Pacific Northwest
September 7, 2017
Yesterday we drove the boat around the island up to the marina. It needed hauling out, being so fouled with barnacles it’s been making barely 5 knots. There was a hint of onshore flow, something we’ve been hoping for these past few days but the sky was still dark and thick with acrid smoke. For the past week we’ve been living in dense smoky layer which has been blowing into western Washington from numerous wildfires in the Cascades, Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana. For a couple of days ash was falling like snow.
This extensive and unprecedented wildfire activity all over the Northwest is one inevitable result of Anthropogenic Global Warming. Forests are dry dry dry.
Our air quality has been bad, but nothing near as dangerously unhealthy as the inland Northwest. I’ve been feeling nausea, sore throat, tight chest and stinging eyes breathing this smoke 24/7 for days….I can’t even imagine how horrific it is for folks where it’s really thick, and continuing, no end in sight. Folks up in B.C. have been suffering through this all summer.
NASA satellite image for 9/7/17 shows some onshore flow displacing smoke in some areas. This is an improvement since yesterday when it was solid smoke over the entire Northwest. Forecast is for further clearing of smoke on Friday, even possible showers (!!!) — we’ve had our dryest summer ever this year.
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I’m near the Canadian border. The following photos will give you a sense of how dark and eery it’s been looking. But also what kind of wildlife is around right now in the first week of September, in spite of this awful air and visibility.
All pictures taken by me on Thursday September 7, 2017.
Sunlight through smoke turns orange. Everything takes on shades of gray brown orange, even reflections on the water. Sparklies are usually brilliant silver on the sea. Not these days. It looks like this in the middle of the day:
Steller Sealions have been returning to Whale Rocks over the past few weeks. I’d say about 2/3 have arrived so far. One is climbing out after a session fishing — these steep sharp rocks are no problem for them.
Brandt’s cormorants have returned to the Rocks too from their breeding grounds. Local gulls are done breeding, and visiting Mew and Heermann’s gulls are here in large numbers as usual in fall.
The bull kelp is as massive as it gets all year, forming thick mats anywhere it’s less than 100’ deep. Kelp is an annual, starts growing in spring, as much as a foot a day. When fall/winter storms arrive, the strands get torn from their attachment and wash away. The mats are sturdy enough for birds to walk on.
Common Murres have become scarce in the Salish Sea due to a decline in baitfish. This is the best time of year to see them, when juveniles raft up. They are transitioning into winter plumage now, as are Marbled Murrelets, Pigeon Guillemots and Rhinoceros Auklets. I saw no Tufted Puffins this summer. There have been a few reports of them further south.
Coming through the pass -
I’ve passed this rock countless times over the years and this was the first time I realized why it’s called Mummy Rocks. Maybe it’s all the gloom and destruction in the air that made the connection in my mind.
My thoughts are with all the wildlife and people and forests trying to survive this terrible wildfire year.
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