Orcas And Maury Island
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Hot News
Maury Island In The News June 4, 2008
Maury Island is in the news again!
This time with a great editorial by Councilmember Dow Constatine in the Seattle Times pointing out that we can’t save Puget Sound, if we don’t save Maury. Also, a nice Maury article in the the current issue of the Seattle Weekly.
Weekly reporter Aimee Curl does a great job covering [...] Read More
Landfill Loophole In The Seattle PI
Click here to read today’s front page Seattle PI story regarding the concern over the potential landfill loophole that Glacier Northwest is hoping to slip through so that their proposal to dispose of over 1/4 million tons of carcinogenic wastes over a sole source aquifer and adjacent to Puget Sound is not subject to any [...] Read More
Maury Island Battle hits the airwaves
King 5 News aired a great piece on Friday’s evening broadcast regarding the serious concerns related to the arsenic and lead issues at the Glacier site. Click here to watch the story online. It’s been ten years since Glacier first proposed their intention to create a mega-mine on the island, yet there are still [...] Read More
Army Corps of Engineers
The Army Corps of Engineers has released the draft Environmental Assessment for Glacier’s proposed project. For more information please visit our Alerts page
Read More
Legislature on Center Stage 1/18/08
Supreme Court’s decision puts Legislature on center stage.
By Leslie Brown Vashon Maury Island Beachcomber
Jan 15 2008
Save for a small scuba-diving boat just off-shore, the stretch of beach where Glacier Northwest wants to build its 400-foot dock and begin offloading millions of tons of sand and gravel was quiet last Sunday.
The sand shimmered in the afternoon [...] Read More
Photo taken under ESA/MMPA permit no. 781-1824-01 M Sears 11-23-07
Endangered Orcas with newborn calf in tow at the Glacier dock site
November 23, 2007
The Endangered Orcas Use of Maury Island
- The Orcas feed in the Maury nearshore during the late fall and early winter months when salmon at the Island is abundant and scarce elsewhere.
- In December 2007, the Orcas were documented by the NMFS appointed sighting network in the waterways adjacent to Glacier's proposed dock on more days than they were documented at the San Juan Island's State whale watching park for the months of July and August combined.
- A majority of Orca births occur during the late fall and early winter months and it is common that newborn and very young calves are in tow when the Orcas come to forage at Maury Island. As example, the newest member of J-pod was born in early November of 2007 and was documented at the Glacier site within days of its birth.
The Proposed Projects Risk to Endangered Orcas
- In the Orca recovery plan NMFS notes lack of prey availability, elevated underwater noise and increased vessel interaction as impacts that are likely contributors to the whales population decline.
- Dock construction and the subsequent barging operations will create underwater noise at levels that the National Marine Fisheries Services has determined to be harmful to Orcas and other Marine mammals.
- Underwater noise levels associated with the proposed project will be high enough to mask the important Orca communication calls which the whales depend on for successful foraging.
- At nearly 400 feet long, the dock itself is a physical barrier that may alter the Orcas foraging behavior and passage through the area.
- The barging operation will introduce industrial shipping traffic into an area that currently has none. This protected reserve area is where the Orcas commonly forage and rest.
- Orca researchers who have evaluated the proposed project have concluded that there is a strong likelihood that the Orcas will be forced to abandon this important feeding area due to underwater noise impacts.
This Mine Expansion Doesn't Make any Sense
It Doesn't Make Environmental Sense
It Doesn't Make Economic Sense
It Doesn't Make Sense For The People Of Washington State