FOLLOWUP: See what followed Fauntleroy Creek’s successful spawning season

(Video by Tom Trulin)

Three months after a near-record spawning season concluded in Fauntleroy Creek, some of the results are coming into view! Judy Pickens from the Fauntleroy Watershed Council shares the details:

Last Saturday, volunteer Dennis Hinton spotted the first “home hatch” left in November by 244 coho spawners in lower Fauntleroy Creek. About an inch long, they’re now emerging from loose gravel to begin feeding on vegetation and insect larva in the cold water.

With so many spawners leaving fertilized eggs, we are expecting a big crop of fry to be learning to hunt for food. They already know how to avoid predators, such that only experienced monitors have a chance of seeing them.

Starting in mid-March, volunteers will check soft traps daily to count how many smolts survived their year in the upper and lower creek to head for saltwater. Then in May, schoolchildren will be releasing fry in Fauntleroy Park through the Salmon in the Schools program.

The Fauntleroy Watershed Council continues to welcome community involvement and support for this rare resource, a salmon-spawning creek in the city – here’s how you can help.

5 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: See what followed Fauntleroy Creek's successful spawning season"

  • WSresident February 23, 2022 (11:40 am)

    So great! Thanks for the video. 

  • Kalo February 23, 2022 (12:10 pm)

    This is awesome!

  • ACG February 23, 2022 (3:40 pm)

    That’s awesome!!!!!!  Judy, Phil and Dennis- your dedication to the salmon is so wonderful!!

  • Cherie Tucker February 27, 2022 (3:01 pm)

    Thanks, Dennis , for all that you’ve done!

  • Cherie Tucker February 27, 2022 (4:25 pm)

    Thank you for doing this important work, Denny.

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