Today marks the fourth cephalopod fatality I've witnessed in a year. I find it pretty odd given I haven't even seen a sign of one for the previous 5 years we've lived here. 

The latest victim was found today as we were walking along Emma Schmitz Memorial View Point

When searching the web for the arch enemy of the Puget Sound octopus, I found this revealing clip of a wrestling match between a seal vs octopus

or could it be the work of…

Skin Diver Magazine, Puget Sound

Scupper, for Beach Drive Blog

After returning home from a great Thanksgiving feast at my parents home in Seahurst, I decided to take a peak out at one of the lowest tides of the year and spotted this out on the beach just north of the "Rock Pile"

Of course I had to get a closer look and snapped a few more photos for the BDB.

Hoping Black Friday's ultra low tide won't be bearing anymore cephalopod gifts!

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog

We could be in for some weather today so I thought I'd share the forecast I'm checking out. 

Puget Sound Marine:

…GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…

TODAY…S WIND 15 TO 25 KT RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT…BUILDING TO 5 TO 7 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN DEVELOPING THEN TURNING TO SHOWERS LATE.

TONIGHT…SW WIND 25 TO 35 KT…EASING TO 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 6 FT SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT LATE. SHOWERS.

City of Seattle:

REST OF TODAY…WINDY. RAIN DEVELOPING. HIGHS IN THE 40S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 45 MPH THIS AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT…BREEZY. RAIN IN THE EARLY EVENING…THEN SHOWERS LIKELY. LOWS IN THE 30S. SOUTHWEST WIND 15 TO 25 MPH.

We continue to have very high tides along with extreme lows:

Thursday, November 24: 

• 9:36 am: 6.71 ft
• 2:49 pm: 12.26 ft
• 9:56 pm: -3.24 ft

Friday, November 25: 

• 5:18 am: 12.33 ft
• 10.32 am: 7.04 ft
• 3:33 pm: 12.05 ft
• 10:41 pm: -3.57 ft

We wish you have a very happy, warm and safe Thanksgiving, from our family to yours!

Earlier we reported how a fishing net with buoys washed upon the rockery at Emma Schmitz View Point.  The Department of Fisheries were notified however it appears that nobody was sent out to remove what could have harmed sealife until today.

A good neighbor was spotted pulling what is left of the nets from the rocks.

The Department of Fisheries has been notified about this empty net that have washed up on the rocks this morning. Upon taking a closer look, their did not appear to be any marine life caught up in the nets but you have to wonder what may have been caught up on it's journey to the shore.   

My wife spotted this set of fishing buoys during her routine AM dog walk.

Scupper reporting for Beach Drive Blog 

Our heartfelt gratitude to those who have served our Country and their families.

As I was walking our dog this morning, four UW vans pulled up along Emma Schmitz view-point. At least twenty students poured out with cameras and notebooks trying to capture some evidence of our local section of the Seattle Fault.

With the tide half way up, there wasn't much to look at except for the tops of a few boulders exposed to the rising tide… or were these actually "Spirit Boulders" left by the devastating landslides and earthquakes reported to hit this area in A.D. 900? A little research discovered that our native predecessors believed in a vicious guardian spirit named a'yahos (also referred to as Psai-Yah-hus) that appeared in this area and was associated with the existence of the infamous Spirit Boulder in Fauntleroy cove.

Could this be the same sea-creature my neighbor Eddy claimed to have hooked with a Buzz Bomb lure???

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog 

I received this email today from a Beach Drive neighbor, Tonya, who also sent this to others in media and local news organizations.  She asked that I post this to share with fellow neighbors who are also upset about the potential loss of our only bus service on Beach Drive.

Hello –
I am extremely disturbed by the idea of cutting Route 37. Do you understand the amount of taxes we pay just for living on that street? It’s bad enough it’s the most anemic route in Seattle and there is NO weekend service but now you want to cut it altogether?

There is also a sizable elderly community that rely on that bus for their sole transportation. Is it fair they would have to walk ½ mile perhaps in the snow to get to the nearest bus?

I take that bus every day to work and back. 

And so do the majority of my neighbors – who also vote and pay taxes. Please take the time and explain to me why you find this decision beneficial to the taxpayers of Beach Drive.

We are encouraged to live “green” and this proposal flies in the face of what Seattle is supposed to stand for.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you, 

– – –
Tonya C. Osborne

Tonight from 7:00 – 9:00 pm there is a meeting at the South Seattle Community College, 6000 – 16th Ave SW, President's Board Room to address Metro's changes to our transit system.

After tonight, the next public meeting for West Seattle with King County Metro is on November 17, 2011 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Madison Middle School.

I counted at least six boats making sets for the chum salmon run yesterday. It's pretty interesting seeing how these boats operate the nets. The following shots were taken as the sun was just coming over the hill…

The days and times for this type of fishing is a moving target set by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife . Purse seiners had the green light for areas 10 and 11 (Seattle/Tacoma) between 7:00AM to 6:00PM.

How many movies can you count where an "incurable disease" threatens the worlds population? No worries if you can't think of any off-hand… they're still making them! 

Unfortunately, this old plot is a bit too close to home for our local Puget Sound salmon runs. Recent news has reported a sample of wild Sockeye in British Columbia have contracted a European strain of Salmon Anemia. Which of course, is non-curable.This fish flu has historically only affected (devastated) the Atlantic Salmon farms in Norway, Scotland, Chile, and Eastern Canada but has never shown up on the Pacific side of the world… until now. 

Like me, you may be asking what Atlantic Salmon are doing in the Pacific mixing with our own superior wild salmon species? Well, our northerly neighbors in British Columbia have been farming the Atlantic species for years now, buying the eggs from Norway (just like Chile did). Then it dawned on me that we have some aquatic salmon pens about 5 miles west of Beach Drive just inside the southern tip of Bainbridge Island inside Rich Passage.

I've motored over to the pens a few times each summer showing guests salmon splashing around and the seals begging a few get loose.  A little research revealed: "Oly Yump'n yalmon!" those are Atlantic Salmon being farmed by American Gold Seafood for buyers such as Whole Foods who sells the fish outside our local market area (it's a "socially sensitive subject" in these parts). American Gold Seafood owns and operates over 120 salmon pens in Washington waters with this villian fish yet claim superior farming methods as compared to other competing sites. They have not detected the virus.  

We've recently noticed the UW research vessel Thomas G Thompson snooping around between Beach Drive and Blake Island wondering if they're probing some of our friendly salmon or herring in their floating laboratory (place dramatic sci-fi music here).

 Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog