At this point while these deaths are important to monitor, we do not consider them alarming and they do not appear to reflect any specific problem in Puget Sound. None of the whales that have died are the regular animals that visit Washington waters on a regular basis each year. These appear to be stragglers from the larger gray whale population of close to 20,000 gray whales that typically migrate north past Washington each spring after fasting several months in warmer southern waters they use as their breeding area. This makes April a period when whales that did not get enough food on their Alaskan feeding grounds may be running out of their reserves. A major mortality event occurred in 1999 and 2000 in which 50 gray whales died in Washington State in the two years combined.
One of those whales beached in West Seattle in 1999 – the last stranding here until this week in The Arroyos. (Again, that latest one was towed away this morning for a necropsy at an undisclosed location to the south – here’s our report, to which we just added information from Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey, who works closely with NOAA, that the whale has been “secured” at the location where that necropsy will be done tomorrow.)
Thanks to Colby for sharing photos from the Pinewood Derby races today at Brickyard BarBQ in the Admiral District – above, the contenders’ creations – here, the track:
Another round is planned for noon next Saturday (4/24) at Alki Tavern; here’s the Facebook event page. Pinewood Derby is of course best known as a Scouting tradition, and tomorrow, you can cheer on local Cub Scouts putting their vehicles to the test — West Seattle’s Pack 793 will be racing at Holy Rosary Gym starting at 1 pm, and you’re welcome to come watch for free.
Thanks to Mike Heavey (in photo below) for sharing pics from one of more than half a dozen sites in West Seattle that were part of today’s annual Duwamish Alive! Earth Day work parties – he was one of 15 volunteers at Roxhill Bog, the restored natural area on the east side of Roxhill Park, across SW Barton from Westwood Village. Mike reports, “Under the direction of park steward, Scott Blackstock, the group of 15 people removed invasive, non-native species (mostly dandelions and some geranium).”
Also happening in The Junction today – the epicenter of Seattle’s celebration of the nationwide (maybe even worldwide) Record Store Day celebration of independent music stores – Easy Street Records. And if you’re talking records, how about a GOLD record? That’s Easy Street owner Matt Vaughan above, holding the one he received for his role in the success of Pearl Jam‘s Backspacer. And if you’re in the mood to pick up a few (or more) records yourself, music’s on sale at Easy Street all day, and the very browsable vinyl stacks are out front:
Find out more about the Tool Library by going here, and keep tabs on other Community Harvest activities – you can become a member now, too – by going here.
Brunette Mix (WSB sponsor), next to the newly opened Fleurt flower shop at Oregon/California, is one of the 30-plus businesses taking part in today’s big sale day in The Junction. Most will be open till at least 5 pm; the West Seattle Junction Association (WSB sponsor) website has a page of coupons for special deals today. Just like last year, you’ll see red balloons outside participants’ storefronts, so while you certainly can print out the list, you don’t have to have it – just get over to The Junction and get walking! ADDED 3:15 PM: A photo from inside Fleurt, celebrating its first day at the new Junction location:
That’s Josh Sutton from the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) getting dunked as part of Healthy Kids Day (the water was warm, he insisted goodnaturedly when we talked to him between dunks). Till 1 pm at the Y’s Triangle location (xx xxth), you’ll find all kinds of free activities, like the climbing wall:
As part of the Healthy Kids Day celebration, the Y also is waiving family joining fees. ADDED 9:18 PM: More from Healthy Kids Day, courtesy of West Seattle’s Captive Eye Media – the dancers are from the West Seattle High School Asian Club:
ORIGINAL 9:02 AM REPORT: We are back out at Arroyo Beach this morning – again, this is private waterfront, and we appreciate the permission to be on one particular home’s bulkhead – where researchers are about to try moving the gray whale that beached and died here Wednesday afternoon. West Seattle-based researcher Mark Sears has been anchored in his powerboat next to the whale – that’s him in the clip above, with a local stand-up paddler who came up for a look a little while ago. A much bigger white boat has just arrived; here’s a photo:
We’ll add updates as this progresses. One other note – according to Robin Lindsey‘s update on the Seal Sitters site (she works closely and frequently with NOAA), it’s now believed this whale (which was fully out of the water on Thursday) is male, not female.
10:20 AM UPDATE: Now back at HQ. The towboat was almost out of sight, heading south, with the whale still in tow, after a stop several hundred yards offshore to readjust the line. With a multiton whale along for the ride, of course, it’s pretty slow-going, and we probably won’t get final word of arrival for some hours to come. 11:04 AM: Adding our video as the tow started to take on a steady pace – the dark bump in the water is the only part of the whale visible during the whole process:
Any updates we get later, we’ll add. Meantime, a big thank you to beach residents Scott and Jen for allowing us to hang out on their bulkhead this morning to report on the last chapter of the whale story (and providing beach umbrellas when the rain moved in!). As per an old newspaper story we linked in an earlier report, this was the first gray beached in West Seattle since 1999. NOAA has said that after the whale is necropsied at a state-owned beach they haven’t publicly identified, it will be left to decompose. Highline Community College‘s Marine Science and Technology Center at Redondo Beach will get the bones; its director Dr. Kaddee Lawrence tells WSB, “We will be slowly gathering the bones as the carcass decays and they will be on display (eventually as a re-articulated skeleton) at our marine center.” 7:22 PM UPDATE: Robin Lindsey tells WSB she just got word the whale-moving operation was a success, and it has arrived at the undisclosed necropsy location, where the examination is scheduled for tomorrow.
“Pity the fool who robs the cash drawer when on Padme Grace’s shift at Again & a Gain children’s and maternity consignment shop @ 4832 California Ave. SW. just south of the Alaska Junction,” began the note from Sarah at Again & a Gain. Read on for the story – which she hopes will be an alert to other businesses in the area as well:Read More
10 am is the magic moment today – that’s when all the fun starts. First – if you can spare time to help with the annual Duwamish Alive! cleanups – here’s the list of sites (many in West Seattle) – they’re all beginning at 10 am (2009 photo at left); that’s also the first moment of the Tax-Free For All (a discount that in effect has retailers paying the tax for you) sale day in The Junction, with participant list and coupon link here; and in The Triangle, lots of free fun activities for Healthy Kids Day at the West Seattle YMCA(which like the WS Junction Association is a current WSB sponsor) … but that’s not all. Go here for a direct link to the full list of what’s up for your cloudy-but-not-cold West Seattle Saturday.
We start the second half of Disaster Preparedness Month with something simple – it’s the weekend, after all. How about a quiz? Here’s one, courtesy of preparedness volunteer/organizer extraordinaire Cindi Barker – who along with Karen Berge and Deb Greer have provided much of the info for these updates, as well as powering massive segments of the West Seattle preparedness effort itself. The site that hosts the quiz has many others, but most relevant to us – take the quake quiz. How’d you do? Care to share your results, and any other thoughts, in the comment section? Then there’s an impromptu quiz – have you looked at the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs page so many times you’ve memorized all 9? No? Well, as long as you’ve memorized yours, you’re a winner. Make sure everybody in your house knows it too. And if you’re not already in the “3 to Get Ready” city-sponsored challenge that’s being promoted on neighborhood-news sites including WSB, this weekend’s a great time to get into it (and take the three preparedness steps); you can also set aside some time to wade into the depths of potentially life-saving info at West Seattle Be Prepared, while on your way to joining the WSBP Facebook group. We’ll be covering a special preparedness summit Saturday morning, so watch for a report on that.
If you didn’t see the link in the comment thread on our earlier update, photographer Robin Lindsey of Seal Sitters has now officially shared a captioned gallery of her images from Thursday, when she joined marine-mammal experts examining the gray whale that died at Arroyo Beach. Her captions include information you probably haven’t heard before – including Robin’s take on what looked like “slash marks.” The gallery link’s at the end of this update Robin has posted on the Seal Sitters’ blubberblog.org site.
Another view of tonight’s sunset, this time from Alki’s David Hutchinson, and it reminds us of one thing we hadn’t included in our report on last night’s Alki Community Council meeting – the latest update on the ongoing brick/plaque sale to raise money for Statue of Liberty Plaza maintenance. Since the committee that raised money for the plaza has disbanded as planned, the ACC now is accountable for this part of the project. According to information presented at last night’s meeting, since mid-November, they’ve sold more than 250 bricks, plus 4 tribute plaques; 5 plaques are still available, and an undetermined number of bricks. The next round of installation is set for early May. If you’re interested in a brick or plaque, all the info’s on the ACC website.
(Tonight’s glorious sunset, photographed by David Rosen from SlickPix Photography)
Perfect spring day/night, some sun, a little rain. In the mood for gardening? The next big event is tomorrow afternoon at South Seattle Community College‘s north side, when Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle presents its spring plant sale, focused on veggie starts. And you can get a FREE veggie start if you are one of the first 75 people to bring tools to donate to the new West Seattle Tool Library (one freebie per family)! Tools must be in working condition and cannot be gas-powered. The sale’s from 1-4 pm, unless you are a Community Harvest member, in which case you get an hour’s head-start on everyone (you can show up at noon and join right before you shop, or buy your membership online right now – go here). Plants are $2.70 for members, $3 for nonmembers. Proceeds help support Community Harvest’s work getting more fresh local produce to more people – last year alone, they harvested and donated more than three tons of surplus home-grown fruit to local food banks!
Breaking news (the gray whale at Arroyo Beach) caused us to miss this week’s 34th District Democrats meeting, including a candidates’ forum with the three D’s running for State House, Position 2. Big thanks to Dina Johnson for the photo (her full gallery from the meeting is here) – from left, that’s Mike Heavey, Joe Fitzgibbon, and Marcee Stone. There’s an article about the forum on PubliCola. According to the 34th DDs’ website, they won’t endorse anyone in the race until their next meeting May 12 (explained here), but they did make endorsements Wednesday night in several other races: Current State Sen. Joe McDermott for King County Council Position 8, State Rep. (Position 1) Eileen Cody for re-election, current State Rep. Sharon Nelson for State Senate, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott for re-election, and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray for reelection. (The May 12 meeting, 7 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy as usual, also will feature the legislative report from Sen. McDermott and Reps. Cody and Nelson, postponed when this week’s agenda got too busy.)
Just announced: Plans for “Hands Across the Duwamish” tomorrow. People concerned about the upcoming permanent closure of the South Park Bridge hope to form a human chain across the bridge (on the sidewalk, NOT blocking traffic) to raise awareness about the scheduled June 30th closure. Organizers say they’ll need 332 people to span the entire length of the bridge. They’re timing it to start at 1:30 pm, as the Duwamish Alive! work parties are wrapping up. Meantime, as reported yesterday at partner site White Center Now, King County has scheduled two community meetings to talk about logistics of the closure – 6 pm April 27 and 6 pm May 25, both at the International Association of Machinists Local 751 Hall in South Park (map). March 2009 photo courtesy Dale Brayden
Last year, when nerves were on edge along Alki following the May 1st shooting, West Seattle police leaders from the Southwest Precinct were at the next Alki Community Council meeting to brief the community (WSB coverage here). This year, in a pre-emptive strike, they came to the ACC last night to share updates on their work as well as spring/summer plans – coincidentally, on a night with weather so nice, the beach was still busy after the meeting, and we spotted three SPD cars in one block. At the ACC, Capt. Joe Kessler (photo left), Lt. Norm James (not pictured) and Sgt. Joel Sweetland (photo right) spent close to an hour on updates and Q/A:Read More
We just went out to check — the gray whale that died on Arroyo Beach two days ago is still off The Arroyos. However, as you can see in our photo taken minutes ago, it’s not particularly visible (aside from the tip of a fin) – and though the low tide of the day hasn’t arrived yet, the whale is now far enough out that it doesn’t appear the receding tide will reveal it. We’ve got a message out to NOAA for the latest, but they had told us last night that they hadn’t found a location to take it yet, so it wouldn’t be moved until that detail was locked in. We’ll add new information whenever we get it. 1:15 PM UPDATE: Nearby resident Scott took a photo at 1, right around the lowest point of today’s lowest tide, and this still is all you can see. 2:03 PM: Just got a note from one of the many people who took photos of the whale yesterday – but there are some closeup views here that you probably haven’t seen before – here’s the link.2:33 PM UPDATE: Just talked to Brian Gorman with NOAA, and he sent the official brief media update:
The whale is now secured to a buoy near where it stranded Wednesday evening … It will be towed early Saturday morning to a location in Puget Sound that will allow researchers from Cascadia Research Collective and Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife to perform a necropsy. After the necropsy is completed, the carcass will remain on the beach to decompose. Its skeletal remains will be collected and given to Highline Community College in Des Moines, Wash.
He says it took a while for them to find state-owned land where the necropsy could be done and the whale left – they don’t sink the carcasses as they once used to.
First, Chief Sealth High School‘s music program will benefit from – and be spotlighted at! – the annual Tamale Dinner tomorrow night. Even if you haven’t bought advance tickets, you can show up and pay at the door. The event starts at 5:30 pm tomorrow (Saturday) at Sealth/Boren (5950 Delridge); you can enjoy the food and music (choirs, mariachi and more) for $15 adults, $10 CSHS students with ASB sticker, $7 kids 5-12, $1 discount per ticket if you buy four or more. More info at chiefsealthmusic.org.
Second, West Seattle High School‘s putting out the call again for judges to help review student marketing/advertising presentations – here’s the announcement:
You are invited to be a Marketing Judge at West Seattle High on Wed. April 28, 2010, 9:30 – 11:00 am! As a judge, you would be evaluating formal student presentations of marketing campaigns designed to promote awareness of important social causes.
For more information: Martha Tonkin – Instructor: Marketing/DECA, Fashion, Photo 206.252.8832 office, 206.283.8440 cell, mmtonkin@seattleschools.org
Prom season means dress-shopping for hundreds of local girls – and West Seattle’s Cherry Consignment e-mailed us with news of a plan to help more teens dress up for their dance. First, they’re offering “prom gowns in all the hot colors for spring at a fraction of the original price,” according to owner Nyla Bittermann. Second, the proceeds from the sale of those dresses “goes directly to the Ruby Room, an organization that provides free formal wear for low-income teens.” As Bittermann puts it in her news release about the dresses, “Not only will you have the time of your life at your event, but you can help someone else feel the same way.” She also tells WSB that affordable prom dresses are so hard to find, somebody came in recently all the way from Yelm!
Cherry Consignment is on the north end of The Junction (4142 California SW), and you can find out more about the Ruby Room by going here.
That photo’s from last Sunday, during the King County Water Taxi (WSB sponsor) celebration at Seacrest. We predict more sun-basking ahead, judging by the forecast – 60s and sunny, projected through Sunday. Also ahead today:
SAFEWAY REZONING HEARING: Since the Admiral Safeway project requires rezoning, that means a mandatory public hearing before the city Hearing Examiner. If you’ve got something to say about it, that hearing is set for this morning, 9 am, in the Hearing Examiner’s chambers at the Municipal Tower downtown. (Here’s our original March preview of today’s hearing.)
‘THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST’: Tonight marks the start of the second and final weekend of Twelfth Night Productions (WSB sponsor) presenting “The Miss Firecracker Contest” at Youngstown Arts Center – full details here, 7:30 pm.
SKATE NIGHT’S BACK: After a week off for Parks furloughs, Friday Skate Night is back in full swing tonight at Alki Community Center, $3, skates available on site.
10 am is the magic moment today – that’s when all the fun starts. First – if you can spare time to help with the annual Duwamish Alive! cleanups – 
The site that hosts the quiz has many others, but most relevant to us – 
Tomorrow’s a big day in The Junction – it’s Tax-Free Sale Day (
Just announced: Plans for “Hands Across the Duwamish” tomorrow. People concerned about the upcoming 
Last year, when nerves were on edge along Alki following the 
Prom season means dress-shopping for hundreds of local girls – and West Seattle’s 
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