(WSB photos)

While some were cheering for the Boston Red Sox or Los Angeles Dodgers earlier tonight, this group was cheering for the Fauntleroy Creek Coho. No spawner sightings yet this season, but hopes remained high during the annual gathering to drum and sing and welcome them home.

Some of the younger participants wore salmon hats made during last Sunday’s Fauntleroy Fall Festival with the help of creek steward Judy Pickens, whose creekside carport hosted the gathering, providing cover from the showery weather.

This year added some fish jokes (example: Why don’t fish play basketball? They’re afraid of the net). But caring for the creek is serious business. Hundreds of students visit every spring to release fish they’ve raised via the Salmon in the Schools program, with which Judy and husband Phil Sweetland are also closely involved. (See its newest annual report here [PDF].)

Judy promises updates as always if and when spawners are sighted. You can peek at the creek from the public fish-ladder overlook at Fauntleroy/Director – across from the ferry dock – any time.