Here’s a thought…
“The competition between Nature and the economy is deep and broad.
In the short term, the economy usually wins. In the long term …?”
BILL APPEL
UN report warns AI could soon use 3% of world’s electricity and more water than we need to drink
||| FROM THE CONVERSATION ||| One argument often used to quell concerns about the rising energy and resource demand of data centers is that artificial intelligence (AI) models will need less in the future as
Another EWUA operator resigns
||| FROM CORY HARRINGTON ||| Today, June 3, 2026, another EWUA water operator submitted their resignation. Just days ago, more than 118 members signed an open letter requesting an independent third-party workplace investigation into interactions
Have a garden question? Ask an Orcas Master Gardener
Saturday June 6th at the Market Garden Nursery ||| FROM JULIA TURNEY and JAY LUCAS for ORCAS MASTER GARDENERS ||| Do you have a question about your soil, have a problem with your fruit tree,
Orca Action Month film series brings free documentary screenings to San Juans
Four Events. Six Documentary Films. One Urgent Story ||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS & KAREN PALMER for ORCA ACTION MONTH ||| Throughout June the San Juan Islands are celebrating Orca Action Month with a remarkable series
75 life-sized dorsal fins on display for Orca Action Month
A community art project to raise awareness for the endangered Southern Resident killer whales ||| FROM MOLLIE SEGALL for ORCA BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE ||| The non-profit Orca Behavior Institute (OBI) is leading a community art project
Is your boat ready for the season?
Boat tabs are required in Washington and expire every year on June 30. Owners with expired tabs could face fines and now be considered derelict under new legislative definition. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS
CWR logs another Bigg’s encounter
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 11:15 AM ObservEnd: 12:48 PM Vessel: Mike 1 Staff: Mark Malleson Pods: Bigg's killer whales IDsEncountered: T011A, T046B, T046B2, T046B2B, T046B3, T046B3A, T046B4, T046B6,
The Nature Record comes to Friday Harbor for a public engagement event
||| FROM CONOR AGNEW for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| The Whale Museum, UW Friday Harbor Laboratories, Friends of the San Juans and San Juan County Department of Environmental Stewardship are excited to announce a public engagement
News Brief | 23 Gray whale deaths on Washington shores since March
||| FROM MY NORTHWEST ||| Changes in the food supply on the whales’ Arctic feeding grounds are leading to a lack of food. Cascadia Research Collective said the public can help by protecting alternate feeding
Grow Your Own Food program cultivates skills and community in 2026
||| FROM CAITIE BLETHEN for WSU EXTENSION SAN JUAN COUNTY ||| The 2026 Grow Your Own Food program helped local residents turn curiosity into confidence, equipping participants with practical skills to grow their own food
CWR logs two encounters with Bigg’s
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 01:31 PM ObservEnd: 01:44 PM Vessel: KCB III Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss, Katie Jones Pods: Bigg's killer whales IDsEncountered: T124A, T124A6, T124A7 LocationDescr:
News Brief | Eastern North Pacific malnourished gray whales in ‘serious trouble’
||| FROM INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS ||| From San Francisco Bay to the Oregon coast to Washington’s Puget Sound, the die-off has occurred all along the gray whale’s annual West Coast migration route. It’s a 10,000
News Brief | The Wilderness Act is the most ambitious land protection law in American history
||| FROM THE WILDLIFE NEWS ||| The Wilderness Law is under attack, and the people attacking it are counting on you not knowing what you stand to lose. The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the National
Opening Soon | Opportunity to apply for lodging tax annual grant program
LTAC funds support a variety of projects related to tourism events, infrastructure, and services ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County is pleased to announce the 2026 Lodging Tax Grant Applications will
No Place Like Loam | The ghost in the orchard
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYO WOLF ||| The Cannon The men who came to Salem, Iowa that June night in 1848 brought a cannon. Not a metaphor. A cannon. Small, wheeled, loaded,