A new paper gives voice to the residents of King Salmon — California’s community hardest hit by rising seasDue to tectonic activity, the land around Humboldt Bay is sinking, amplifying the impacts of rising oceans. In King Salmon, the seas are rising three times faster than the national average. “It’s easy to think about climate change as something happening way in the future,” says Kristina Kunkel, who recently published a paper with Professor Laurie Richmond on her findings. “Like, ‘maybe we don't have to really think about it much yet.’ But King Salmon shows how it’s happening right now. That’s revelatory, for some people.”Given how few people had heard from King Salmon’s residents, Kunkel’s advisor Laurie Richmond wanted to ensure that the research wasn’t overlooked.
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As keen observers are well aware, the industrial legacy of the 20th Century left many contaminated sites around Humboldt Bay. In our second special EcoNews Report on communities at risk from sea level rise, local residents talking about several of the most vulnerable sites: Tuluwat Island, Butcher Slough in Arcata, and the nuclear waste storage site above King Salmon.Many thanks to Hilanea Wilkinson, Adam Canter, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission's Whale Tail Grant Program.To contribute to the Whale Tail Grant Program, check the box for the Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund on your California tax return. Every dollar helps to fund fantastic projects like our podcast series and Bay Tours Program! For more info:
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and environmental consulting firm H. T. Harvey & Associates recently deployed technology off the West Coast in one of the first efforts to understand how high seabirds fly and whether they might interact with wind turbines and other infrastructure. They published the research on April 24 in Frontiers in Marine Energy.“This is an important step in understanding seabird behavior at the height of offshore wind turbines on the West Coast,” said Shari Matzner, computer scientist at PNNL and coauthor on the paper. Data from scientists on research vessels have provided estimates of how high birds fly, depending on wind strength, but “this is really the first time we’ve had real-time, quantified flight height data for these birds,” Matzner said.Keep reading
The federal government recently awarded $426,000,000 to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District for the design, permitting, and construction of an offshore wind Heavy Lift Terminal on the Samoa Peninsula. Left: The site was once part of the former Hammond Lumber Mill. The site will need to be remediated, dock and buildings demolished, and ground elevation raised to accommodate sea level rise. Imagery by Oren Nardi for Humboldt Waterkeeper.
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A little over a month ago, during high tide, huge chunks of the bluff at Fleener Creek Overlook flaked off in powdery sheets, falling nearly 100 feet to Centerville Beach, where waves lapped at the accumulating mountains of fallen silt and dirt. The collapse, which took a big section of parking lot with it, sent people running, as seen in dramatic drone video. The county later declared a state of emergency.On Friday, a smaller version of this natural drama took place at the Bay Street parking lot on the Samoa Peninsula. The pounding waves of high tide, which have been eating away at the dune slope to form temporary coastal cliffs up and down the peninsula, undercut the asphalt until a big sections fell onto the beach below.In response, the County of Humboldt closed the popular parking spot, commonly called “the T,” and the Samoa Peninsula Fire District issued a public safety warning, urging people to urge extreme caution on all local beaches due to the steep and still-eroding banks.Keep Reading
The federal government recently awarded $426,000,000 to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District for the design, permitting, and construction of an offshore wind Heavy Lift Terminal on the Samoa Peninsula. Left: The site was once part of the former Hammond Lumber Mill. The site will need to be remediated, dock and buildings demolished, and ground elevation raised to accommodate sea level rise. Imagery by Oren Nardi for Humboldt Waterkeeper. 
