Kiss Me, I'm Spawning!

It has finally happened, the fish have changed into their spawning physiques, e.g. enlarged noses, jaws, teeth, humped backs (in pinks), and color changes. Once they enter freshwater the salmon stop feeding and literally survive by eating themselves alive (calorie stores in fat, scales, etc.), so as the season progresses they can start looking pretty gross. And of course, once they spawn, they die. I’ve been trying to get pictures of every species as they come through the weir, so I’ll share with you what I have so far – there may be more pictures to come.

Sockeye:

Both males and females turn bright red. I think they’re the prettiest. The bright red color (of both their meat and their scales when they’re spawning) is probably why they’re also called “reds”.

Chum:

Get very stripy and have huge teeth! They’re our biggest salmon species in Redoubt and they look super cool, especially when you go snorkeling with them.

Pink:

The males get huge humps (thus the nickname “humpies”) and they kind of just get gross. Unfortunately, because the net weir is blocking quick migration out into the lake some of the pinks have even started spawning on the sandbags reinforcing the weir. Although, it is fun to watch the males fight each other.

Coho:

I don’t really have any good pictures of spawning coho, but as they start to lose their scales their backs take on a “goldschlagger” look.

Coho "jack" (underdeveloped male)

Mr. Bojangles

Well, besides being inundated with pinks there’s not a whole lot new going on out at the weir. The biggest occurrence was that Ben, our fellow SCA from Texas, headed back home for the start of another school year, so then there were three. Owing to the lack of anything exciting to do, Laura and I have been devising many interesting ways to amuse ourselves. One of the main ones has been fishing – I even bought my very own pole and have even been having a bit of success! While my dad and Matt were unable to catch anything, two days after they left I hooked a pink (great for smoking) and a coho right in a row, and Laura’s been a fish-catching machine. We also attempted a shelf in one of our cabinets in the cabin; however, due to logistical difficulties Joe had to put the finishing touches on it for us. Our nights are usually filled with knitting and crosswords.

Ben's final boat trip into Sitka.

My salmon (pink on L, coho on R)

Unfortunately for some, not all of our diversions are as innocent… In the beginning of the summer we had a little mouse problem in the form of one Mr. Bojangles. He was dispatched and that was the end of it, or so we thought. This past week Mr. Bojangles made a reappearance, and after catching him, we did what any self-respecting females with a background in specimen prep would do – stuffed him. But it didn’t end there. After waiting around for Joe for two days we were getting a little impatient with him. The perfect retaliation? A mouse in his bed, of course! Luckily, after we explained that our pet mouse was perfectly sanitary he wasn’t that angry with us. Another attestation to our boredom is that Mr. Bojangles also has the beginnings of a wardrobe in the form of a custom-knit sweater vest with more to come.

Joe and Mr. B

Mr. B playing cribage with us

The Infamous Net Weir

Net weir and float with video equipment under solar panels and tarp

While the net weir has been up for awhile now I have yet to mention it in my blog, partially because it’s purpose is kind of hard to explain and partially because it has yet to give us any conclusive data. Because I don’t really feel like taking the time to explain it I’ll give a short explanation with some pictures that will hopefully at least make it look interesting. Ben Van Allen, the net weir expert, and his assistant Carol, both from Juneau, flew in a month or so ago to assist us with net weir construction and positioning. In his fifties, Ben is one of the hardest workers I’ve met, getting up an hour before the rest of us, working without breaks or food and going to bed late into the night, never stopping until the job’s done. Subsequently, Laura and I ended up assuming the position of “sustenance providers” while the others worked (there’s only room for three in a boat anyways).

Ben showing us how it's done in his wetsuit

The net weir crew!

Net Weir 101: The net weir is positioned behind the picket weir and it’s purpose is to validate our fish escapement numbers, e.g. make sure the weir is fish-tight and that extra fish aren’t getting through holes and thus not being counted. The net weir has a motion-activated camera that fish are funneled past and the hope is that the same amount of fish that we count going through the picket weir will coincide with the number of fish picked-up by the camera. This a whole bunch of percentage stuff and adipose fin cutting, but I won’t get into that. However, since setup we have had multiple problems with this project, ranging from a bear knocking our camera equipment into the water to malfunctioning playback equipment, and worst of all, only five salmon showing up on the video in a month – hmmmm… Where are they all going…? So we moved the net and started over a few weeks ago, we’ll see how it goes.

It's "All in the Family"

So, I thought I’d start out with a little precursory warning: No, we did not see any wild bears, whales, etc., climb any mountains or catch any fish while my dad and brother were visiting. However, we did see some eagles, otters and salmon, watch some live music and explore the more touristy side of Sitka, which I had yet to do. And more importantly, (I think) everyone enjoyed themselves in the process.

View from the B and B

The B and B that the guys stayed in was great; just up the road from me, right on the ocean, with a hot tub and fire pit overlooking the water. We spent a good deal of time just relaxing there, which was a treat for me. One night we cooked up some Coho salmon my bunkmate Ben had caught earlier that day,but we also got a chance to taste some of the local fare downtown.

Fish caught by the B and B owner and his friends

Here’s a quick run-through of some of the highlights:

On the first full daywe walked around Sitka visiting the key points of interest, including the Sheldon Jackson Museum which showcases artifacts from the different native tribes around Alaska, the touch tanks at the aquarium where Dad had a little too much fun petting all the starfish and sea anemones, and a little walk around Totem Park. The next day the big events were the Raptor Rehabilitation Center where I checked in on Ms. Eagle and Fortress of the Bear to see the brother grizzlies. Kayaking around the harbor and surrounding islands was another highlight of the trip with my friend Ellen as tour guide, though I should have known that putting Dad and Matt in a kayak together probably wasn’t the best idea. They spent the whole time zigzagging behind the rest of us (and ignoring directions) as Matt kept “forgetting” to steer.

A sunflower sea star

Saturday night Kurt, another bunkmate, performed at the Larkspur, a café in town, and Dad finished up the performance by leading the audience in an out of tune rendition of “Happy Birthday” a few days prematurely. We also spent a decent amount of time on Tripp’s boat, being more a hindrance than a help as he fixed it up for his girlfriend who’s moving up here today.

Tripp and Kurt working hard on the boat

Matt trying to net fish out of our trap

Matt in the Redoubt cabin

Our last day together was probably the coolest as Perry (Joe’s boss) was able to take us out to Redoubt on his boat. I showed them the weirs, the lake and the cabin and now the guys have a hands-on view of what exactly I do when I’m out in the “wilderness” all the time. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, there were no bear sightings – typical of them to be shy at the most inopportune time! I did (almost) catch a Pink salmon though, I say “almost” because I snagged it instead of catching it in the mouth, which is illegal in many places. Anyway, I’m glad I could share a little bit of my life here in Sitka with my family and I’m sure that the people and the landscape are things they won’t soon forget.

State Fair!

This past break Joe and I were able to get away from Sitka for a while with two other Forest Service employees, Ryan and Peggy, andgo to the Southeast Alaska State Fair up in Haines. Getting to Haines was a journey in and of itself, taking two different ferries with an overnight stop in Juneau. In Juneau we met up with Carole, a fisheries biologist stationed there that came down to Redoubt with her boss to help us set up the infamous net weir (which I have yet to talk about…). She was super hospitable and picked us up from the ferry terminal (normally a $50 taxi ride), drove us to our hostel with scenic stops at the glacier and hatchery along the way, and even took us out to breakfast in the morning before our 8am ferry onto Haines. We didn’t have time to do much, but to say the least the booming metropolis of Juneau was a shock to our humble Sitkan sensibilities.

The Mendenhall Glacier

The Juneau hatchery; each of these tanks is jam-packed with King and Chum salmon

Once in Haines we got a taxi to our camping destination (free overflow camping at a grassy picnic ground) before exploring the town. The fair wasn’t quite what I had imagined (picture more school fair than state fair), but they had a great entertainment and we saw Joe’s favorite band, Trampled by Turtles, a bluegrass band from Minnesota, twice in less than 24 hours; he was like a little boy in a candy shop. And we kept running into them around town – I think they might have thought Joe was stalking them! Other highlights included the Most Adorable Dog Contest, lots more live music, the parade and the Log Cutting Competition (which I may or may not have slept through).

Peggy and Ryan on one of the few roads in Haines (popul. 2500)

Fellow fairgoers watching live music

Actual buildings from of the White Fang movie set at the fair

Trampled by Turtles on stage.

Joe ecstatically happy to be seeing TBT play

One of my favorite parts of the whole trip wasn’t even at the fair; it was the overnight ferry ride back to Sitka. Unlike on the way two Haines, we opted for the slow 10-hour ferry on the way back from Juneau, 8pm to 6am. At first we thought it wasn’t going to be comfortable, but we set up our sleeping bags on the top deck in the solarium with a full view of the sunset and a cool ocean breeze. Anyone who thinks expensive cruises are the way to go is wrong – ferry hopping offered us the same wildlife and scenery viewing opportunities at a much cheaper price and without the associated pretentiousness.

Our sleeping set-up in the solarium aboard the ferry

Sunset from the top deck of the ferry

There, of course, lots of other interesting anecdotes from the weekend, but as they say, What happens at the fair stays at the fair!

Mt. Edgecumbe Trip

The dome of Mt. Edgecumbe hidden in the clouds

This past week I had the amazing opportunity to accompany our resident soil scientist, Jacquie, on her trip up Mt. Edgecumbe, an extinct volcano on the south end of Kruzof Island, a 40-minute boat ride from Sitka. (Because of the lack of time, this is going to be a quick synopsis, I may add more later.) Not only was it a nice hiatus from working up fish, but it also gave me the chance to see another part of the area and get a glance into the world of soil. It was a 4-day trip in which we hiked 6-10 miles a day, mostly uphill, through muskegs and up into alpine tundra. We went up Edgecumbe, the Saddle between the ridges, and Crater Mountain, one each day, respectively. We were also relatively lucky in that we had two nice days, thus only two rainy ones, in which I did get thoroughly soaked!

Soil sampling included digging pits, describing the number and type of layers, their structure, texture, and color, among other things. I mostly surveyed the vegetation and acted as note taker and rifle barrier. We also had to take 3 kg soil samples at a number of different holes, which added weight to our already heavy packs. Anyway, enough writing, here’s some pictures!

The 3-sided shelter we stayed in 4 miles up the trail

Darren, the soil scientist from Ketchikan, digging a hole

pH sampling the soil layers

Eroded creek bank showing soil stratification

Jacquie in the alpine tundra on top of Mt. Edgecumbe

Pumice, e.g. volcanic stone

Hiking up Crater Mt. on the third day

Taking a nap in the sun on a plateau between the two ridges

Hiking back down the trail on the last day to meet the boat

Things I learned on this trip:
- it rains A LOT in South Eastern Alaska
- always pack extra layers and socks
- make sure these extra clothes are packed in Ziplocs (or the dry socks you take out of your pack to change into may be soaking wet, as mine were)
- my rain jacket is NOT rainproof
- rain pants are a must, and I don’t have any
- keep a smile on your face – it turns an cold, wet situation into a more tolerable “comically soaked”

Redoubt Lake

Here's a USGS topo map of Redoubt Bay and Lake compliments of my Psychology of Religion professor Colleen. The "outlet" where the island our cabin is on is in the little bubble between the bay and lake (near the red arrow), and the falls/rapids are on the bay side of it.

DA BEARS!

The resident bears are finally out in full force, which means almost daily human/bear interactions for us. Pretty much our policy when it comes to the bears and the weir is if they were there first, they get dibs, if we were, they better stay off until we’re done working up fish. Because of noise from the falls and low visibility around the weir due to dense brush, many times we don’t realize the bears are approaching until they are right up next to the weir, and then we haze the hell out of them. The last thing we ever want is for us, or someone else, to shoot one of our bears, so hazing them helps enforce the humans = bad mentality and keep them from becoming “problem bears”. Hazing consists of yelling, blowing the air horn and shooting them with rubber slugs. It’s gotten to the point where all you have to do is cock the shotgun for them to run in the other direction, they catch on quickly.

Our most problematic bears our two juvenile bears (approx. 3-4 years old), nicknamed Little Bastard and Little Bear, that have been hanging around each other. They spend a good part of their time fighting, which is pretty cool if you’ve ever heard a bear growl, and fishing together behind the weir. Unfortunately, since they’re so preoccupied with each other they tend not to be very conscientious of us. The other day while carrying supplies from the bay side over the hill to the lake side the bears started fighting less then 10 yards away from us in the brush, so we could hear them but not see them, scary. Luckily, one warning shot in their direction got them both to scamper off.

I wish I had better pictures of the bears, the unfortunately my camera doesn’t have great zoom, but hopefully I can get some pictures from Joe, who just won 1st place in a photo contest in-town for a picture he took of one of the bears.


The bears are really smart too, they’ll wait in the bushes just watching us for hours, and as soon as they see us leave the weir and hear the boat engine they come running out to claim their fishing spot. The weir provides an interesting scenario for the bears: they can catch a lot of fish with little energy output since the weir is blocking the fish’s escape. And it’s a skill they seem to have learned quickly.

Seeing the same bears day after day and learning their space boundaries and how they’re going to react to us can, at times, make us complacent. We have to remind ourselves that they are wild animals who can be unpredictable and that we always have to be aware of our surroundings.