4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016
Ocean ‘robot’ to help identity
toxic algae off Washington state
Toxic bloom closed
shellish isheries
By PHUONG LE
Associated Press
SEATTLE — After a massive toxic algae
bloom closed lucrative shellish isheries off
the West Coast last year, scientists are turn-
ing to a new tool that could provide an early
warning of future problems.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration and the Uni-
versity of Washington last week deployed
the so-called ocean robot about 50 feet into
waters off the coast of La Push, Washington,
near a known hotspot for toxic algae blooms.
The tool, dubbed “a laboratory in a can,”
will remain in the water until mid-July, pro-
viding real-time measurements about the
concentrations of six species of microscopic
algae and toxins they produce, including
domoic acid.
The instrument is equipped with sensors
and cellular modems that will allow it to take
water samples and send that information to
shore three times a week for the next several
weeks. Scientists plan to deploy it again in the
fall, another critical time for harmful algae
blooms.
Last year, dangerous levels of domoic
acid were found in shellish and prompted
California, Washington state and Oregon to
delay its coastal Dungeness crabbing season.
Washington state and Oregon also canceled
razor clam digs for much of the year.
The domoic acid was produced by micro-
scopic algae that lourished during the sum-
mer amid unusually warm Paciic Ocean
temperatures. The massive algae bloom pro-
duced some of the highest concentrations of
domoic acid observed along some parts of the
West Coast.
Shellish managers, public health ofi-
cials, coastal tribes and others will be able to
access the algae data and get advanced warn-
ing of toxic algae blooms off the Washington
coast before they move to the coastline and
contaminate shellish.
Domoic acid is harmful to people, ish
and marine life. It accumulates in shellish,
anchovies and other small ish that eat the
algae.
Stephanie Moore, NOAA via AP
An automated laboratory that will analyze seawater for al-
gae species and toxins is lowered by researchers into the
Pacific about 13 miles from La Push, Wash., in May.
Dead whale
found on
bow of
cruise ship
By DAN JOLING
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — A vet-
erinary pathologist worked to
determine what killed a juve-
nile in whale discovered on the
bow of a cruise ship entering an
Alaska port.
The cause of death was not
immediately apparent for the
endangered whale spotted just
after 5 a.m. Sunday on the bul-
bous bow of the Zaandam, a
Holland America Line cruise
ship, as it prepared to dock in
Seward.
The carcass was towed to a
beach near Seward, a spokes-
woman for the isheries sec-
tion of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration,
Julie Speegle, said Monday.
The veterinary pathologist,
Kathy Burek, began a necropsy
Sunday night and planned to
continue Monday, with armed
NOAA Fisheries law enforce-
ment oficers standing guard
against bears, Speegle said.
The bulbous bow is an exten-
sion of the main bow. It rides
under the water and is designed
to avoid wave-making.
A whale on the bulbous bow
may not be the result of a ship
strike, Speegle said. It could
have been already dead in the
water and caught by the device.
“That’s something, hope-
fully, the necropsy will deter-
mine,” Speegle said.
The whale was not seen on
the bulbous bow a half-hour ear-
lier, Sally Andrews, a spokes-
woman for Holland Amer-
ica, said in an email. An oficer
had been preparing the ship for
arrival just after 4:30 a.m. and
did not see a whale, she said.
The company is saddened by
the event, Andrews said. Hol-
land America has a compre-
hensive program to avoid strik-
ing whales and was not aware of
whales in the area.
“Our ships have clear guide-
lines on how to operate if whales
are sighted nearby, which
include altering course and
reducing speed as required,” she
said.
The Zaandam is scheduled
to stop in Astoria in late Septem-
ber. Fin whales feed on school-
ing ish and invertebrates by
gulping large swarms of them
while swimming on their sides,
according to the Alaska Depart-
ment of Fish and Game.
Fin whales were decimated
by commercial whalers in the
1800s and early 1900s. The
average adult male is 70 feet
long and 45 tons. Adult females
average 73 feet and 45 tons.
The dead male juvenile was
considerably smaller, but Spee-
gle did not have its dimensions.
Last year 10 in whales
were among 18 endangered
whales whose carcasses were
found loating near Alaska’s
Kodiak Island between Memo-
rial Day Weekend and early
July. The others were hump-
back whales.
Scientists speculated that the
animals might have eaten some-
thing toxic in warmer-than-av-
erage water. That investigation
was hampered because some
of the whales had signiicantly
decomposed before they were
found.
The dead whale found on the
cruise ship will be tested, Spee-
gle said. “We are taking sam-
ples for harmful algal blooms,”
she said.
clip or CLICK!
Valid 5/31/16 thru 6/7/16
®
10 OFF
$
50 or
more
$
*
Save on your next grocery purchase of $50 or more *
with your Safeway Club Card and this Savings Award.
*Use this Savings Award on any shopping trip you choose at any Oregon Safeway store and S.W.
Washington stores serving Clark, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Skamania, Walla Walla and Klickitat
counties by 6/7/16. This $10.00 Savings Award excludes purchases of Alcoholic Beverages, Fluid Dairy
Products, Tobacco, US Postage Stamps, Trimet Bus/Commuter Passes, Money Orders, Container
Deposits, Lottery, Gift Cards, Gift Certificates Sales, All Pharmacy Prescription Purchases, Safeway
Club Savings, Safeway Store Coupons and Sales Tax. One Savings Award redeemable per household.
COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED. Online and in-store prices, discounts, and offers may differ.
clip or CLICK!
®
clip or CLICK!
Valid 6/1/16 thru 6/7/16
®
clip or CLICK!
Valid 6/1/16 thru 6/7/16
®
Valid 6/1/16 thru 6/7/16
Oven Joy Bread
Signature ® Home
Bath Tissue
30-rolls. Family Pack.
12
22-oz. White or Wheat.
Selected varieties.
99
¢
99
ea
WITH CARD AND COUPON
Limit
2
ea
WITH CARD AND COUPON
This coupon must be presented at time
of purchase. Offer Valid with Card and
Coupon. COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED.
Coupon valid thru 6/7/16.
This coupon must be presented at time
of purchase. Offer Valid with Card and
Coupon. COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED.
Coupon valid thru 6/7/16.
clip or CLICK!
®
clip or CLICK!
Valid 6/1/16 thru 6/7/16
79
Fresh Foster Farms
Whole Fryers
lb
WITH CARD AND COUPON
Limit 4 Chickens.
Limit
2
®
Sign up at safeway.com
Get free offers and
personalized deals
99
ea
WITH CARD AND COUPON
32-oz. Selected varieties.
This coupon must be presented at time
of purchase. Offer Valid with Card and
Coupon. COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED.
Coupon valid thru 6/7/16.
®
Valid 6/1/16 thru 6/7/16
5
2 $
This coupon must be presented at time
of purchase. Offer Valid with Card and
Coupon. COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED.
Coupon valid thru 6/7/16.
This coupon must be presented at time
of purchase. Offer Valid with Card and
Coupon. COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED.
Coupon valid thru 6/7/16.
Lucerne ® Chunk or
Shredded Cheese
clip or CLICK!
®
Tuscan
Melons
¢
Limit
4
4
Limit
4
for
WITH CARD AND COUPON
8-Piece Dark Chicken
Grilled or Fried.
4 Legs and 4 Thighs.
Valid 6/1/16 thru 6/7/16
5
$
ea
WITH CARD AND COUPON
This coupon must be presented at time
of purchase. Offer Valid with Card and
Coupon. COUPON CANNOT BE DOUBLED.
Coupon valid thru 6/7/16.
Add coupons online
or with our App
Create a digital
shopping list
or download the Safeway App
Help a Family in Need
Purchase Hunger Bags at the register to provide essential
items to the Oregon Food Bank for local families.
June 1 – June 28
Prices in this ad are effective 6 AM Wednesday, June 1, 2016 thru Tuesday, June 7, 2016 (unless otherwise noted) in all Safeway stores in Oregon and S.W. Washington stores serving Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, Walla Walla and
Klickitat Counties. Items offered for sale are not available to other dealers or wholesalers. Sales of products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine limited by law. Quantity rights reserved. SOME ADVERTISING
ITEMS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALL STORES. Some advertised prices may be even lower in some stores. On Buy One, Get One Free (“BOGO”) offers, customer must purchase the i rst item to receive the second item free. BOGO offers are
not 1/2 price sales. If only a single item purchased, the regular price applies. Manufacturers’ coupons may be used on purchased items only — not on free items. Limit one coupon per purchased item. Customer will be responsible for tax and
deposits as required by law on the purchased and free items. No liquor sales in excess of 52 gallons. No liquor sales for resale. Liquor sales at licensed Safeway stores only. © 2015 Safeway Inc. Availability of items may vary by store. Online
and In-store prices, discounts and offers may differ.
PG 1,P1,P2
060116_DailyAstorian_8.722x17_P1