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Welcome to the ECO Net News Bulletin!
ECO Net NEWS is an e-newsletter that updates ECO Net members with announcements on current events. If you have events that you would like to see here in the future, please e-mail me a descriptive, one-sentence blurb (with headline, date, time, location and a link to more information).

News for June 2009

E-mail Subscription for ECO Net Blog
Keep up to date with posts from Kristen Cooley, Education and Outreach Manager for the Puget Sound Partnership. Now you can subscribe to receive e-mail updates when new information is posted! Visit http://pspeconet.blogspot.com/

Opportunity to Participate in Orca Awareness Month, June 2009
For the 3nd year, Governor Christine Gregoire has signed a proclamation declaring June as "Orca Awareness Month," to focus attention on the plight of the fragile Southern Resident Community of orcas, to honor their presence in our waters, and to speed up efforts to recover the population. The Southern Resident orcas were listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act in November 2005.

Orca Network invites organizations and businesses around the state to sponsor special events, presentations, promotions or educational programs during June, to increase awareness about the Southern Resident orcas. Orca Network especially encourages participation by businesses who can reach out to the general public to raise awareness about our special but endangered whale neighbors. Most people love the whales, but don't realize the serious problems faced by our local orca population.

If you would like to be a partner in Orca Month 2009, please send your organization name, contact information, web site, and how you will be participating in Orca Month to info@orcanetwork.org.

For more information visit www.OrcaMonth.org website.

The text of the proclamation can be viewed on our website at: http://www.orcanetwork.org/news/imagesnews/2009.Gov.Proclamation.pdf

Volunteers Needed for Stream Health Monitoring in Puget Sound
June 2: 6 to 8 p.m., Washington State Department of Ecology Headquarters,
              300 Desmond Drive S.E., Lacey
June 6: 10 a.m. to noon, Washington State Department of Ecology Northwest
               Regional Office, 3190 - 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue
June 9: 6 to 8 p.m., Cascades Job Corps Center, 7782 Northern State Road,
              Sedro Woolley
Volunteers are needed to place and retrieve temperature sensors in streams around Puget Sound. Volunteers will also have the opportunity to accompany Department of Ecology scientists on surveys of stream insects at these locations during the summer field season.
For more information and to sign up for a training session, please contact the following person in your area:

For more information about the stream monitoring program, please contact Maggie Bell-McKinnon, Washington State Department of Ecology at 360.407.6124 or mbel461@ecy.wa.gov

Calling All Informal Educators!
June 4: 8:30 a.m. to noon, Pacific Science Center, 200 Second Ave. N., Seattle
The Pacific Science Center invites you to attend a three-hour interactive professional development session on investigating the new and revised science standards with Mary McClellan, the science director from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Experience first-hand the cross-cutting "big ideas" of systems, inquiry and application, and the major domains of science. Bring a fully developed student lesson plan to examine and determine which cross-cutting ideas and domains are being taught.
For more information contact Sarah Weagraff at 206.443.2886 or sarah_Weagraff@pacsci.org or Sonia Vexler at 206.443.2903 or sonia_siegelvexler@pacsci.org.

Freeland Park Rain Garden Workshop & Planting Day
June 4: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Freeland Park, 1535 E. Shoreview Avenue, Freeland
Learn about rain gardens and help install them in your park! Please join the Whidbey Island Conservation District, Island County Planning and Community Development, Parks, and Public Works in helping to clean up Holmes Harbor with new rain gardens.
To learn more contact Stacy Smith at 360.678.4708 or stacy@whidbeycd.org

Sea Cinema Film Festival
June 5-6: 5 to 7 p.m., Capitol Theater, 416 Washington St. S.E., Olympia
The Olympia Film Society and People For Puget Sound are sponsoring a two-day SEA CINEMA festival at the Capitol Theater in Olympia. Films include: Shallow Seas, produced by the BBC Natural History Unit; Pacific Horizons, winner of the best adventure film for sea kayaking; Musica Surfica, a film about classical music and surfing; Attack of the Sea Slug; Protecting New Orleans, Saving Venice; and A Sea Change, a film about ocean acidification.
To learn more visit pugetsound.org/events/seacinema/

People for Puget Sound Art Show and Reception
June 6: 5 to 7 p.m., La Conner Sea Side Gallery, 112 Morris St., Suite A, La Conner
The showing will include works by professional artists and local contest participants. The show’s theme is celebrating the beauty of Puget Sound and actions taken to restore it to health.
RSVP by June 3 to Ann Butler at abutler@pugetsound.org or 360.754.9177, or leave a voice mail at the gallery at 360.466.5141 with your name and number of guests you'll be bringing.

ORCA MONTH EVENT
World Ocean Celebration at the Seattle Aquarium
June 6-7: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Seattle Aquarium, 1483 Alaskan Way
Join the Seattle Aquarium in celebration of World Ocean Day with a whole weekend of special talks and activities about seals. Special talks and activities will help us understand why seals are important to the ocean, and how even the things we do on land can affect seals – especially our local harbor seals.
To learn more visit www.seattleaquarium.org

ORCA MONTH EVENT
Open House and Fundraiser for The Whale Trail
June 7: 4 p.m., Alki Beach Bathhouse, 2701 Alki Ave. S.W., Seattle
June is orca month in Washington! Help us celebrate by attending an Open House and fundraiser for The Whale Trail at the Alki Beach Bathhouse in Seattle.
To learn more visit www.thewhaletrail.org

World Ocean Day presented by Marine Science and Technology Center (MaST)
June 8: 10 a.m., Redondo Beach
The event is a celebration of the awareness of the fragility of the ocean and contributing waterways. The event will feature divers with a live video-audio feed so participants can learn about the ecosystem.
To learn more about MaST programs visit http://flightline.highline.edu/mast/index.htm

NOAA's Ocean Education Grants for AZA Aquariums
Applications due: June 9
The NOAA Office of Education has issued a request for applications to support education projects designed to engage the public in activities that increase ocean and/or climate literacy and the adoption of a stewardship ethic. Funded projects will be between one and five years in duration and will support ocean education projects led by eligible applicants. Eligible applicants are only 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that are either (1) aquaria accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) or (2) have a legally sanctioned affiliation with an AZA-accredited aquarium. Organizations that do not meet these eligibility criteria are allowed to be partners on projects with the eligible applicant as the lead institution.
To learn more visit http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html

Rain Garden Installation Workshop
June 19-20: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., St. Mary's Church, 620 - 20th Ave. S., Seattle
Help Stewardship Partners build rain gardens at a free hands-on workshop. Learn how rain gardens help soak up rainwater from downspouts, driveways, and sidewalks, while protecting our local waterways.
To learn more e-mail ba@stewardshippartners.org or call 206.292.9875 or visit www.stewardshippartners.org/raingarden_workshops.html

What Is the State of Your Oyster?
June 21: 10:24 a.m., Select locations in Union and Belfair
July 19: 9:15 a.m., Select locations in Union and Belfair
Aug. 16: 7:55 a.m., Select locations in Union and Belfair
Washington Sea Grant (WSG) continues its State of the Oyster Study this summer, inviting volunteers to monitor bacterial contamination on privately owned beaches on Hood Canal and Puget Sound. WSG will arrange for laboratory testing of the samples, which will be analyzed for the presence of harmful bacterial and bacterial indicators of fecal contamination. WSG will then help participants interpret their test results and, if needed, work closely with them to identify and remedy the sources of contamination.
To participate, waterfront property owners need to fill out and mail in the form available on the WSG Web site at http://www.wsg.washington.edu/mas/resources/shellfish.html

ORCA MONTH EVENT
Orca Sing: 11th Annual "Singing To The Whales" Celebration
June 20: 6 to 8 p.m., Lime Kiln State Park, San Juan Island
Celebrate our local orca whales and commit yourself to working for their recovery to health. Learn about the health of Puget Sound, the local orca populations and their role in the ecosystem, and about local environmental resources.
To learn more visit www.pugetsound.org

Estuary Education Teacher Workshop At Padilla Bay Reserve
June 24: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Padilla Bay Reserve, 10441 Bay View-Edison Rd, Mount Vernon
Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve offers free estuary education to teachers in grades K to 3. Registration forms must be received before June 1.
To learn more contact Glen Alexander, 360.428.1558, alex@padillabay.gov, or visit http://www.padillabay.gov

Upcoming Summer Kayak Tours of the Lower Duwamish River
July 6: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
July 20: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
August 3: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
August 17: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
August 31: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
September 14: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
See the river up close and view habitat restoration areas, ongoing Superfund cleanup sites, riverfront neighborhoods, and wildlife! These two-hour kayak tours of the Lower Duwamish are limited to 20 people.
Cost is $45/person per tour; includes all equipment, gear and instructions. Scholarships available by contacting the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition at contact@duwamishcleanup.org If you have your own kayak, you are welcome to join us, but please RSVP to Alki Kayak Tours to hold your space on the tour:
For more information visit http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/getinvolved.html#boattours

Feasibility Study (aka River Cleanup Options) DRAFT
The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition’s technical team is currently reviewing the DRAFT Feasibility Study, which will determine where and how thoroughly the river will be cleaned up of its contaminated sediments.
To learn more visit http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/superfund.html#FS

PBS Frontline: ‘Poisoned Waters’
More than three decades after the Clean Water Act, two iconic waterways—the great coastal estuaries Puget Sound and the Chesapeake Bay—are in perilous condition. Pulitzer Prize-winning Frontline correspondent Hedrick Smith examines the rising hazards to human health and the ecosystem, and why it’s so hard to keep our waters clean.
Watch the full program online at www.pbs.org/frontline/poisonedwaters

1,000 copies of "Poisoned Waters" will be available after June 30 for local groups to host viewing events. If you are interested in hosting an event in your area, please visit http://www.psp.wa.gov/poisonedwaters.php for more information.

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