Fish Lab Newsletter - February, 2018
Posted on: Feb, 20, 2018
Our Coho won’t be alevin much longer! They are buttoning up, and are now emerged into the troughs. Our Chum are expected to follow in their footsteps within the week. This is an excellent time to get to take part in learning more about the life-cycle of salmon.
With a higher focus on k-12 education, our upcoming events have lots of opportunities for younger participants. These are great ways to get the younger generation excited about our local salmon.
What has the Fish Lab been up to?
Our iNaturalist Citizen Science Training was a success! Fish labbers were able to enjoy the outdoors while identifying countless organisms that contribute to a healthy salmon habitat. All species document and identified are used in our research. Shout out to our top identifiers Evin Brattain, Maddie Thompson, and Lauren Thompson.
On MLK Day of Service, coordinated by GHC Student Life, the Fish Lab dedicated their time to have a positive impact on our community to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. A huge thanks to Ted Elson and Lauren Thompson.
Along with our regular hatchery work, our fish labbers have been busy teaming up with Grays Harbor Stream Team for the second annual CBFTF Tree Planting! Each year the Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force writes grants, designs projects, and completes major construction projects to renovate culverts. These newly renovated culvert sites create more juvenile and spawning salmon habitat with the goal of restoring our native runs. We planted over 600 trees around our new fish friendly culverts.
Fish Lab was a stop on a field trip for 60 7th graders from Raymond and South Bend. They were able learn more about our local watershed, education and research opportunities. We love seeing the future college generation get excited about programs like the Fish Lab. Enormous thanks to Ivy Bowers and Vanessa Escobar!
Let’s not forget about our trout! Following our daily feeds, cleaning the troughs, and water quality analysis, we weigh our trout. They are right on track, weighing in at a little less than 4 fish per pound. If you’re interested in getting an up-close look at our trout, come check it out every Saturday!
Over the next few Saturdays, we will also be putting work into maintaining the hatchery facility, additional stream clean-ups, aquatic species sampling of Fry and Alder Creek, and riparian species identifications.
Interested in becoming a Fish Labber?
Everybody is welcome at Fish Lab, no experience needed! We meet Mondays and Wednesdays at 3pm, and Saturdays at 8am during the academic quarter.
Here are some of our upcoming events:
- February 24th, 8:30am- National TRiO Day! Our Fish Labbers will be running a small trail tour, ending in a cleanup of Alder Creek. Come celebrate the wonderful support services of TRiO by supporting our local salmon habitat!
- February 24th and March 24th,10-11:30am- Science Kids: Salmon Lifecycle & Habitat! The GHC Fish Lab will be hosting hands-on activities in collaboration with the Timberland Library in Aberdeen. These activities will specifically prepare our younger participants for the Childrens' Fish Release!
- March 31st, 9am- Childrens’ Fish Release! For this event, the focus will be on our younger participants! Every chaperoned participant will receive a jar of chum fry to plant in Alder Creek.
If you want to see the cutest fish, come stop by during our regular volunteer hours. We look forward to seeing you at Fish Lab!
- Lauren and Maddie Thompson
*Did you know that a nautilus is a real creature in the same family as squid? Although perhaps with less vibrant coloring, creatures like these are the only living cephalopods with an external bony structure, or shell. Thanks to Kasia Tugaga and Sam Richardson for the original design, and to Maddie and Lauren Thompson for carrying it forward!