Thursday
Caught on a kayak
Hoping for rain, as the grass is looking dry B10
Edmonds man catches 124-pound halibut B1
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS May 26, 2016 | 75¢
Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
Clinton, Gray whale’s body Trump are goes for science, study popular in primary Democrats go for Sanders in Jefferson PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump had few detractors while Hillary Clinton outpolled Bernie Sanders statewide — the opposite of the Democratic caucus results — for the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s presidential primary. Sanders was tops in Jefferson County but came in second with Clallam County Democrats. Results of the $11.5 million primary will be ignored by the state Democratic Party, which has apportioned delegates based on the March 26 caucuses, in which most of the Clinton state’s delegates went to Sanders. And although Republicans use the primary to determine delegate affiliations, Trump was the only candidate left in the race for the nomination after Ted Cruz dropped out earlier this month. Trump was the big GOP winner in initial counts of Trump primary ballots. The state total as of Wednesday evening in the all-mail election was 387,566 votes, or 76.05 percent, for Trump; 52,377 votes, or 10.28 percent, for Cruz; 50,113 votes, or 9.83 percent, for John Kasich; and 19,578 votes, or 3.84 percent, for Ben Carson. The Peninsula GOP breakdown, as of Tuesday, was as follows: ■ Clallam County: 6,715 votes, or 78.1 percent, for Trump; 798 votes, or 9.28 percent, for Cruz; 707 votes, or 8.22 percent, for Kasich; and 378 votes, or 4.4 percent, for Carson. ■ Jefferson County: 2,462 votes, or 74.44 percent, for Trump; 410 votes, or 12.73 percent, for Kasich; 221 votes, or 6.86 percent, for Cruz; and 128 votes, or 3.97 percent, for Carson. TURN
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PORT TOWNSEND MARINE SCIENCE CENTER
Port Townsend Marine Science Center staff and volunteers, from left, Alison Riley, Megan Addison, Wade Crouch, Carolyn Woods, Katie Conroy, Sue Long and Karlisa Callwood prepare to wrap the whale in netting before its submergence.
Cetacean submerged off island to be picked clean BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT TOWNSEND — A juvenile gray whale found dead near Seattle earlier this month has been submerged off Indian Island so natural predators will clean the massive carcass and provide an educational tool for the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. The process is being conducted under the auspices of the marine science center and could take up to 10 years, according to marketing and development coordinator Alison Riley. “We already have kids coming out here for hands-on projects,” Riley said. “When I was in school, I didn’t get a chance to learn how long it would take for a whale to decompose underwater, examine or assemble a skeleton, or study a necropsy to determine the cause of death.”
The animal, a female between the age of 2 and 4, was first sighted alive in late April in central Puget Sound having difficulty swimming and diving as a result of trapped gases in the upper part of its body. Biologists and veterinarians suspected the whale might have been suffering from an infection that produced gas inside its body or a pneumothorax — a collapsed lung — that had filled its chest cavity with air.
Found dead On May 8, the whale, identified as CRC-1524, was found dead in Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle. Cascadia Research Collective and the state Department of Natural Resources towed the whale’s carcass May 11 to a site on Indian Island provided by the U.S. Navy for the necropsy.
Marine science center staff, volunteers and AmeriCorps members assisted in the necropsy, the results of which will help NOAA Fisheries understand the whale’s injuries and the cause of death, which could provide insight into the health risks affecting gray whales. After the necropsy, the 30-foot, 30,000-pound mammal was placed in fine netting before being anchored underwater, with the intention that crabs, fish and other predators will eat away the flesh and cartilage, after which time the bones will be studied, reassembled and used in the center’s classes and exhibits, Riley said. The animal’s pectoral fins were submerged in an area adjacent to the marine science center pier to be observed using submersible vehicles. TURN
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WHALE/A4
VOTES/A4
Waterfront Trail closed for cleanup in PA Scheduled for completion Friday BY ROB OLLIKAINEN PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
day and began repairs Tuesday, city project manager Jonathan Boehme said. “Things are going well,” he said Wednesday. “They made good progress yesterday filing in a scour hole with large rock.” Crews on Wednesday continued to fill in the depressions caused by water runoff from firefighters’ efforts to save a burning house on Caroline Street on April 5.
PORT ANGELES — A milelong section of the Olympic Discovery Trail is closed through Friday to allow crews to remove debris that blocked the route near Francis Street Park on April 5. The trail is now closed between Hollywood Beach and Ennis Street to allow large construction equipment to safely move around the area, Port Angeles public works officials said in a Tuesday announcement. Friday finish eyed Francis Street Park is also The plan is to remove debris closed. A contractor mobilized Mon- from the trail today and complete
the work by Friday afternoon, Boehme said. The project could be extended depending on weather, progress and other conditions. Meanwhile, users can bypass the closure by taking Ennis or Lincoln streets to Front Street and traversing back to the waterfront. The trail is open from Ennis Street east and from Hollywood Beach west. Repairs to the trail were stalled for seven weeks by the removal of wreckage from the house at 715 Caroline St. Firefighters had to let the twostory, 116-year-old wooden home burn to the ground after a section of the bluff collapsed.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Shane Jeffords, left, clears a spot for placement of large rocks by an excavator operated by Ryan Lewis to stabilize a hillside above the Waterfront Trail on Wednesday. The crew said they hoped to have the trail TURN TO TRAIL/A4 opened by Friday.
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