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NORTH COAST THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015 Orca calf, mom spotted in the river EO Media Group COLUMBIA RIVER — &RPPHUFLDO ¿VKHUPHQ UHWXUQ- ing from a shrimp trip spotted two orcas about two miles in- side the Columbia River earlier this week. Clint Beasley, who operates WKH %URRNLQJVEDVHG ¿VKLQJ YHVVHO3UROL¿NVQDSSHGDSKR- WR WZR GRUVDO ¿QV RQH ODUJH and one small, rise above the water. 7KHFUHZRIWKH3UROL¿NVDLG the orcas swam close to the boat before moving on. Beasley said he thought the orcas were a calf and its mom. NOAA’s Northwest Fish- eries Science Center has been tracking members of the South- ern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) pods on the outer coast since Feb. 17, when a satellite tag was attached to orca L84, an adult male. Later in February, federal scientists spotted a newborn calf, L121, traveling with its mother, L94, west of Westport, Wash. NOAA’s most recent track- Photo courtesy of Clint Beasley This orca mother and calf were photographed two miles inside the Columbia River by a shrimper returning from a trip earlier this week. ing update on May 11 showed that the tagged orca was off the south entrance to Nootka Sound, midway up the west coast of Vancouver Island, after departing Long Beach Peninsu- la waters on May 4. Earlier this spring, the tagged orca made proving,” Borchert said. The growers were told they could resume normal opera- WILLAPA BAY, Wash. — tions. Though WDOH and the &RPPHUFLDO VKHOO¿VK JURZHUV in Willapa Bay can breathe a Washington Department of Fish sigh of relief: The threat of clo- and Wildlife will continue to sure has passed for now as levels PRQLWRUWKHED\VKHOO¿VKJURZ- of a harmful marine toxin con- ers likely don’t have to worry. “At least at this time in the tinue to drop in the bay. The Washington Department coastal bays, and at Willapa Bay, of Health closed all recreational it looks like situations have im- VKHOO¿VK KDUYHVWLQJ LQ :LOOD- proved,” Borchert said. The same could not be said pa Bay May 15 after detecting rising levels of domoic acid, for coastal beaches. a marine toxin produced by a species of marine diatom, a mi- High levels persist croorganism that has occasion- A recent sample at Long DOO\ EORRPHG LQ 1RUWK 3DFL¿F Beach, revealed levels of domoic waters since 1991. It can cause acid were at 57 parts per million. serious illness and even death in Last week, they had only been in humans. the mid-20s. At Twin Harbors, &RPPHUFLDO VKHOO¿VK KDU- levels were at 39 parts per mil- vesters, meanwhile, were put on lion, also an increase over previ- standby and advised not to sell ous samples. manila, or steamer, clams. The razor clam season will At the time, levels of domo- not be reopening and the bloom ic acid in manila clams in the could affect future digs. “Over the years we’ve bay were at 10 parts per million and rising quickly, according to learned that razor clams seem Jerry Borchert, marine biotoxin to be number one at picking up coordinator with WDOH. The this toxin and holding onto it,” department’s threshold is higher, Borchert said. 'DQ $\UHV FRDVWDO VKHOO¿VK at 20 parts per million. Monday, the heath depart- manager at WDFW, said he has ment sampled more clams and seen years where razor clams saw that the levels were begin- pick up the toxin in the fall and ning to drop. The highest level still have signs of it a year later. On May 13, WDFW an- was now only 7 parts per mil- nounced the closure of recre- lion. “We consider that holding ational and commercial razor steading and maybe slightly im- clam seasons on all coastal By KATIE WILSON EO Media Group close approaches to Cape Dis- appointment, but the satellite never showed him within the river itself. Aside from members of the three SRKW pods that primar- ily based themselves in Puget Sound, transient orcas also visit the mouth of the Columbia and its biologically rich plume that extends many miles into the Pa- FL¿F$WWKLVSRLQWLWLVXQNQRZQ whether the mother and calf photographed in the river this week are resident or transient killer whales. beaches in Washington. As of May 18, the Wash- ington Fish and Wildlife De- partment was beginning a stock assessment of razor clam popu- lations. The early closure of the commercial razor clam season affects some 60 license holders though only about half of these license holders dig seriously and WXUQDVPDOOSUR¿WDFFRUGLQJWR Ayres. “It’s small potatoes compared to coastal crab or pink shrimp,” Ayres said. Still, he added, the clams have been fetching high prices in recent years and, de- SHQGLQJRQWKHVHDVRQWKH¿VK- ery is comparable to salmon gillnet operations on Willapa Bay, bringing in several hundred thousand dollars a year. Other species razor clams with high levels of domoic acid. WDOH and WDFW will continue to monitor toxin lev- els along the coast and in the bays. When blooms occur in the ZLQWHU %RUFKHUW VD\V VKHOO¿VK tend to hold onto the domoic acid longer. One piece of possi- ble good news is that this bloom occurred during the spring. 6KHOO¿VK DUH FROGEORRG- ed. In the warmer spring water, their metabolisms are more ac- tive and with healthy, non-toxic algae blooms likely to follow, WDOH expects the oysters and clams (with the exception of ra- ]RUFODPVZLOOTXLFNO\¿OWHUWKH domoic acid out of their systems. But, Borchert cautioned, “it may still take some time.” In the days leading up to clo- sure of the razor clam season, levels of domoic acid were rising and both WDFW and Depart- ment of Health employees were beginning to look at other spe- cies, sampling oysters and other VKHOO¿VK LQ :LOODSD %D\ 7KH\ even tested Dungeness crab in the ocean, according to Ayres. “We have had issues with Dungeness crab in the past,” he said. “The only closure we’ve ever had with Dungeness crab occurred in 2002 in Willapa Bay only.” The assumption at the time was that the crab were accumu- lating toxin from feeding on many property owners in WKH ¿UH GLVWULFW VKRXOG VHH Property owners in premium reductions. Golightly said he has the Lewis and Clark Fire District should see a sig- worked on the ISO rating QL¿FDQW UHGXFWLRQ LQ WKHLU process for three years. insurance premiums after His work on reducing the WKH ¿UH GLVWULFW¶V UDWLQJ rate has included evalu- DWLRQ RI WKH ¿UH GHSDUW- dropped. Lewis and Clark Fire ment’s training and equip- and Rescue Chief Jeff ment, water supply, the Golightly said at the dispatch center and mutual monthly Board of Direc- aid agreements with neigh- tors meeting that the In- ERULQJ¿UHGHSDUWPHQWV *ROLJKWO\ DGYLVHV ¿UH VXUDQFH 6HUYLFHV 2I¿FH set the rating at 3/5, down district property owners to check with their in- from 7/8. Most insurance carriers surance agent to assure base business and home- they receive the proper owner rates on the ISO credit when their policies ratings, Golightly said, so renew. off the event, with the pre- sentations to follow . Pacifica Project, cele- brating its 23rd year, is “a service-learning program required of all graduating seniors,” according to a re- lease. Students can work indi- vidually or in small groups and are required to volun- Columbia Memorial to host car show fundraiser The Daily Astorian Columbia Memorial Hospital is hosting its first annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life Car Show fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 6 on the west side of the hospital campus. The event includes par- ticipants from area car clubs, including Lower Co- lumbia Classics, Beach Bar- ons and Clatskanie Cruis- ers, but is also open to other Relay for Life teams. Prizes will be awarded to the top three participants For online updates: www.dailyastorian.com Astoria, Oregon 2015 Tim May Josh Reynolds John Lawlor EZ Marc Jean Mann Prof Douglas Fraser Carl Allen ...and many others! WORKSHOPS for: tenor guitar mandolin & ukulele! Up to date details at: TenorGuitarFoundation.org * A Day & Evening of Tenor Guitars * Chicago tuning and ukulele day * Backstage Pass Concert * Tenor Guitar Luncheon * Playing on The Trolley * Play live on KMUN ..and more! teer approximately 50 hours of service for a community need, project or organiza- tion. The presentations give se- niors a chance to share testi- monials about their projects with the community. Seaside High School instructors and community judges score the presentations. CELEBRATING VETERANS CELEBRATING FREEDOM 201 4 RAM 15 00 SLT, Crew Ca b, 6’4” box, 5.7L H em i, 8-speed a u tom a tic Stock #394097 $ 34 , 846 * Weekend Raffle tickets will be sold for the chance to help fire Civil War cannons. FORT STEVENS STATE PARK HISTORIC AREA SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MAY 23 & 24 • 11AM-4PM Ft. Stevens State Park, Hammond, OR email: foofs@teleport.com Click on: www.visitfortstevens.com 1863 1947 OREGON’S DEFENDER $ 34 , 466 * MSRP $43,070 Lum’s Discount $8,604 Stock #395011 Stock #394053 SALE PRICE SALE PRICE $ 26 , 581 * MSRP $32,720 Lum’s Discount $6,139 $ 29 , 755 * MSRP $36,090 Lum’s Discount $6,335 201 4 DODGE DURANGO 201 4 DODGE CHARGER SXT R/T $ 32 , 722 * Vo ted 503-861-1470 Stock #394067 RW D , 5.7L H em i, 5-speed a u tom a tic AW D , 3.6L V6, 6-speed a u tom a tic AW D , 3.6L V8, 8-speed a u tom a tic Stock #394069 SALE PRICE SALE PRICE STEVEN RT S O F SLT, Crew Ca b, 5’7” box, 5.7L H em i, 8-speed a u tom a tic 201 4 DODGE CHARGER 201 4 DODGE JOURNEY R/T CROSSROAD Stock #394095 How do I get there? The Fort Stevens Historic Area entrance is approximately one mile north of the Fort Stevens State Park camping entrance on Ridge Road. Head west at the 4-way stop. F RIENDS OF O LD F ORT S TEVENS , I NC . MSRP $43,440 Lum’s Discount $8,594 AW D , 5.7L H em i, 5-speed a u tom a tic PARK HOURS 8AM-6PM 201 4 RAM 15 00 SALE PRICE SALE PRICE Follow the Old Soldiers Trail and learn the story of Fort Stevens the Defender at the River of the West. in a viewer’s choice award, and 94.3 Hits FM will be on site to provide musical en- tertainment. Car show registration forms are available at Lum’s, Ocean Crest and O’Reilly’s Auto Parts in Warrenton, and Napa Auto Parts in Astoria. The en- trance fee is $30 per vehicle or Relay for Life team par- ticipant, and checks should be made payable to the American Cancer Society/ Relay for Life. For information about the event, contact Ivan Sul- tan at 503-338-4005. th 6HDVLGH+LJKVKRZFDVHV3DFL¿FD3URMHFWV Seaside High Schoolhosts its annual Pacifica Project presentations 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Seaside Civic and Convention Cen- ter. The public is invited to attend to support the gradu- ating class of 2015. A keynote session kicks Lewis and Clark Fire District insurance premiums drop The Daily Astorian 6KHOO¿VKWR[LQOHYHOVGURSLQ:LOODSD%D\ The Daily Astorian 3A BEST H IP RS C AR D EA LE E VERY Y EA R MSRP $38,280 Lum’s Discount $5,558 $ 30 , 382 * MSRP $33,390 Lum’s Discount $3,008 888-488-4260 www.lumsautocenter.com 1605 SE Ensign Ln Warrenton *Special APR financing is not available on all models — ask dealer if your model qualifies. Consumer cash rebates do not apply when 0.0% financing is chosen. Bonus Cash rebates do not apply when 0.0% APR financing for 72 months is selected. O.A.C. through Chrysler Capital. Special pr ice does not include $75 doc. title, registration and tax, if applicable. Lum’s discounts and manufacturer’s’ incentives may vary by model. See Lum’s Auto Center for complete details. Subjec t to prior sale. Offers end 5/31/15.