winter duldrums

Well aside from it being very cold not much much is happening. In the past couple of weeks I have assisted with the water quality sampling that the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe does monthly. Because of the cold Sonny (LEKT tech) and I have got the Lake Sutherland sampling down to a two hour round trip. Our hands really take a beating in the cold water not to mention the cold air blowing over us as we cruise across the lake. BRRR is all I can say. The other monthly water quality sampling isn't so bad, I get to go out for a little hike and get some much needed exercise. I believe I have mentioned these sites in other blogs but LEKT monitors some Elwha River tribs as well as the estuaries. These take the better half of a day and I really enjoy going down the mouth of the Elwha every month. The monthly changes are amazing!

Winter break

Over my winter break from classes I spent my days sorting through fall out traps. A fall out sample is much easier to sort through than a hess or sediment sample, but nether the less a very painstaking experience. Until I got the new microscope (thanks D) my neck was really strained. The new scope made my neck and sorting a more pleasant thing, that is if you call picking through organic litter soaked in alcohol looking for dead critters a good time. I also assisted in getting the monthly water quality samples on Lake Sutherland. This wasn't nearly as much fun as in the summer but it was nice to get out in the boat. We finished up our lake sampling just in time because as we were loading the boat back on the trailer it started to snow. After getting back the hatchery we ate lunch and defrosted before going back out to do the other monthly water quality sampling. There are seven different sites that the Tribe monitors including 2 on Little River, 1 on Indian creek, 3 by the state hatchery, 1 at the end of road on the Lower Elwha Reservation, 1 each in the estuaries. One of the most impressive things is how much the Elwha River changes at the mouth. What is referred to estuary 1 is very close to not being an estuary at all any more. The flooding that occured has deposited so much sediment that I didn't recognize the area at all. It is really an amazing sight.