(Nancie Hernandez with Salmon in the Schools – Seattle, leads Concord second graders as they explore habitat near Fauntleroy Creek. Photos by Mark Ahlness)

Two seasonal salmon milestones have just been reached at Fauntleroy Creek, Judy Pickens reports:

On Wednesday, Fauntleroy Creek volunteers hosted the last of 700+ students who visited Fauntleroy Park over the past five weeks for salmon releases.

(Concord International students leave Fauntleroy Park after the last of 19 salmon releases at Fauntleroy Creek)

They brought 1,800 coho fry reared since January in area schools through the Salmon in the Schools program.

This week also marked the end of monitoring smolts migrating out to Fauntleroy Cove. Since mid-March, twice-daily checking of upper and lower traps documented that 32 coho smolts had survived their year in the creek, up from 19 in 2016. They’ll put on weight in nearshore habitat, then head to open water before returning to spawn in two years.

The next big seasonal event: Volunteers will watch for returning spawners this fall. Seven showed up last year – after zero in 2015, 19 in 2014, zero in 2013, and a record 274 counted in 2012.