Seining Project
What the seining team has learned
A Beach Watcher performs a catch count.
Fish density and diversity within these lagoons can be as much as three and a half times greater than in the adjacent near shore. Seiners witnessed the "changing of the guard" in species diversity over the seasons. Spring and early summer juvenile salmon population dominance gives way to shiner perch by season's end. It is speculated that this change is related to seasonal increases in water temperatures and the change in size of the juvenile salmon who outgrow their shallow nursery habitat.
Juvenile Chinook Salmon
Oncorynchus tshawytscha
In addition to salmon, Beach Watchers also saw sculpin, flatfish, forage fish, stickleback and arrow goby in these small lagoons. Below are three other interesting catches:
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| Juvenile Shiner Perch Cymatogaster aggregate |
Comb Jellies Phylum Ctenothora |
Juvenile Flounder Platichtys stellatus |
All photos this page by Celia Bartram Copyright © 2006
For more information
If you'd like to read more about the seining project, you can read the periodic progress reports prepared by the Beach Watchers or the "Juvenile Salmon and Nearshore Fish Use in Shallow Intertidal Habitat Associated with Harrington Lagoon 2005" report prepared jointly by the Skagit River System Cooperative in LaConner, WA. and NOAA Fisheries (Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle) or the "Proposed Elger Bay Estuary Project" report prepared by the Skagit River System Cooperative in 2006. And if you want to learn more about Island County estuaries and discover the location of our 19 estuaries, look at the Island County Estuary Project web pages.