USFWS Internship & Mentoring Programs 2013 - Outreach Activities

The hush that fell over the students as I made my first incision quickly transitioned into a wave of awe and excitement as they saw, for the first time, the inside of an adult coho salmon.



Fish dissection with
Poulsbo Elementary students

My USFWS internship has been going well as I have kept busy providing support for numerous outreach and education events. Teaching the fish anatomy station at a recent school field trip at Quilcene National Fish Hatchery, for example, was both fun and rewarding. I worked with over 100 third-grade students from Poulsbo Elementary in groups of about 20 teaching them about salmon anatomy (both external and internal) as well as the significance of salmon to the ecology of the Pacific Northwest. Few things can capture the attention of a third grader like a fish dissection. Throughout the day I heard numerous “oohs” and “ahhs” as the students' excitement grew with each new discovery. Their interest reminded me of my younger self when I first discovered the wonderment and excitement that science has to offer.



Simulating river processes  

I also had the pleasure of assisting with the outreach campaign associated with the Lake Sammamish kokanee salmon recovery project. Educating the public about this lesser-known, but no less important, salmon species is a major component of the long-term recovery and conservation strategy for these fish. During this project I provided lessons focusing on river morphology and fish habitat. I used an engaging and effective river model (http://www.emriver.com/) that allowed students to take part in hands-on demonstrations of how rivers change over time.  It was also a useful tool for demonstrating features such as log jams, riprap, culverts and bridges. The students were utterly captivated as they watched a river evolving right in front of their eyes. This activity was also a very effective demonstration of both healthy and damaging human interactions with river habitats and riparian zones. Each student walked away with multiple real world examples of how they can practice stewardship and conservation.

It has been very fulfilling to help inspire the next generation of conservation advocates and professionals. Both of these outreach experiences not only benefitted our local schools and communities but they also benefitted myself as well. My public speaking abilities are being significantly strengthened and my retention and understanding of fisheries conservation and stewardship science increases with each lesson I teach.

 
--Travis Hedrick, USFWS Intern/Fisheries Technician

 

USFWS Internship & Mentoring Programs - 2013

Hello, my name is Travis Hedrick. I am a senior at The Evergreen State College (TESC) in Olympia, Washington, and an intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). I just started this full-time internship and I’ve already taken part in a few adventures including salmon snorkel surveys on the Big Quilcene River!  Other future learning opportunities will include fish hatchery support, estuary sampling and stream electrofishing. All of these experiences will prove to be beneficial as I move toward completing my bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from TESC. I have learned much from the college in the fields of environmental studies and biology but nothing rivals the real-world experience I will gain from this internship.  

My internship with the USFWS also includes a youth education component. I am looking forward to applying the knowledge I have obtained from both my classroom and field experiences as I lead learning activities covering fish anatomy (fish dissections), river morphology, and salmon life history. As I lead these activities I will strengthen my ability to articulate biological concepts to the public as well as reinforce my existing understanding of them. This program is also a great way to connect youth with nature and to promote interest in the conservation process. I am excited to have the opportunity to give back to my community as well as inspire future advocates and enthusiasts.

I am confident this internship will help me gain a better understanding of the inner workings of fisheries biology and ecology work. This internship will also help me forward my education goals, strengthen my interpersonal skills, and diversify my as work place experience. All of which will prove to be essential as I begin my transition from student to professional.

I never would have guessed that I would be earning college credits while swimming with local trout and salmon populations!

 

Strengthening Partnerships and Coordination of Elwha Restoration and Monitoring Activities

Projects as large and complex as the Elwha Restoration Project are best accomplished when numerous individuals and agencies work together. These collaborative partnerships don’t occur by chance---they take significant effort by all those involved in the project. Recent staff changes at Puget Sound Partnership (PSP), the Washington State agency tasked with coordinating restoration and protective activities in Puget Sound, provided an opportunity for agency staff to further strengthen interagency partnerships and collaboration. Duane Fagergren recently became the new PSP lead for the Strait of Juan de Fuca region. In an effort to learn about the Elwha Restoration Project and begin to forge relationships, Duane contacted several individuals from the agencies involved with Elwha River restoration and monitoring, including Roger Peters (U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service biologist) and Jeff Duda (U.S. Geological Survey ecologist).


Roger Peters (left) and Jeff Duda on Altaire Bridge

Roger and Jeff took Duane on a field trip to multiple monitoring sites on the Elwha River to provide an on-the-ground perspective of the Elwha restoration progress focusing on science, monitoring, and related issues. They visited sediment monitoring sites at Altaire Bridge (where suspended sediment below the Glines Canyon Dam project is being monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Park Service, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) and the water diversion where USGS is monitoring turbidity in the mainstem of the Elwha River (see webcams). They also visited multiple sites designed to monitor the movements of juvenile fish that are among the first group of recolonizers to portions of the watershed that haven’t seen anadromous salmonids in nearly a century. These sites included a screw trap operated by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe that is used for monitoring outmigrating juvenile salmon on Little River and a PIT tag recording station operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Indian Creek that also monitors recolonizing juveniles. 

Stumps cut during construction of the Elwha Dam are being
uncovered as sediment from Lake Aldwell erodes and is
transported downstream. Based on this picture, the current
floodplain level is likely close to the original floodplain level.

They then visited the former reservoir bottom and delta area of Lake Aldwell where the former lake bed is being transformed into a functioning floodplain river, a salmon-rearing channel created by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and a site where the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has installed a series of engineered large woody debris jams to create fish spawning and rearing habitat. Finally, the group visited the Elwha estuary and beaches east of the river mouth. There numerous groups are studying the physical and biological changes to the ecosystem caused by the removal of the dams. At low tide, the physical changes to the beaches and submarine delta were apparent since sediment released from the former reservoirs has already moved to the coastal areas.

Accumulated small wood that has been deposited
along the Elwha nearshore after being released from
Lake Mills and Lake Aldwell after dam removal

Throughout the day, the three discussed the issues relevant to research and monitoring, particularly those projects that will contribute to a better understanding of how the restoration of the Elwha River and its salmon populations unfolds.  “A strong working relationship between the Puget Sound Partnership and those of us on the ground can only help, as we both are striving to learn as much as we can about the possibilities to recover ecosystem structure and functions that are relevant to Puget Sound,” said Jeff.

According to Duane, “This was one of the most informative and enjoyable days I’ve spent in my career working at the Puget Sound Partnership and its predecessor agencies. Roger and Jeff helped me understand the enormity of the system and the dynamic forces at work in the Elwha. The important work we all do benefits by forging personal relationships like this, and important resources like Chinook salmon in the Elwha will hopefully benefit from our cooperative, collaborative effort". Duane plans to meet with others working on the Elwha restoration effort, including individuals from NOAA, WDFW, Olympic National Park, and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in the near future.

Duane Fagergren (left) and Jeff Duda discuss changes in the
Elwha nearshore. This picture was taken at low tide from the
Lower Elwha Klallam Reservation, east of the Elwha River
mouth and facing Freshwater Bay and Observatory Point.

 

Elwha River Fine Sediment Sampling

Late last summer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), NOAA Fisheries, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, U.S. Geological Survey, and National Park Service participated in a multi-agency effort to measure fine sediment concentrations in salmon spawning areas of the Elwha River. This sampling was the first to occur following the initiation of dam removal on the Elwha River; baseline data had previously been collected for 2 years prior to dam removal.

Sampling area within the 'shield' showing
sediment conditions prior to dam removal (2010)

The removal of Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams is expected to release 7-8 million cubic meters of sediment. About half of this is fine sediment (silt and clay), which should be transported quickly by the Elwha River into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. However, this material could alter spawning habitat downstream of the dams. Monitoring fine sediments in locations where salmon are likely to spawn will help determine whether any impacts occur and, if so, how long they persist.

We sampled both mainstem and floodplain channel habitat, collecting 30 samples from just below Glines Canyon Dam to near the mouth of the river. A plywood shield blocked water flow during sampling, providing a calm water area where the sample of the river bed material could be collected. We removed the surface layer of the sediment and placed it into a sample bag for later processing to determine sediment size distribution. We also collected a 'before-and-after' water sample to determine the amount of fine sediment that was suspended in the water column during sampling.

Measuring pre-sampling water depths within the shield.
This is done to determine the depth of the sediment sample and
the water volume behind the shield. This volume is used to
calculate the overall weight of fine sediment suspended
in the water column during sampling.

Preliminary results suggest that there is more fine sediment in the spawning areas today than before dam removal began; however, the level was lower than expected. There was also a change from large cobble to gravel substrate in some areas, which will greatly improve salmon spawning habitat. We expect larger changes this year following the complete removal of Glines Canyon Dam, which holds back the majority of the sediment in this river system.

 

Transporting Coho - The Journey from Quilcene NFH to Quilcene Bay Net Pen

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pathways student technician Michael Farnum and I had the opportunity to participate in transferring young coho salmon to a net pen in Hood Canal last month. During this once-a-year event, approximately 200,000 coho smolts from Quilcene National Fish Hatchery (NFH) are moved to a net pen in Quilcene Bay. This partnership between USFWS, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and the Skokomish Tribe is helping to rebuild Hood Canal’s salmon population for tribal and sport fisheries.

The transfer of coho from Quilcene NFH to the net pen is a multiple-step process. The first step happened at the hatchery, where the coho smolts are moved from the raceways into the WDFW fish transport truck using a pump and tubing. During this process, I helped crowd the fish to one end of each raceway; this makes the transfer to the fish transport truck a lot easier. Once loaded, the WDFW fish transport truck headed to the harbor to meet the boat. At the harbor, we transferred the coho from the truck into a 1,000-gallon tank on the boat. Once the fish and technicians were safely aboard the boat, we set out on the final leg of our journey to Quilcene Bay.

On the way to Quilcene Bay net pen

These coho salmon will spend the next couple of months in the net pen acclimating to saltwater and growing a lot. The net pens will also protect the fish from predators that are looking to dine on a tasty and naive young fish just entering the marine food web.

Transferring coho from the boat to the net pen

My experience participating in this event was a positive one. I was able to gain valuable experience and, as usual, working at Quilcene NFH was an interesting and educational experience.
　

--Tim Grun, Biological Science Technician

 

Observations on the 2013 Seattle Boat Show

CenturyLink Field in Seattle is known as the home of the 12th Man and 72,000 screaming Seattle Seahawks fans that regularly set the Richter scale twitching during every home football game. A typical trip to CenturyLink Field leaves you excited after watching the home team cruise to victory.

But CenturyLink Field also plays host to many other events. From January 25 through February 3 this year, I represented the USFWS at the 66th Annual Seattle Boat Show. This being my first boat show, I didn’t know what to expect. Coworkers shared stories of their experiences from last year, but each experience was unique. With attendance expected to be around 50,000, along with 600 exhibitors and more than 200 free seminars, I knew there was going to be lots of action.

Two young visitors testing their casting skills

My first day on the job was exciting and busy from the start. Wide-eyed kids were rushing to our casting booth with high hopes of catching some of our laminated fish (with magnets instead of hooks). After they reeled in a fish, I helped them identify what species of fish they had "caught" (they ranged from bull trout to largemouth bass). Not only were these kids having fun fishing, but they were also learning about sportsmanship, fishing skills, and fisheries conservation.

There were plenty of "older" sportsmen eager to share fishing tales and boaters who were amazed looking at our maps that show the rapid spread of zebra and quagga mussels west from the Great Lakes. Travelers from all over the state of Washington visited our booth, along with some folks from Alaska and Maine. I even ran into people I know from my prior residence in Sitka, Alaska (the king salmon fishing capitol of the world). I would like to think they all walked away with more information about what USFWS does and how they can enjoy and conserve America’s great aquatic resources.

Educating the public on invasive species

By the end of the boat show, we had shared time with nearly 1,000 young fishermen and fisherwomen in our casting activity and had close to 3,000 conversations with interested and amazed individuals about invasive species. With informational brochures and invasive species literature running low, the Seattle Boat Show came to a close.

Reflecting on my experience at the show, I found the atmosphere of the Seattle Boat Show to be fun, exciting, energetic, and even crazy at times. The USFWS presence, thanks in large part to Biologist and Outreach Coordinator Dan Spencer, was a great success. The experiences I had during the Seattle Boat Show were priceless! My only regret is not signing up for more shifts so that I could educate more people on the potential threat of invasive species to our pristine Pacific Northwest waters and teach another young boy or girl how to cast a fishing pole for the first time.


--Timothy Grun, Biological Science Technician

 

USFWS Internship - Working on the Elwha River Restoration Project

Sarah Gabel

Greetings! My name is Sarah Gabel and I’m a biology major at Saint Martin’s University and an intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). I began pursuing internship opportunities last fall in order to gain field and lab experience and exposure to the application of scientific research and methods in a professional setting, as well as to bolster my resume. The USFWS offered an opportunity associated with the Elwha River restoration project which appealed to me because of the lab experience and focus on the environment, a branch of biology I’ve had an interest in. I have often enjoyed going fishing, camping, hiking, kayaking, biking, and partaking in various other outdoor activities which have given me a strong interest in nature and a desire to learn more about it.

The Elwha River restoration project is a study of how the deconstruction of the Elwha Dam is affecting the fine sediment concentrations in salmon spawning habitat. Data will be used to monitor changes in the quality of salmon spawning habitat during and following dam removal. This data will be important for understanding factors limiting salmon recovery in this system. My lab work includes filtering water samples, burning off the organic material, and measuring the difference in order to determine how much fine sediment is being added to the spawning gravels in the river. It’s an interesting process observing the differences between the samples taken before and after deconstruction of the dam. It has been a great learning experience for me and has given me the chance to practice lab techniques in a professional environment while earning college credits toward my degree.
 

Filtering a water sample

In addition to developing my lab skills and understanding of the Elwha River restoration project, I find it exciting to have the opportunity to provide needed support for this important research project studying the effect of human activities on the environment. It is our responsibility to make sure that our actions do not disturb the ecosystem; projects such as this help to sustain the environment for the use and enjoyment of generations to come. This internship opportunity has piqued my interest in this field of work and I am now considering pursuing a career in biological research.



Placing samples in drying oven



To the Service With Love: Why One Biological Science Tech Loves Her Job

Kira collecting genetic samples from
Lake Sammamish kokanee salmon

I have a confession. I love playing in the dirt and mud; I love coming home exhausted and dirty from a hard day working in a river; I love going out and collecting information; and I love getting paid to work outside. I currently work as a Biological Science Technician for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Lacey, WA, and I have also worked for the National Park Service (Crater Lake National Park and Biscayne National Park), several state agencies, and the private sector. My job makes me work my mind and body in ways that test my mental and physical endurance, and at the end of the day I always have something to show for it, be it information gathered, a new tracking or monitoring device placed, an invasive species removed and a native replaced, and/or a sore muscle to remind me that I worked hard today!

The field of science has allowed me to travel many places already and it could take me anywhere in the world in the future. At Biscayne, I was privileged to scuba dive on some of the most pristine coral reefs in the U.S., removing invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles), monitoring algae growth on coral heads, and documenting the population dynamics of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus). At Crater Lake, I worked to assess the chemical and biological health of the lake by netting and trapping invasive fish and crayfish, collecting water samples for lab analysis, and installing equipment that will allow scientists to monitor the lake year-round.

Currently my job is to go out into the field and gather information for new and ongoing projects. The best part of my job is that I don’t have one set thing I do. Here is a short list of things I could be asked to do on any given day:

• Work on the urban stream WRIA-8 project (collecting fish and habitat information)
• Organize/fix/maintain field equipment
• Strap on my waders for a river survey
• Don my dry suit to snorkel for freshwater mussels or for a night fish survey in the lake
• Collect fish for brood stock at a hatchery
• Collect genetic samples,
• Bio-sample and retrieve coded wire tags (CWT’s) from adult fish and enter information into an international database
• Remove and relocate endangered fish
• Work in the lab
• Assist other departments on projects they have going on

In short, my job is to be versatile.

Kira assisting with an elk capture with state
and tribal employees  

I have a great feeling of accomplishment when I consider all the information I have gathered and all the organisms I have helped. You always hear "one person can make a difference" and sometimes that is hard to believe when you think of how big the whole picture is. My job has allowed me to experience that one person CAN make a BIG difference! I see positive changes in the world because of things I have done.

I tell everyone to follow their dreams. I am living my dream.


--Kira Mazzi, Biological Science Technician

 

Determining the Age of Sculpin Using the Otolith Burnt Cross-Section Technique



Prickly sculpin

The prickly sculpin (Cottus asper) is a native and little-studied freshwater fish found throughout western Washington. Over the past few weeks, Roger Tabor, Kira Mazzi, Mike Elam, and I have been trying to unlock the information found in a small ear bone (otolith) hiding inside these fishes' heads. The otolith contains a record of a sculpin's growth, much like rings in a tree--the growth of the fish influences both the size and density of the otolith. Through our analysis of these otoliths, we hope to discover if different populations of prickly sculpin are growing faster and living with or without competition from other fish, at different elevations, and consuming different diets. To do this, we removed otoliths from roughly 200 preserved specimens of prickly sculpin and prepared them using a common aging method called the "otolith burnt cross-section technique."

The first step in preparing the otolith is breaking it as closely through the center as possible. I used my fingers to break them in half, but many people use forceps or a hard surface to crack them open. A good break will allow you to view each annulus (yearly growth ring). Next, and most importantly, is the burning procedure. Using lighters, we burned the otolith until we achieved a uniform dark brown. This turns the annuli dark brown and keeps the remainder of the otolith light, giving you distinction between years. Then we added a dab of mineral oil for clarity and had a perfectly prepared otolith to read.

Sculpin otolith

In the photo above, you can see the distinction between the dark brown annuli and the light summer growth. This otolith is from a mature 13-year-old prickly sculpin. As fish mature, they experience a change in growth rate. You can see this by the small separation of annuli in this adult. In juvenile fish, the translucent growth zones are much larger than those later in life (see center of the image).

We have finished all the aging for this study and will now move on to analyzing our data with the environmental and biological information we collected about the fish and their habitats early this year.
　

--Timothy Grun, Biological Science Technician

 

What is an Otolith and Why Do I Care About It?



Fish otolith

An otolith (inner ear bone) can be found in any animal with a vertebra---mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, etc. Otoliths are sensitive to acceleration and gravity; these organ and bone structures tell the brain how the body is moving in relation to the surrounding environment. We are currently looking at kokanee salmon otoliths to evaluate whether hatchery-reared kokanee are helping us recover the native kokanee population in Lake Sammamish. 

Fisheries scientists have figured out that fish otoliths grow much like the rings of a tree trunk. In the summer, when growth is high, the fish lays down a lot of otolith material. In contrast, during the winter when growth is minimal, the fish lays down very little growth material, resulting in the “ring” pattern. Much like a tree, if you count the “rings” you can determine the age of the fish.

Now, bear with me on this one because what I am about to tell you is kind of hard to believe but it's true . . . .

In the hatchery, the temperature of the water the fish are reared in can be controlled. By controlling the water temperature over a short time period (usually a few weeks), a barcode-type pattern is created in the rings of the otolith. This technique is called marking and is permanent. After the fish’s death, the otolith can be extracted, shaved down, put under a microscope and read. By collecting the fish and reading the otoliths, we can tell how old the fish is, what stream its parents came from, whether the fish strayed from its natal stream. That is really, really cool! And all of this from an inner ear bone about 1-4 millimeters in length!

This is what I and other federal, state, and county biologists are doing in the field and in the lab. We are collecting kokanee from Lake Sammamish streams, spawning them, extracting the otolith, collecting biological information on the fish, and then reading the otoliths to see if marking is present. The marking will assist with the research and progression of the Lake Sammamish kokanee supplementation program. This year we saw a larger kokanee run; this is also the first year that the hatchery-reared supplementation fish were old enough to return to spawn. The information we gather from these otoliths will shed new light on the future of kokanee in Lake Sammamish and the human efforts to save this unique population.
    

--Kira Mazzi, Biological Science Technician

 

Photo credit:  WDFW Otolith Thermal Marking Lab

 

Lake Sammamish Kokanee Salmon Observed in 13 Streams

  Map of Lake Sammamish tributaries. Those
  in red are tributaries where kokanee have
  rarely been observed in recent years until
  2012. Those in black are the four main
  spawning tributaries.

This past year’s return of kokanee to Lake Sammamish tributaries saw several thousand spawners in the four main tributaries (Lewis, Ebright, Laughing Jacobs, and Pine Lake Creeks). In addition, kokanee spawners were unexpectedly observed in other tributaries--George Davis and Zaccuse Creeks on the east side; Issaquah, East Fork Issaquah, Tibbetts, Pickering, and Schneider Creeks in the south end; and Vasa and Idylwood Creeks on the west side of Lake Sammamish. For most of these additional creeks, spawning kokanee have been recorded in the past but have not been observed in recent years. In two of the creeks (Pickering and Schneider) kokanee do not appear to have ever been observed before 2012.

Agency staff members from King County, WDFW, and USFWS, as well as private landowners, conducted periodic surveys of these creeks in 2012. In addition to counting the live spawning fish, surveyors also collected kokanee carcasses in order to remove their otoliths (ear bones). The otoliths will be analyzed in the lab to determine if fish originated from Issaquah Creek State Hatchery or were naturally produced. Tissue samples were also taken from some of the fish to determine their genetic make-up.

This past year’s results indicate that Lake Sammamish kokanee are spawning in tributaries on all sides of the lake, underscoring the need to protect and restore as many tributaries as possible in order to sustain this native population.


   Kokanee spawning area in Schneider
   Creek. Prior to 2012, kokanee were
   not known to use this tributary.