December 13, 2006
Byrne Creek Patrol Finds Oil Still Seeping, Dead Cutthroat
The oil that streamkeepers saw entering Burnaby's Byrne Creek a week ago is still trickling out of a storm outfall. City environmental staff put a boom in to try to soak some of it up, but it doesn't appear to be very effective. Today we found a dead cutthroat trout a few meters downstream of where the substance is entering the creek, and while it's impossible to say there is a causal relationship, it's possible the fish blundered into a pocket of the pollutant.
This little cutthroat trout had no visible external damage and was 17.5cm long.
As we worked our way upstream looking for spawning salmon, the sun broke through.
It's beautiful moments like this that lift a streamkeeper's spirits!