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WEDNESDAY, October 21, 2015 VOL. 48, NO. 42 75¢ islandssounder.com
Teetering on the edge of extinction Real The basking shark estate is now a rare sight in local waters update by CALI BAGBY Journal editor
With a massive body and a mouth that emerges from the deep blue like a man-made dungeon cell, the basking shark resembles a great and terrible monster. But this is an animal whose terror resides only in its appearance. This harmless creature floats through the water with its mouth agape under a bulbous nose feeding mainly on plankton. It is only its size and the industry of man that has brought the basking shark from an abundant population to the brink of extinction. Twenty years ago kayakers and boaters in the Salish Sea would have had a chance to see a fairly common dorsal fin that did not belong to a whale. The basking shark, who is named for “sunning”
SEE BASKING, PAGE 5
by ANNA V. SMITH Journal reporter
Florian Graner/Staff Photo
A basking shark from the book “The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest” by Joe Gaydos and Audrey Benedict.
WSF: reservations are here to stay by KATHRYN N. BARNARD Sounder correspondent
Washington State Ferries made rounds to all the islands last week to preview results of the reservation system that debuted this year. The numbers are preliminary, but WSF representatives said at an Orcas town hall meeting on Oct. 15 that ridership from this year increased by 3.2 percent overall, even with the loss of one vessel in early spring, which reduced potential riders by approximately 18 percent. Use of the ferry reservation system accounted for 59 percent of riders in February and continued to increase to 83 percent by the end of August. There was also an increase of 5.2 percent in passengers. It is possibly because the reservation system makes some believe they have to make a reservation to get on the ferry, so when they cannot get a reservation they decide to walk on instead. This issue was addressed by Reservations Program Manager
Brian Churchwell, who stated that the 10 percent standby spots for vehicles may not be enough to reduce the risk some feel when they cannot make a reservation but urged people who can arrive early to utilize these spots. This is one of the changes that was brought before residents at the meeting. In San Juan County, 56 percent of the respondents of the voluntary survey sent to reservation system users stated they were satisfied with the reservation program. As in earlier reports by the Sounder, the reservation system is not going away; the legislative directive being to make better use of resources and shift vehicle traffic to under-utilized sailings. Director of Community Services and Planning Kristina Arsenault said responses to the survey are being taken seriously. Based on feedback, 7 percent of the reservations are not used, taking space away from those wanting to make reservations. Then,
because the standby option is perceived as a risk, vessels are sailing with space left. Attendees said that one part of the perceived risk would be mitigated if ferry workers were able to state how many spaces in standby were available with confidence. Reservations not used within the day have been linked to those making “insurance” reservations and willing to forgo the $10 noshow fee by making multiple reservations for their trip and not cancelling them before 5 p.m. the day before the scheduled sailing. In order to reduce this unpredictability and make the reservation system work better for the local community and the tourists, three issues and options were put on the table. • Change the no-show fee from $10 to $15 or even charge the full fare ($26.85 to Orcas Island from Anacortes). • Change the cancellation policy from 5 p.m. the day before to a sliding incentive policy where
cancelling two days ahead would have no charge and the charge would increase as one gets closer to the sailing time. • The biggest complaint, it seemed, was on the tiered release. Complaints included: too complex, unable to meet demand, cannot make a round-trip, 7 a.m. is too early and stressful to be waiting online or on the phone for the release. The call center has seen a 95 percent call increase, resulting in increased wait time on the phone. Many options were presented, including the current release of 30 percent, 2 months; 30 percent, 2, weeks; 30 percent, 2 days and 10 percent standby as well as a new scenario of 20 percent standby (to lower the risk if unable to make a reservation) and 80 percent released two months prior. Concerns with the latter are that the tourists would take up all the reservations in May and June
SEE WSF, PAGE 5
The median price of residential and condominium listings in San Juan County have gone up since 2014, according to a report by Northwest Multiple Listing Service. This year’s yearto-date median price is listed at $695,000, up from $639,000 in 2014. Although median price was up, overall number of listings was down. For San Juan Island, the number of total active listings for the yearto-date was lower than in 2014, although the median price was up to $688,000 so far this year compared to last year’s median price at $620,000. According to Merri Ann Simonson’s real estate summary, the number of transactions this year is down 6 percent compared to the same period in 2014. “This decrease is attributed to the higher number of high-end sales that have occurred this year,”
SEE PROPERTY, PAGE 2
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