FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
April 24 - 30, 2025
HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Easter celebrated in Blaine area, page 2
Gray whale sightings in Birch Bay, page 4
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine man killed in car crash, page 5
Longtime Blaine The Plover returns to Blaine Harbor teacher honored on Earth Day By Nolan Baker
(See Shapiro, page 5)
s The Plover ferry returned to Blaine Harbor on April 18 after undergoing $25,200 worth of repair work in Bellingham. With summer approaching, the city of Blaine is in the process of hiring crew members and launching an online ticketing system to prepare for the 81-year-old ferry’s return to service. Blaine city manager Mike Harmon said city staff hopes that the Plover will be running by Memorial Day Weekend. Photo by Ruth Lauman
Scientists begin European green crab trapping season in Drayton Harbor By Grace McCarthy Scientists are setting traps for the invasive European green crab around Drayton Harbor in hopes of catching more juvenile crabs that were discovered last fall. About 30 crabs have already been found in Drayton Harbor since the 2025 trapping season began March 31, said Allie Simpson, ecosystem project coordinator at the Northwest Straits Commission. “A lot of the crabs that we are finding seem to be last year’s juvenile cohort, so we’re cleaning up what we weren’t able to get last year,” Simpson said. Scientists saw the juvenile crabs in Drayton Harbor starting in late summer until the trapping season concluded in
the fall. The juvenile crabs were from larvae that survived the warm El Niño winter of 2023-24, which created more survivable conditions for the larvae, which was observed in both Whatcom and Skagit counties. “That was very clearly a regional trend,” said Emily Grason, marine ecologist and crab team program lead at Washington Sea Grant. Washington scientists broke records by capturing over 1 million crabs along the state’s shorelines in 2024, though the number also correlates with more traps being set, according to Washington Sea Grant. Scientists trapped 535 green crabs in (See Crabs, page 3)
INSIDE
Blaine Primary School teacher Terre Shapiro was honored with an Earth Day surprise on April 22 when dozens of first graders donned t-shirts to celebrate the longtime educator’s commitment to the environment, her birthday that aligns with the environmental holiday, and announced retirement. The tiny t-shirts were adorned with “Happy Earth Day, Thank You Mrs. Shapiro.” Shapiro’s 39th year teaching will be her last. Working in the Blaine school district since 1989 teaching first grade and now as the Science Technology Engineering Art and Math teacher, Shapiro has made a habit of dedicating her combined Earth Day and birthday celebration to her students. Shapiro organizes paper bag decorations with Earth Day messages that are hung up at the IGA Market, sunflower planting stations, and for 22 years while Shapiro was a classroom teacher, her students would make Earth Day t-shirts. That hasn’t been the case the past four years since Shapiro took the STEAM position. That was revived for one final Earth Day surprise for Shapiro. Primary school teacher Robin Thompson, one of the faculty to help set up the surprise, said the retiring teacher committed decades to the students and community of Blaine. “She goes above and beyond for students. She has a big heart. She’s very caring,” Thompson said. “She is really into the community and tied to being accountable to her students.” For example, Thompson said, every year Shapiro hosts a graduation barbecue for departing high school seniors who she taught in the first grade. “I’ve felt a calling to be a teacher my whole life,” Shapiro said. “I felt like one of my missions as being a teacher is to teach kids about how to care of our planet and how to be good stewards of our land and what is around us.” Shapiro, whose first name is French for “Earth,” said that while she’s excited for the next chapter in her life, she still plans on volunteering at the primary school, after traveling and camping around Europe first. “I love children and I love the primary
TheNorthernLight
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . 11, 12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . 6, 7 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
@TNLreporter
@TheNorthernLightNews
TheNorthernLight.com
The Northern Light is now delivered to your mailbox on Fridays. Reaching 10,027 households in Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo. Award-winning local news coverage. Targeted audience. Cost-effective advertising.
225 Marine Drive, Ste. 200, Blaine, WA • 360/332.1777 sales@thenorthernlight.com • www.thenorthernlight.com