Equipment failure

Equipment failure is a surefire way to put a big damper on your tightly scheduled day. One of the many things I have learned about science is that it never goes completely as planned and always plan for the unexpected. We certainly weren't expecting the head gasket on the motor for the boat to crack while it is still under warranty. we only got as far as the first buoy and the motor was smoking so bad there was now a smoke cover on Lake Sutherland. We then noticed oil leaking out where the exhaust was so we decided to get back to shore before we had to row. We are scheduled to try this again on Tuesday barring any unexpected breakdowns.

Pit Tagging juvenile wild Steelhead

The most exciting thing that I have gotten to do since January is to assist Biologists from Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and NOAA insert pit tags into Steelhead. A pit tag is basically a microchip (like the ones for dogs and cats) that has the hatchery it is from and a number. These tag's are inserted into the peritoneum of the fish with a big needle after we anesthetize them of course. A fin clip is taken also for genetic sampling which will tell us what family each fish belongs to so when these guys are old enough to breed we are not breeding brothers and sisters. The genetic info is put in a database with the number each fish got. These juvenile Steelhead are special little guys in lots of ways because they are now federally listed and this summer I helped to retrieve these babies and some of them still had their yolk sac. Where adult salmon lay their eggs is called a redd and these redds are raised areas of gravel in the river bed and they are marked out during spawning season so in about 6 weeks we go back to them and "pump" the redd. Basically using specialized equipment we force water under the gravel and catch the fry (baby salmon) in a net. The fry are taken back to the hatchery and put in either an incubator or round tank and now that they are about 6 inches long we insert the pit tags. This breeding program is achieving a few goals, increasing survival rates, cataloging genetics, and enhancing the breeding stock of the hatchery fish. Hatchery raised fish do not have the fitness of wild so by breeding wild stock with the hatchery fish it also increases survival rates for the hatchery fish.

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.