My wife Yumi spotted an itsy bitsy fishy today near the wooden footbridge that crosses Byrne Creek in the ravine. We eventually saw four little ones, about an inch, or 2 - 3cm long.
They're nearly impossible to identify in the water when they're that small, but it was exciting as they are likely chum salmon born from nests of eggs that we saw spawners making last autumn. It's uplifting to see them, particularly after heavy winter rains in the watershed scoured the creek and covered up many of the redds (as the nests are called) with sand and gravel.
Byrne Creek suffers from poor water retention in the upper watershed, with too much water flowing into storm drains too quickly.
We'll be keeping a close eye on the creek and hope to see the number of wee ones multiply.
Posted by Paul at February 29, 2004 07:25 PM