8/20 Vents, orca summer, Spokane river, wildfire costs, El Niño , tsunami, W̱SÁNEĆ park, democracy watch.

Hydrothermal vents In 1977 near the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador at a depth of 2,500 meters (8,250 feet), ocean explorers first sighted hydrothermal vents, openings on the ocean floor from which heated, mineral-rich water emerges. The scientists found that these vents were surrounded by large numbers of organisms that had never before been seen. (NOAA) Today's top story in Salish…