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.

Taking a break from this crazy weekend

I have devoted all weekend to getting through the next week and I am not sure I will survive but Mel and I going to celebrate Friday with a beer or two at Peak's. It is going to be a well needed winter break! I know that I am not going to kill myself like this again as far as classes. I am looking forwar d to spending my time this break with the crew at the LEKT and getting my poster done for AFS in the spring. I hope you are going to be available at least by email Dwight cuz I am going to need you! I am really looking forward to the microscope that is on its way to help with the macroinvertabrate sorting and IDing. Anyhow I better get back to the grind.

tagged salmonid makes it Dungeness

This past spring I got a chance to surgically implant aucostic tags in juvenile Coho. Out in the Strait there were monitors that would pick up the tags if the fish gets within a certain range (I forgot the range). I got to do about 6 surgeries and 4 out of the six I did got picked up by the monitor. Some casualties are expected because we do anesthesize them and make a small incision and insert the tag in the fish's peritoneum. The furtherest one was out by the Dungeness River. This was the first time that the biologist Ray Moses was doing it on his own also, so we were both really nervous about the outcome. I also got invited to sit in on a meeting at LEKT with Kurt Fresh. It was fun and I learned alot his project and some technical jargon!

Fallout trap sorting

Okay I don't wnat to sound boring but it has been fallout trap but sorting for the last 2 weeks and that is what I have to look forward to except on Thursday this week we will be going out to Lake Sutherland and doing our monthly water samples. The only bad thing about being in a boat on the lake is if it were to rain. This summer it was quite enjoyable especially on those hot days. I will try to post some pictures of the exciting world of bug sorting.

macroinvertebrate sorting

As some of you know I have been assisting the Lower Elwha Kallam Tribe with their assessment of the estuaries at the mouth of the Elwha River. This study was funded by the EPA. We are done pretty much with our field work except for a couple of more seine's in the estuaries. What we are focusing on right now is sorting and identifying the macro invertebrates that we have collected over the last year and a half. If any one has ever done this before you know it is very tedious and time consuming. On Friday it took me over 4 hours just to sort out debris from two fallout samples. The macro invertebrates are very fragile so one has to be very careful. From trial and error we have discovered that it easier to sort then go back and ID the critters we have. The Tribe has employed a local entomologist to make this a little faster. We have samples from fallout traps, benthic samples, and stomach contents that all needs to be ID'd and then put into access to analyze.

Summer REU

I have been putting this blog thing off but it actually was pretty easy!

I started my REU experience last summer and I have enjoyed every minute of my field work. I didn't much care for the class work part of it and the oral presentations. I loath public speaking but I know it is a necessary evil in the scientific world.

My background is domestic animals (I am a licensed Vet Tech) I didn't know a thing about fish except that they lived in water! When Brian Hauge told me that I had to work with the Lower Elwha Tribe Hatchery on their estuary study they had going on I was really wondering what I got myself into.

The things I have gotten a chance to do at the hatchery are too numerous to mention. I would literally be here all day! The highlight of this past summer was surgically implanting acoustic tags into juvenile Coho! I also got to help pump Native Steelhead reds in the Elwha. It is truely amazing to see these tiny little fry with yolk sacs come from the gravel at the bottom of the river. The best part was the days we did the pumping was the hottest of summer and we got to be on the river where it was nice and cool!