(Dennis Hinton checking on smolt trap; photo by Connie Hinton)
Remember that record-setting count of Fauntleroy Creek spawners last fall? That couldn’t have happened without help. And the spring season brings a lot of help to the creek too, as reported in this wrapup shared by Judy Pickens:

Fauntleroy Creek was teeming with life this spring as students released fry and as smolts headed for saltwater.

Between April 30 and May 22, volunteers with the Fauntleroy Watershed Council hosted 18 salmon-release field trips from 15 schools, plus a group of South Koreans visiting Fauntleroy Church. A total of 626 students released an estimated 1,932 coho fry into the creek, where they will spend the next year growing into smolts.

Volunteers checked two soft traps in the creek every day between mid March and May 31 and documented 141 smolts leaving for Puget Sound. The 4″-5″ fish will feed near the shore in Fauntleroy Cove until they’re big enough to take on the open water.

Key volunteers who made these activities possible were Judy Pickens, Dennis Hinton, Pete Draughon, Steev Ward, and Jack Lawless.

Want to know more about Fauntleroy Creek and its watershed? Go here.