Sports
Soccer team puts up points, back on track page 10
Island Scene
Guest Column
Spirits rise and fall in SJCT’s ‘The Crucible’
Breast Cancer Awareness Month; resolve in the ‘race for the cure’ has never been stronger
page 11
page 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, October 3, 2012 Vol. 105 Issue 40
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Tattoo artist shines in national debate Monument supporters bare their beliefs By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Party hats? Nope, not really. A pair of Harbor seals released by Wolf Hollow, Saturday, Sept. 29, sport identification caps that will be used to track their movements. A strong adhesive keeps the caps in place, until they fall off.
Back where they belong
Wolf Hollow perfect in 2012 Harbor seal rehab, 10-for-10 By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
Two of the four showed no hesitation at all. They dove directly into the waters of San Juan Island’s Shipyard Harbor and zipped across the calm, cool, shallow bay like they were headed for home. The other two? Not so much. Four once-ailing and now rejuvenated pups were released back into the wild by Wolf Hollow Rehabilitation Center, Saturday, and the event proved an intriguing reminder that not even all Harbor seals are created equal. “I think basically what you’re seeing is a bit of confusion on their part,” Wolf Hollow education coordinator Shona Aitken said of the two more seemingly timid pups. “The saltwater and location might seem really foreign and they’re saying ‘I’m sticking with you.” Still, Merlin and Remy – all four pups were named after Disney movie characters – appeared to gain confidence in their new surroundings and after 20 minutes or so slowly ventured out together into the bay, following the lead of Eema
and Kovu before them. With their departure, Wolf Hollow successfully rehabilitated and released all ten seal pups it treated in 2012. The last four were all just days old when they were recovered by the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network in late July. Three were in poor health, underweight, dehydrated and weak, when their convalescence at Wolf Hollow began. All four were found on local beaches, two on Lopez and one each on Orcas and San Juan, and apparently abandoned. Each gained more than 40 pounds during two months of rehab and, once they were strong enough to dive, were repeatedly given the all-important practice of hunting live prey in the confines of the wildlife rehab center’s diving pool. “They have the instinct to chase but they get a little confused what to do once they catch a live fish,” Aitken said. “They just need a little practice.” Along with their Disney names, Eema, Kovu, Merlin and Remy were outfitted with colorful caps, modestly sized, for identification and for tracking their movements, at least temporarily. The caps are attached to the pups’ head with a strong adhesive. Aitken said the caps are an experiment this year in tracking and less costly than global-positioning-satellite tags. For more on Wolf Hollow, visit, http://wolfhollowwildlife.org/
Local tattoo artist Michael Justiss doesn’t usually get involved much in politics, but when environmental activist Hannah Clark proposed that he design a tattoo in support of creating a local National Monument, he didn’t hesitate to say, “Yes!” U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell started the ball rolling when she told voters at the San Juan County Fair in August that the only thing she had not done to support designation of local federally-owned lands as a National Monument was to get a tattoo to show the president. Local environmentalists picked up on the Journal story and asked Friday Harbor tattoo artist Justiss to design a temporary tattoo in support of the idea. Justiss said he was “thrilled” to be asked, saying, “I’m absolutely in favor of anything to enhance our local environment, and if my design helps get it done, I’m very happy.” Cantwell and local Congressman Rick Larsen (D-Everett) had previously introduced legislation in Congress to designate about a thousand acres of land scattered through the San Juans as a National Conservation Area, but the bill stalled in Congress, leading them to ask President Obama to declare the lands as a National Monument by executive order under the Antiquities Act. “Senator Cantwell has been a champion for the people across Washington State who want to see these unmatched small islands, bluffs, lighthouses and habitat lands in the San Juan Islands protected forever. She’s done everything but ‘get a tattoo’ — so hun-
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Contributed photo
Body art finds a role in political debate.
dreds of Washingtonians this week are joining her to ‘ink’ their support See TATTOO, Page 4
Passages Gary Smith 1951 – 2012. Obituaries, see page 18.