation to establish a sister city relationship. Read on

PS we carry Mark Gardners San Juan Islands Books

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Salmon (orca favorite food) Forecast Good for 2010

Summer salmon seasons locally will most likely be very similar to those of last year, according to charter operator/fishing activist Gary Krein of Everett, an annual participant in the “North of Falcon” season-setting process.
Read on


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Seattle or San Juan Is: Why an Oilspill Assoc. Is A Must

Oil spills: Remember what is does to our wildlife.


Julie Knight of Islands Oil Spill Association said the El Dorado had about 100 gallons of diesel and 12 to 15 gallons of engine oil onboard when the boat slipped beneath the surface. A containment boom and absorbent pads were capturing much of the escaped fuel, although a sheen was visible outside the containment area. By 9 a.m. Wednesday, Knight estimated that about 25 gallons of fuel had been captured.
Read further



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Seattle's Icon Building May Be Going: Paint Is The Culprit

Where do the tiny (lead filled) paint chips go when a building (or boat or structure) needs cleaning and painting?
Not in the water (we hope)

"Toxins in its paint may force it to be torn down unless the building's owners can find another way to clean it up -- some paint chips have been shown to have levels of toxins up to 240 times higher than at the level at which the state requires removal." Read more

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©
Paint - Lead - and Wildlife

Publish Post

Seattle Wednesday March 3, 2010

Marine mammals are highly mobile, migratory animals with home ranges that span political boundaries. Canada and the US have enacted legislation to manage and conserve whales and their populations. These laws share common objectives, but often differ in the way in which they achieve those objectives. More Information

7:00 PM, March 3, 2010

Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall

University of Washington, Seattle

Followed by a reception

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Hiking and walking on San Juan Island Washington

Hiking and walking on San Juan Island Washington

The San Juan Island National Historical Park is an attraction that you should not fail to visit during your Friday Harbor vacation. It's a 1,750-acre area that is preserved to commemorate the Pig War, which was fought between American and British forces in 1859.

The park is divided into 2 sections, namely the American Camp in the southeastern part of the island and the British Camp in the northwest. There are visitor centers in both camps.

The park also has lots of hiking and biking trails that lead to various points of interest, such as scenic lookouts, beaches and coves. For more information about San Juan Island National Historical Park

Orca Whales and Wildlife Are Our Only Business. ©

Trash and Wildlife: Plastic - It's A Killer

This is why we should pick up trash when we go for walks on the beach.

This is why we should be pro active in how we handle our trash.

There's an area of floating plastic in the vortex of currents in the Pacific

that is the size of the United States.

So, I invite you all to minister to the planet by picking up the plastic you see.

Maybe we can inspire others to do the same.

What on earth are we doing to our planet?

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=11

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