July 25, 2013 Cowlitz Bay, 4:55 pm
Lots of new people and children at the seine today. Weather sunny, clear, and warm. Water warm.
Glen R notes: Gretchen W, Julie M, Glen R: Cowlitz dock. Sunny sky, 95% clear. Wind 0 mph. Recent weather sunny, 24 C+ most days last few weeks. Air temp at float 25 C. Pre seine salinity elbow depth (40 cm) at float is 1.023 sg (specific gravity), or 30 ppt (parts per thousand). Low tide of -0.8 at 13: 22. High tide of 9.0 at 22:50. Visibility 7 m, milky green cast. Single young northwestern crow calling by shore hillside, our seine in middle of parents’ territory, been around a couple weeks this area. In limited time of 10 minutes at float, heard at least 1 active barn swallow nest under dock. Report from Paul P that lots of 2 foot salmon jumping off Pt Disney about14:00 today. Wrack is a 60+ mm thick X 1 m+ width, woven mat of eelgrass and sea lettuce. Quite a bit of zooplankton in the water, didn’t get a sample. Haven’t seen crab megalope much this summer around dock, but ( biweekly visits) sample size not super accurate. [Julie's note: One of the salmon I lavaged coughed up a handful of crab zooea] Quick estimate of 30+ attendees, 8 or 10 under 40 kilos.
Flatfish: 0
Greenlings: 0
Gunnels: 0
Herring
750 - 1000 Pacific Herring, ranging from 82 to 105mm, mean of 93mm. This size range sounds like a size range that last year’s recruitment class of Cherry Point herring might be now. Here are sizes: 82, 83, 88, 88, 91, 92, 92, (5) @ 93, 95, (3) @ 96, 100, 101, 101, 105 mm
Perch:
5 spp, probably Shiners
Prickleback:
9 Snake
Salmon:
178 Chinook (42 lavaged, ranging from 83 - 155 mm)
1 pink @105mm
15 Sandlance @ 70 - 103 mm, mean of 85. Ancillary measurements of sandlance include fish at 70, 74, 76 ,76, 78, 88, 80, 83, 84, 85, 88, 88, 89, 101, 103 mm.
Sculpin:
1 Buffalo
1 Cabezon
1 Great
1 Silver-spotted
2 Staghorn
1 Unidentified @310mm. (This one was either a Great or a Cabezon, and regurgitated a 150mm chinook, as well as two pygmy rock-crabs @25 and 27mm. Image below)
Stickleback
3 Stickleback (On July 15, Adriana A. stood on the dock and caught a number of juvenile sticklebacks. There was a swarm of them, which the A's noticed when they were doing the plankton tow.)
Tubesnout: 0
Crabs:
1 big Rock-crab
2 pygmy Rock-crabs found in a Great Sculpin (or Cabezon?) stomach Images below.
Jelly
none recorded
Shrimp
none recorded
Glen R notes: Gretchen W, Julie M, Glen R: Cowlitz dock. Sunny sky, 95% clear. Wind 0 mph. Recent weather sunny, 24 C+ most days last few weeks. Air temp at float 25 C. Pre seine salinity elbow depth (40 cm) at float is 1.023 sg (specific gravity), or 30 ppt (parts per thousand). Low tide of -0.8 at 13: 22. High tide of 9.0 at 22:50. Visibility 7 m, milky green cast. Single young northwestern crow calling by shore hillside, our seine in middle of parents’ territory, been around a couple weeks this area. In limited time of 10 minutes at float, heard at least 1 active barn swallow nest under dock. Report from Paul P that lots of 2 foot salmon jumping off Pt Disney about14:00 today. Wrack is a 60+ mm thick X 1 m+ width, woven mat of eelgrass and sea lettuce. Quite a bit of zooplankton in the water, didn’t get a sample. Haven’t seen crab megalope much this summer around dock, but ( biweekly visits) sample size not super accurate. [Julie's note: One of the salmon I lavaged coughed up a handful of crab zooea] Quick estimate of 30+ attendees, 8 or 10 under 40 kilos.
Flatfish: 0
Greenlings: 0
Gunnels: 0
Herring
750 - 1000 Pacific Herring, ranging from 82 to 105mm, mean of 93mm. This size range sounds like a size range that last year’s recruitment class of Cherry Point herring might be now. Here are sizes: 82, 83, 88, 88, 91, 92, 92, (5) @ 93, 95, (3) @ 96, 100, 101, 101, 105 mm
Perch:
5 spp, probably Shiners
Prickleback:
9 Snake
Salmon:
178 Chinook (42 lavaged, ranging from 83 - 155 mm)
1 pink @105mm
15 Sandlance @ 70 - 103 mm, mean of 85. Ancillary measurements of sandlance include fish at 70, 74, 76 ,76, 78, 88, 80, 83, 84, 85, 88, 88, 89, 101, 103 mm.
Sculpin:
1 Buffalo
1 Cabezon
1 Great
1 Silver-spotted
2 Staghorn
1 Unidentified @310mm. (This one was either a Great or a Cabezon, and regurgitated a 150mm chinook, as well as two pygmy rock-crabs @25 and 27mm. Image below)
Stickleback
3 Stickleback (On July 15, Adriana A. stood on the dock and caught a number of juvenile sticklebacks. There was a swarm of them, which the A's noticed when they were doing the plankton tow.)
Tubesnout: 0
Crabs:
1 big Rock-crab
2 pygmy Rock-crabs found in a Great Sculpin (or Cabezon?) stomach Images below.
Jelly
none recorded
Shrimp
none recorded
July 25, 2013 Cowlitz Bay Chinook lavaging
We lavaged 42 Chinook, ranging from 90 to 135 mm. Some had eaten sand lance, but the majority had eaten worms, mosltly polychaetes. This is alarming. Chinook prefer to eat herring. If there aren't any herring, they'll go for sand lance. If there aren't any sand lance, they'll go for euphausids, crab zooea, or terrestrial midges. The only time Russel had seen salmon reduced to eating worms was in Sinclair Inlet, which was destroyed by the Navy in WWII.
July 25, 2013 Cowlitz Bay Pilot Parasite Survey
Emily Nebergall is a newly minted microbiologist with an interest in fish pathology. She took every third anesthetized chinook and checked it for parasites and pathogens. In the process, she was trying to work out a protocol that would work under our conditions.
Use the larger fish. They have had time to develop a parasite load, and they are less likely to be damaged by the process of inspecting them. Use a shallow tray of water, and keep your hands wet. Some people use latex gloves, but bare, wet hands seem to cause the least damage.
Do an overall check for parasites. Using the paintbrush, lift the gill operculum to look for critters inside the gills, then gently sweep the area.. If there is a parasite, wipe the paintbrush onto a microscope slide, cover with a bit of water, and then a slide cover. Check the eyes, where worms could be hanging out, and the anal vent, another likely spot.
Use the larger fish. They have had time to develop a parasite load, and they are less likely to be damaged by the process of inspecting them. Use a shallow tray of water, and keep your hands wet. Some people use latex gloves, but bare, wet hands seem to cause the least damage.
Do an overall check for parasites. Using the paintbrush, lift the gill operculum to look for critters inside the gills, then gently sweep the area.. If there is a parasite, wipe the paintbrush onto a microscope slide, cover with a bit of water, and then a slide cover. Check the eyes, where worms could be hanging out, and the anal vent, another likely spot.
I switched to using the paintbrush to lift the gill cover (operculum) as opposed to the forceps, in order to be gentler on the fish.
Using the side of a glass microscope slide cover, gently scrape some mucus and a couple of scales from the fish's back. Smear it onto the slide, then cover, and use the field microscope to check for critters. You'd be looking for teeny worms or protozoans. Trichodina is a lovely looking parasite, check out the link.
Use kimwipes to clean the lenses.
Using the side of a glass microscope slide cover, gently scrape some mucus and a couple of scales from the fish's back. Smear it onto the slide, then cover, and use the field microscope to check for critters. You'd be looking for teeny worms or protozoans. Trichodina is a lovely looking parasite, check out the link.
Use kimwipes to clean the lenses.
More Images for July 25 (from Stan)
July 11, 2013 Cowlitz Bay, First of Two Seines, 5:15 pm
Sunny, hot, lots of folks including children came for the fun. More detailed environmental data to follow from Glen R. I do remember that it was 20ºC, or 68º. That doesn't sound hot, but it was. We used Glen's nifty tally sheet to tally up the fish:
Flatfish: 0
Greenlings:
2 Kelp
3 White-spotted @ 88, 108, 118 mm
Gunnels:
2 Penpoint, one @ 195mm
4 Saddleback
1 spp
Herring
5 Pacific Herring @ 116, 124, 133, 138, 148mm
Perch:
8 Shiner
3 Striped
Prickleback:
1 Snake
Salmon:
19 Chinook
Sculpin:
7 Buffalo
10 Great
5 Staghorn
Stickleback
9 Stickleback
Tubesnout
4 Tubesnout
Crabs:
1 Dungeness
10 Helmet
4 Kelp
Jelly
1 Comb (ctenophore)
Shrimp
49 Spotted
Scroll down below pictures to see second seine results
Flatfish: 0
Greenlings:
2 Kelp
3 White-spotted @ 88, 108, 118 mm
Gunnels:
2 Penpoint, one @ 195mm
4 Saddleback
1 spp
Herring
5 Pacific Herring @ 116, 124, 133, 138, 148mm
Perch:
8 Shiner
3 Striped
Prickleback:
1 Snake
Salmon:
19 Chinook
Sculpin:
7 Buffalo
10 Great
5 Staghorn
Stickleback
9 Stickleback
Tubesnout
4 Tubesnout
Crabs:
1 Dungeness
10 Helmet
4 Kelp
Jelly
1 Comb (ctenophore)
Shrimp
49 Spotted
Scroll down below pictures to see second seine results
July 11, 2013, Cowlitz Bay, Second of Two Seines, 6:00 pm.
Forty-five minutes after lavaging the 19 chinook from the first tow, we decided we had enough time to do a second one. We set the net a few dozen feet eastwards from the dock. Whether it was the tide, time of day, location, or chance, you will note that the mix of fish caught is different. This is something to bear in mind when we draw conclusions about what is and isn't present in our waters after tallying up a seine.
Flatfish:
2 Starry Flounders (see photo–these are lovely fishies)
Greenlings: 0
Gunnels:
1 Crescent
1 Saddleback
Herring
30 Pacific Herring
Perch:
1 Shiner
2 Striped
Prickleback:
5 Snake, one @80mm
Salmon:
7 Chinook
15 Chum
1 Pink
Sandlance:
2 Sandlance (this is not counting the ones we found inside the chinook!)
Sandfish:
1 Sandfish (this is the first one of these little sweeties we've ever caught. It's not usually a shallows fish. Click on the name to find out more. See photo.)
Sculpin:
3 Silver-spotted (see photo–also lovely)
6 Staghorn
Stickleback
6 Stickleback
Tubesnout: 0
Crabs:
3 Helmet
1 Kelp
Jelly: 0
Shrimp
1 Spotted Shrimp (hey, I know there were more than that. Like, about 100. But they were small and nobody thought to count them).
Flatfish:
2 Starry Flounders (see photo–these are lovely fishies)
Greenlings: 0
Gunnels:
1 Crescent
1 Saddleback
Herring
30 Pacific Herring
Perch:
1 Shiner
2 Striped
Prickleback:
5 Snake, one @80mm
Salmon:
7 Chinook
15 Chum
1 Pink
Sandlance:
2 Sandlance (this is not counting the ones we found inside the chinook!)
Sandfish:
1 Sandfish (this is the first one of these little sweeties we've ever caught. It's not usually a shallows fish. Click on the name to find out more. See photo.)
Sculpin:
3 Silver-spotted (see photo–also lovely)
6 Staghorn
Stickleback
6 Stickleback
Tubesnout: 0
Crabs:
3 Helmet
1 Kelp
Jelly: 0
Shrimp
1 Spotted Shrimp (hey, I know there were more than that. Like, about 100. But they were small and nobody thought to count them).