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
Puget Sound orca pod threatened by salmon decline
||| FROM CBS NEWS ||| Lurking beneath the surface of Washington's Puget Sound are some of nature's most magnificent and endangered species: orca whales. Unique to these waters and once thriving, there are now believed
On July 3, Earth will reach its farthest point from the Sun – 152M kilometers away
||| FROM IFL SCIENCE||| On July 3, 2025, at 3:54 pm ET, the Earth will officially reach its furthest point from the Sun for this year. This is called aphelion. Our planet’s orbit is very
Friday Harbor Film Fest special event | Resident Orca at SJ Community Theatre
||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS & KAREN PALMER for FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL Join us at 7pm on July 16 for an unforgettable evening centered on the extraordinary story of Tokitae—also known as Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut—whose life in captivity
Youth Green Boating summer internship
||| FROM AYN GAILEY for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| Help protect the Salish Sea this summer! Lead friendly, face-to-face dockside outreach promoting clean boating. $20/hr for just 4 hours/week with a flexible schedule.
Orcas ask humans to lunch, share massages
||| FROM DIVERNET.COM ||| More than 30 cases of wild killer whales attempting to share their prey with human beings are the subject of a study published today (30 June). The incidents, spread over four
Deaths, fines, and legal drama | End of Florida theme parks with captive animals may be nigh
|||FROM DISNEY DINING ||| In a state known for its theme parks, a very different kind of attraction is now making headlines—and not for the right reasons. The glitz of roller coasters and character parades
What we’ll lose if bird banding ends
Scientists have tagged birds for more than 100 years. That preservation program might be defunded. ||| FROM THE WASHINGTON POST ||| I did not know much about bird banding until I signed up to take
Friends welcomes new legal director, Magali Cota
||| FROM ELISE COPE for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| Friends of the San Juans is excited to welcome and introduce Magali Cota as our new Legal Director and Staff Attorney. Magali is an
New subspecies of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest
||| FROM NOAA ||| In summer 2024, the Taxonomy Committee of the Society of Marine Mammalogy—charged with creating a standard classification and naming of marine mammals—reviewed the recently published research. The committee narrowly fell short of the 2/3
Orcas Island Garden Club | Garlic scape salt anyone?
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| I got a call from Helen Huber the other day. "Did you know it is garlic scape season?" Unaware and curious, I urged her to share more. The
Cultivate your passion with WSU Extension Master Gardener Program
||| FROM CAITIE BLETHEN for WSU EXTENSION SAN JUAN COUNTY ||| Do you have a passion for plants and insects, a thirst for knowledge, and a commitment to serving your community? If so, becoming a San
Orcas Library Presentation | Snake studies and sharp-tails on San Juan Islands
||| FROM JENNY DeGROOT for ORCAS ISLAND LIBRARY ||| Please join the Orcas Island Public Library on Saturday, June 28 at 1 pm for Snake Studies and Sharp-tails on the San Juan Islands, a presentation
Trump’s federal land sell-off proposal includes 5M acres in Washington
||| FROM KING-TV SEATTLE ||| A sweeping federal budget bill making its way through Congress is sparking outrage among some in Washington state. The proposal, part of what former President Donald Trump is calling his
Orcas Island Garden Tour 2025 is just around the corner
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| Gardeners are natural teachers and learners who love to share what they know about growing plants. This year’s garden tour theme highlights Orcas properties that offer Beauty, Bounty
Killer whales ‘massage’ each other using kelp
||| FROM THE BBC ||| Orcas in the North Pacific have been seen "massaging" each other - rubbing pieces of kelp between their bodies. Using drones, researchers filmed the animals selecting and biting off the
