We started the week with Wetlands Day, and some very high tides - check out these pictures from Olympia! Speaking of, the Olympic torch is traveling by canoe on its way to Vancouver. We've had such a warm winter, I understand they are trucking in snow for the Games. (Though Douglas Copeland suggests potato flakes.)

State of the Sound

South of the border, the Puget Sound Partnership has released an interim State of the Sound report, giving mixed reviews to restoration efforts, and getting mixed reviews (nothing new, I suppose). The job's just going to get tougher, too, as federal funding for Puget Sound cleanup has been cut by 60%. (You can still donate.) Meanwhile, they're still negotiating the details of the industry takeover of the Neah Bay tug, and Chris Dunagan wonders if it will be on schedule.

Don't you know that you're toxic?

All the chemicals we worry about in Puget Sound also end up in your body, as Seattle mom Molly Gray found. Toxics are just not as sexy as Britney Spears might lead you to think, and there's a proposal to increase Washington's tax on hazardous chemicals. The petroleum industry has taken the opportunity to, umm, do math poorly. You can always learn more about toxics from our friends at the Washington Toxics Coalition, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families has put together a quiz to see what toxic you are. Turns out I have a lot in common with flame retardants...

To balance out a mention of Britney Spears, let me present to you the Australian blobfish, and Puget Sound's own Wolf Eel. Don't worry, we have attractive things too, like Marrowstone Island.

image 'water's edge' from flickr user zenobia_joy via creative commons.