On Thursday night, while the Alki Statue of Liberty meeting was under way at the Bathhouse, a SW Design Review Board meeting was under way at the Precinct, and several WS schools had events — a quiet but important demonstration was under way in West Seattle waters: Members of the Surfrider Foundation, People for Puget Sound, and others paddled out from Seacrest to remind us all that the state needs a better oil-spill prevention plan, specifically one that protects the ultimate gateway to Puget Sound — the Strait of Juan de Fuca — with a year-round rescue tug @ Neah Bay. Since we knew we’d be otherwise occupied, we asked the Surfrider folks to send pix; here’s one from water level (the banner has the SF name & logo).

Right now, rescue tugs are only stationed at the state’s northwestern tip for the winter. (The next one is scheduled to be in place October 1st-March 15th. That time frame wouldn’t have covered the disastrous Tenyo Maru incident in July 1991, which as this link reminds us took 15 years to recover from.) Here’s more on where the push for a year-round tug stands now.