(Video by Tom Trulin)
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
Lower Fauntleroy Creek is again teeming with fish – not the 254 big spawners of last fall but the tiny “home hatch” from the eggs they left.
Volunteer Tom Trulin spotted the first coho fry on Feb. 20, a day later than last year. Within a week, dozens were darting around.
Water temperature determines how long coho eggs take to hatch, then how long alevin take to develop into fry. They start life under the protection of loose gravel and emerge as free-swimming fry. To protect themselves from predators while foraging for food, they stay near the bank or overhanging vegetation.
“The fry are less than an inch long and vary in color from light tan to very dark,” said volunteer Dennis Hinton. “Seeing them takes a lot of patience because they don’t want to be seen and are easily spooked.” He discouraged visitors to the lower creek while the fish are so fragile.
Based on the last observed spawning during the week of Nov. 15, these fry are about 13 weeks old. They will grow into fingerlings (parr), then smolts, over their year in the creek. Next spring, those that survive will migrate to salt water, then return to fresh water after two years to spawn.
The upper creek will soon be teeming, as well, when at least 500 students release the coho fry they are rearing now through the Salmon in the Schools program. Tom, Dennis, and other Fauntleroy Watershed Council volunteers are expecting to host at least 13 release field trips in May in Fauntleroy Park.
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