The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is restoring salmon habitat in the 118-acre Washington Harbor by replacing a roadway and two culverts with a 600-foot-long bridge. The 600-foot-long road and the two…
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe recently learned that Sequim Bay is filled with more eelgrass than previously thought, and that’s good for the bay’s summer chum salmon, an ESA-listed species.
“It’s a good sign to see that eelgrass was found nearly all the way around the bay,” said Lohna O’Rourke, the tribe’s environmental biologist. “This provides a baseline of what’s there now and we can track the growth or decline over time.” (more…)
While securely nestled within gravel beds, salmon eggs need proper levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) to survive.
As part of monitoring the restored Jimmycomelately Creek, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is testing the DO levels within the streambed’s gravel, where salmon make their egg nests, also called redds.
The tribe is taking water samples from 21 locations within the creek. To get a sample, the tribe engineered a special tube and pump system. A small aquarium air stone is attached to one end of a 68-inch long plastic tube. The stone is buried 7 inches below the streambed surface, mimicking the typical depth of a salmon redd. The remaining 59 inches of tubing floats in the water. When gathering a sample, a special pump is attached to the exposed end, drawing the water up from within the gravel. (more…)