Field trip to Fauntleroy Creek this morning for fifth-graders from Arbor Heights Elementary, the first of this year’s Salmon in the Schools participants to release the fry they’ve been raising in tanks.

It’s been four months since volunteers Judy Pickens and Phil Sweetland coordinated getting salmon eggs from hatchery to teachers so that students could start fry-raising. Over the next month, Fauntleroy Watershed Council volunteers will team with teachers and students for 19 release visits.

Above is volunteer Dennis Hinton, one of those who helped with this morning’s Arbor Heights visit. These sunglasses factored into the event too, but not for the usual reason:

Polarized glasses helped the students see the baby fish in the water after they’re released. They’re part of a growing tradition – last year almost 1,000 people participated in the releases, the most since the first one in 1991. As for the fish, those that survive a year in the creek will head out for salt water next spring.