West Seattle wildlife: Another update from Fauntleroy Creek

Another update from Dennis Hinton, one of the volunteers who’s currently watching for coho salmon during spawning season along Fauntleroy Creek, which started welcoming back spawners after a huge restoration project a decade ago:

Exciting day on the creek. I watched in the rain from noon til 2 pm.

Saw:
A happy couple spawning.
A jack of about two pounds that had a brief battle in the love nest, then squirted up the creek (photo of jack attached).
Remains of a big carcass high on the bank just outside the culvert.

Two redds I’ve seen so far are now marked with little white ribbons.

Creek when I left had risen to .90—getting almost too high and cloudy to read the water.

Total fish count since 11/19/11 is eight.

As noted in previous coverage, last year the creek didn’t see a single spawner.

3 Replies to "West Seattle wildlife: Another update from Fauntleroy Creek"

  • Daddy November 23, 2011 (5:32 am)

    Wow 8 fish!
    Expect tribal netters to be out in force at the mouth of Fauntleroy creek! No way a quality fishery like this one should be left alone. Go get the nets!

  • Aman November 23, 2011 (7:47 am)

    My 87 year-old neighbor tells a story about how less than 50 years ago he could look out across Elliott Bay and regularly see large salmon jumping.

  • Mike November 23, 2011 (8:21 am)

    Pretty dang cool!

Sorry, comment time is over.