A Day on a Fish Study

I had the opportunity to go into the field with some researchers sampling fish and salamanders at the Andrews Forest.  What a fun day!  It was wet, wet, wet, but it was still better than sitting at my desk. Here are a few photo highlights:

 

The team of scientists surveyed the fish and salamanders in the stream by using an electroshocker and nets. The current of electricity stuns the fish just briefly and allows them to be scooped up in the net, alive.  The researchers want to learn more about the difference of fish abundance, distribution, and growth rate in streams under old-growth vs second-growth canopy.

The researchers had surveyed the same stretch of stream in July and had marked fish using a dye that floouresces in special light. The purple light brings out a very bright green vertical stripe behind the eye. See it? So this fish had been tagged in July. By catching this fish again and noting its location in the stream, the researchers could measure the fish's growth rate and its movement within the stream.

 

Here's the team checking for pit tags and measuring length and width for each fish. After they were done they put the fish back in the stream. 

 

Here's the team posing for a photo in the old-growth stretch of stream.  It's got big logs in the streambed which cause deeper pools and some areas have big gaps of light overhead.

 

me with a salamander!