There have been a few questions generated lately regarding the Dash Point State Park Stream Study. As you know, Mr. G and I took our classes to compile data in the fall of the 2007-2008 school year. The following is information from Mr. G. which I think will shed some light on the subject:
A word about Stream Study:
As we haven’t been going down to the stream for the past couple of months, I wanted to make sure that everyone is up to date on the status of our Stream Study. The purpose of Stream Study has been to do research to determine whether or not it will be feasible to reintroduce salmonids (salmon or trout) to the stream at Dash Point. The Explorer and Navigator classes collected data for about three months on various aspects of the stream, including depth, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen. This data has been added to the data collected over the past few years and paints a pretty consistent picture. In the classroom, we have also been doing research on the needs of salmonids to compare to our data and determine whether or not our stream has what it will need to accommodate larger fish. We are in the process of writing up these findings to present to the Parks and Rec Commission, who originally requested our involvement. These are some of the things the class has found:
Salmonids need a “staging area” at the mouth of a stream where they will hang out for a couple months before they spawn. This staging area should be a calm pool of water, around 5 feet deep depending on the size of the fish, that has shady areas for the fish to hide from predators. Currently, our stream doesn’t have any place that could act as a staging area.
Salmonids depend upon the seasonal change in water level to cue when they should spawn, or begin other parts of their life cycle. All the data we have collected says that our water level is constant, no matter how much rain the area has been getting. This means that our stream is fed by ground water, and not much run-off. This is a potential problem that would need to be dealt with, because the fish wouldn’t have dramatic changes in water level to trigger different parts of their life cycle.
Once the eggs have hatched, the small fish need to be able to swim downstream to a wetland area where they can grow up, have protection from predators, and get used to the salt water before going out to sea. They should spend quite a long time here. Obviously, our stream doesn’t currently have a wetland area attached to it. What is now the parking lot and beach used to be a wetland that was destroyed.
After contacting the Points Northeast Society, a local historical society specializing in the history of Brown’s Point and Dash Point, we’ve learned that it’s almost certain that there were never salmon in our stream. While there is some anecdotal evidence of other salmonids, we don’t have conclusive proof. According to the historical society, our stream was used as a skid when the area was logged in the late 1800s, causing the runoff of sediment that filled in the wetland and resulted in the beach. The damage caused by the logging may take hundreds of years to be repaired.While some of these findings may be discouraging to those of us who hoped to be able to release fish into the stream at some point, this kind of scientific investigation, data collection and analysis are exactly what the Stream Study is about. I’ll be meeting with the Parks and Rec Commission to talk about our findings and find out in what ways we can support Dash Point in the future. We will present our findings, and eagerly await their suggestions. Introducing fish still may not be out of the question; we’ll just have to see what they say!
As we haven’t been going down to the stream for the past couple of months, I wanted to make sure that everyone is up to date on the status of our Stream Study. The purpose of Stream Study has been to do research to determine whether or not it will be feasible to reintroduce salmonids (salmon or trout) to the stream at Dash Point. The Explorer and Navigator classes collected data for about three months on various aspects of the stream, including depth, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen. This data has been added to the data collected over the past few years and paints a pretty consistent picture. In the classroom, we have also been doing research on the needs of salmonids to compare to our data and determine whether or not our stream has what it will need to accommodate larger fish. We are in the process of writing up these findings to present to the Parks and Rec Commission, who originally requested our involvement. These are some of the things the class has found:
Salmonids need a “staging area” at the mouth of a stream where they will hang out for a couple months before they spawn. This staging area should be a calm pool of water, around 5 feet deep depending on the size of the fish, that has shady areas for the fish to hide from predators. Currently, our stream doesn’t have any place that could act as a staging area.
Salmonids depend upon the seasonal change in water level to cue when they should spawn, or begin other parts of their life cycle. All the data we have collected says that our water level is constant, no matter how much rain the area has been getting. This means that our stream is fed by ground water, and not much run-off. This is a potential problem that would need to be dealt with, because the fish wouldn’t have dramatic changes in water level to trigger different parts of their life cycle.
Once the eggs have hatched, the small fish need to be able to swim downstream to a wetland area where they can grow up, have protection from predators, and get used to the salt water before going out to sea. They should spend quite a long time here. Obviously, our stream doesn’t currently have a wetland area attached to it. What is now the parking lot and beach used to be a wetland that was destroyed.
After contacting the Points Northeast Society, a local historical society specializing in the history of Brown’s Point and Dash Point, we’ve learned that it’s almost certain that there were never salmon in our stream. While there is some anecdotal evidence of other salmonids, we don’t have conclusive proof. According to the historical society, our stream was used as a skid when the area was logged in the late 1800s, causing the runoff of sediment that filled in the wetland and resulted in the beach. The damage caused by the logging may take hundreds of years to be repaired.While some of these findings may be discouraging to those of us who hoped to be able to release fish into the stream at some point, this kind of scientific investigation, data collection and analysis are exactly what the Stream Study is about. I’ll be meeting with the Parks and Rec Commission to talk about our findings and find out in what ways we can support Dash Point in the future. We will present our findings, and eagerly await their suggestions. Introducing fish still may not be out of the question; we’ll just have to see what they say!
I hope that helps answer your questions.
The Math homework for tonight for My math class is as follows:
Mrs. Gellert's Math Class: p.9 (1,3,5,7,9,10,11) and page 10 (7,8 and 9)
The Math homework from Mr. G. for tonight is Question #9.
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