Eleanor Chittenden with a prized steelhead on the Elwha River in 1907 during an expedition with The Mountaineers.
Photo by Asahel Curtis, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society

Thus begins the introduction to a collection of historical photographs titled “In Praise of Water,” which includes mostly amusing pictures from 1936 to 1968. The collection was put together by Life magazine in recognition of World Water Day last month, but I just stumbled on it last week. Please click on the link to take a look. (For the chemists among us, we’ll have to forgive the term “element,” because water is actually a compound.)

To bring the wonder of historical photos back home to Washington state, I pulled this fabulous photo of Eleanor Chittenden fishing on the Elwha River in 1907. It’s from a collection managed by the Washington State Historical Society.

Eleanor, 15 in this picture, was the daughter of famed engineer Hiram Chittenden, who worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in connection with the Port of Seattle. The photo, by Asahel Curtis, was taken during an expedition to the Olympic Peninsula with The Mountaineers. Eleanor was no doubt proud of her catch, a very nice steelhead. Of course, this was many years before a dam was built on the Elwha.

Bob Royer wrote a nice piece about “The Girl and the Fish” in the Cascadia Courier, a blog that relates history to present-day events.

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In a letter dated March 13 (PDF 16 kb), the groups said the format of the meetings is not designed to encourage public discussion or even allow public comment. In addition, the Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have ignored ongoing calls for the Navy to better protect marine wildlife and the environment along the Washington Coast and other biologically important areas, they say.

Navy's Northwest testing and training ranges. Click to enlarge.
Map by U.S. Navy

The Navy will seek a new permit from NOAA for the incidental harassment of marine mammals during testing and training activities. Most of the activities are identical to what is taking place now, but some new activities are added — including the testing of sonar from ships docked at piers.

Between now and 2015, Navy officials will describe and study the effects of various activities on marine life and update existing mitigation with new research findings. See my initial story in the Kitsap Sun, Feb. 27, and a related post in Water Ways, March 6. Also, you may review the official notice in the Federal Register.

Back to the letter, which states in part:

“As you know, the scoping process is the best time to identify issues and provide recommendations to agencies on what should be analyzed in the EIS. However, a process developed for activities with controversial impacts, like those at issue here, that does not provide opportunity for the public to testify or speak to a broader audience, or to hear answers to questions raised by others, and that fails to engage major population centers is not designed to help citizens and organizations effectively participate in agencies’ environmental reviews.”

The letter (PDF 16 kb) was sent to Jane Lubchenko, administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Kimberly Kler, project manager for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest.

It was signed by Zak Smith, staff attorney for Natural Resources Defense Council; Peter Galvin, conservation director for Center for Biological Diversity; Marcie Keever, Oceans & Vessels Project director for Friends of the Earth; Kyle Loring, staff attorney, for Friends of the San Juans; Priscilla Hunter, chairwoman of InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a consortium of 10 Northern California Indian tribes; Darlene Schanfald, executive director of Olympic Environmental Council; Howard Garrett, executive director of Orca Network; Heather Trim, policy director for People For Puget Sound; Chris Wilke, executive director of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance; Jerry Joyce, advisor on marine issues at Seattle Audubon; Tristin Brown, conservation chair for the Washington State Chapter of the Sierra Club; and Kurt Beardslee, executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy.

For those who wish to attend one of the Navy’s scoping meetings to see what this is all about, check out the schedule on “Northwest Testing and Training EIS/OEIS.” The Navy has prepared a brochure (PDF 2 mb) about the process and related issues.

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It’s a simple game, but it determines who gets to eat and who must keep looking for food. The otter begins by catching a flounder so big he must drag it up onto a float to eat it. An eagle watches from within the branches of a nearby tree, then swoops down on the otter. If the otter is quick, he can hold onto his fish while diving into the water. If he loses the fish, the eagle may grab it.

Kim tells me that the otters don’t show up much in winter, but over the past few weeks she has seen one or more nearly every day on the float that she put out for wildlife. They generally return twice each day about the same time, first in the morning then in the afternoon.

From her e-mail: “The eagles are clearly aware of this potential food source and stake out the area accordingly. They are also in the midst of nest building … so are a little more distracted during the day right now. Once that’s done, and they’re incubating an egg or eggs, they’ll be on the hunt for nearby food. I suspect I’ll see the eagle/otter exchange many more times. And, I can’t wait.”

In the photos on this page, the eagle did not get the fish. The otter held onto it, but apparently lost it while diving into the water to get away. Kim said she saw the otter frantically swimming away.

One of Kim’s best photo series was taken last spring, when the eagle won the match, and I featured it in Water Ways April 5, 2011.

But the story surrounding the photos on this page is not over, because Kim watched as the eagle flew south toward another float, about 300 feet away.

“As I watched the eagle, I noticed on that float also, there was a different otter with another fish!  The eagle swooped down to try and catch that one, too. I could not tell if it was successful or not.

“What I do know is a few minutes later I could hear the ‘chirping’ of the otters.  It’s a vocalization they use to keep tabs on each other.  It’s very lovely if you’ve never heard it. I could hear a chirp from the south, and the answer from the north.

“Within a minute, I could see the second little otter swimming frantically from the other float toward mine. I watched as it approached, hopped up on it, ran all the way across and into the water on the other side. When it hit the water again, it started its chirping all over.  As I watched, the two met up and then swam together out of sight.

“I love all the sightings and am excited by each and every one of them! We have a ‘phone tree’ of sorts with a few neighbors we sometimes use to alert others to the special creatures that grace our waters and the sky above. I never tire of seeing the eagles, the otters, their exchanges, or any other wildlife for that matter. But the otter/eagle dance is a fun and funny exchange.  Sometimes the eagle is successful.  Sometimes not.”

By the way, besides being a good photographer, Kim Merriman is a talented artist, working in a unique medium of glass infused with metal. Check out Kim Merriman Art. Among her numerous projects, she is currently working on three sculptures that will go to the Northwest Kidney Center in Seattle.

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Chet Gausta

Kitsap Sun reporter Josh Farley interviewed Gausta in 2005 when Josh worked at the North Kitsap Herald. Click here for his story, which recounts the excitement of Gausta’s hooking and landing the 70.5-pound chinook in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. His younger brother Lloyd and his uncle Carl Knutson were on board his boat at the time.

During the battle, the big fish broke the surface of the water for an instant, and Gausta recalled his brother shouting, “You don’t have a salmon; you have a porpoise.”

Here’s Josh’s recollection:

“Interviewing Chester “Chet” Gausta is an experience I will never forget. I was working at the North Kitsap Herald in 2005 and he invited me to his home near Scandia, where the salmon that made him famous hung mounted on his family room wall.

“That 70-pound whopper loomed over the entire room and Gausta’s smile about it — even 41 years after he’d caught it — never faded during our entire interview.

“It was so easy to imagine Chet, with his brother and uncle, exhausted, as they rumbled back to Seiku from the Straight of Juan de Fuca on that September day in 1964.”

Gausta’s name is still firmly embedded in the record books, where a variety of fish are listed. See the Land Big Fish website for details.

Chet Gausta, middle, shows off the big fish he caught off Sekiu in 1964. Chet's younger brother Lloyd, left, and his uncle Carl Knutson were with him on the boat.
Photo courtesy of Poulsbo Historical Society/Nesby

Chad Gillespie, a Kitsap Sun hunting and fishing columnist, visited with Chet Gausta about a year after Josh did. He wrote about him for the Sun on Sept. 12, 2006.

As a young man, Chet also was an all-around athlete who was offered a baseball/basketball scholarship to Washington State College. Instead, he played shortstop for the Poulsbo Town Team until joining the Armed Forces going into World World II. He later played on the Poulsbo VFW basketball team and participated in the 1948 national tournament. He was inducted into the Kitsap Oldtimers Hall of Fame in 1995.

His family submitted an obituary, which appeared in the Kitsap Sun yesterday.

While searching the Sun’s archives, I also found a letter-to-the-editor that Chet had written back in 1993. I was especially interested, because of the reporting I have done regarding Poulsbo’s Johnson Creek in 2008.

Here’s the letter:

Editor:

Several rivers and streams are on the brink of losing fish runs to the point where many could be going in the direction of the Spotted Owl. While this is discouraging, there is some good news being played out at a small creek about a mile west of the Poulsbo Junction. This meandering stream goes through sections of property belonging to Earl Hanson and Ralph Brown, then winds its way through dense foliage and trees, eventually emptying into the west side of Liberty Bay, near Scandia.

I had the opportunity to speak with Earl and Ralph recently. Both were as excited as two youngsters anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus. Both, in unison, said, ‘Chet, you’ve got to check out the North Fork of Johnson Creek. It has the best run of spawning silvers ever!’

So, the Mrs. and I trudged a few hundred yards through the woods to Johnson Creek. What a thrilling sight met our eyes! Although a few coho had made a journey up this stretch of water in past years, this season’s run more than surpassed any previous returns in my memory.

I can recall as a young child (65 years ago) enormous runs of dog salmon (chum) returning to the creek at the head of Liberty Bay to spawn. But Johnson Creek was not noted for any large runs of spawning salmon.

It was really gratifying to hear this scenario related to me when I encountered Mr. Hanson a short while later at his home. He and his granddaughter, Janae, were surveying the scene at the creek, when Janae shouted, ‘Grandpa! Did you see that salmon jump over the falls?’ Earl answered with a gleam and spark in his eyes, ‘I sure did, granddaughter, and I’m just as excited.’

Let’s hope that this event will be a part of not only Janae’s future but also
for many other generations to come.

Chet Gausta
Poulsbo

Chet shows off his big fish in front of Ralph's Shop-Rite in Poulsbo, as a young boy looks on in wonder. Poulsbo Historical Society has tried without success to identify the boy.
Photo courtesy of Poulsbo Historical Society/Nesby

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“There’s a really ugly fish over there,” I’ll say to my friends or relatives. “It’s known for its aggressive nature and ability to escape. This is a rare chance to see one, so get down there and take a close look at its teeth.”

As they lean down, one of the fish vendors will pull a string and the dead monkfish will jump at them. Needless to say, just about everyone recoils in alarm, becoming the latest victim of the great monkfish attack.

Check out this amusing video on YouTube, in which the camera operator herself becomes the victim.

I always believed monkfish were an ugly scrap fish that you might catch but would never eat, something like ratfish. I guess that’s the way it used to be, but now they’re actually considered a “delicious eating experience” by many cooks. Check out Squidoo.com for some basic information on monkfish.

Before you go out and buy monkfish for dinner, I would like to take you in a different direction. Monkfish have been over-exploited, taken in bottom trawls that catch everything and damage habitat, according to Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, which rates monkfish as a fish to "avoid."

The latest news, which comes via Gary Chittim of King-5 News, reveals that Pike Place Fish Market is taking extra care to offer only sustainable seafood. In pursuit of that mentality, vendors will no longer use monkfish to frighten people. (See video this page.)

It appears they’ll try to keep the gag going with a fish that is less ugly but more sustainable, according to Gary’s piece. We’ll have to see if a rockfish has as much effect.

By the way, if you want to remember our old friend the monkfish, buying a T-shirt might be the sustainable thing to do. Café Press offers some gems, including, “Give me monkfish or give me death,” “I speak monkfish,” “Raised by monkfish” and “Monkfish in training.”

And if you want to see a real monkfish attack, click on this YouTube video.

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Wolf eels at Sund Rocks in Hood Canal are disturbed by low-oxygen conditions.
Photo courtesy of Pat Lynch

In a story published in Monday’s Kitsap Sun, I took a step back from the immediate low-oxygen conditions and discussed our knowledge of Hood Canal, along with plans being formulated to address the low-oxygen problem.

Low-oxygen conditions reared their ugly head during the last week in September (Water Ways, Sept. 27). No major fish kills were reported before things began to improve somewhat by Friday (Water Ways, Sept. 30).

I’m keeping my eye on the charts and graphs and noticed a couple things that we can talk about. Compare the two oxygen profiles below with an eye to the surface conditions at Hoodsport (blue line) and deeper waters there below 40 meters.

Oxygen profile from Sept. 30

Oxygen profile today (Oct. 5)

The first thing I noticed was that the top of the hypoxic layer moved up from about 17 to 10 meters. That means if fish are avoiding that low-oxygen water, they will also move up. As far as I know, divers have not reported any observations to confirm or deny that change. One explanation is that the heavy ocean layer at the bottom is pushing up the entire water column. It also could mean that the surface layer has grown thinner, such as when south winds blow or north winds stop.

Meanwhile, the bottom of that middle hypoxic layer has moved up from about 70 to 50 meters and the edge has smoothed. That is an indication that the heavy ocean water, which contains more oxygen, is mixing with the bottom of the hypoxic layer.

One may also notice that the deep water at Twanoh (turquoise line) has become more oxygenated all the way through and is sharply higher in oxygen at the bottom. Perhaps this is an indication that the heavy ocean water has reached Twanoh and is mixing at the bottom, while winds and tides mix the water at the top.

University of Washington oceanographer Jan Newton has noticed a decline in the oxygen concentration in the middle layer at Hoodsport. She raises the prospect that this could result, in part, from low-oxygen water being pushed back from Lower Hood Canal by the annual intrusion of heavy ocean water. It needs to be checked further, she said.

I hope we get some diver observations this weekend or sooner. In discussing the current conditions with Dan Hannifious of Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, we both wondered when deep-water fish will move back to their normal depth. What would it take for them to break through the middle low-oxygen layer to reach deeper water that is higher in oxygen.

If you would like to become an armchair observer of these conditions in Hood Canal, check out the graphs on the website of the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program. You’ll have to save old graphs to compare them closely, although another graph on the Nanoos website shows you changes in oxygen levels and other parameters over time for selected depths. (Click on “Regions” then “Puget Sound” and locate the Hoodsport buoy to find the graphs.)

Will the conditions in Hood Canal get better or worse this year? I’ll let you know, but if you see something unusual, feel free to post a comment here.

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I reported yesterday that fish could safely go down to 60 feet in a story posted on the Kitsap Sun website, but conditions are changing all the time. Now it looks like the cutoff depth is closer to 50 feet, while waters closer to the surface appear to be more oxygenated than yesterday.

I discussed the situation with Dan Hannifious of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and included some of Dan’s comments in the story. Rather than repeat those comments here, I’ll let you click on the story.

What I did want to share are a couple graphs that show current conditions as of 9:30 this morning. Most of the real-time analysis comes from monitoring buoys in Hood Canal.

This is a profile of the oxygen levels from the surface down to the bottom of Hood Canal, or close to it. The blue line is for the Hoodsport buoy, turquoise for Twanoh and green for Dabob Bay. The black line is for Carr Inlet in South Puget Sound and purple is Point Wells near Edmonds. Biological "stress" occurs at less than 5 milligrams per liter, while "hypoxia" is shown at 2 mg/l. At Hoodsport, if fish go below about 18 meters, they will be in hypoxic conditions. Earlier this week, these condition were seen at the surface.
Data from the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program.

This graph shows changes over time. While conditions have gotten better near the surface (blue line), it doesn't show much change at 66 feet (green line). As we can see in the previous graph, the changes are occurring in shallower water and will take time to reach this depth. The red line shows the intrusion of heavy seawater containing more oxygen. When comparing, remember one graph uses meters, the other feet.
Data compiled by the Integrated Ocean Observing System

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A giant Pacific octopus, which should be hiding, clings to a rock wall Saturday at Sund Rocks Marine Preserve.
Photo by Pat Lynch

The mechanism that causes the oxygen to decline is a little complicated, but it’s pretty well understood. It involves nitrogen, sunlight, plankton, heavy sea water and south winds. See the story I wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun for a brief explanation, or check out a story from April 12, when I described findings from a scientific panel about the sources of nitrogen in the canal.

The graph below shows the oxygen levels at three depths near Hoodsport. As you can see from the blue line, oxygen levels near the surface declined rapidly over the past five days, a period when winds blew out of the south. Levels below 2.5 milligrams per liter are considered highly stressful for sea life.

At Hoodsport, oxygen levels rose at the 10-foot mark starting about midday yesterday. They declined again this morning, starting after midnight. Being close to the surface, oxygen levels in these waters are greatly influenced by winds and waves.

Waters at 66 feet deep stayed low in oxygen but fairly stable, as shown by the green line. Fish tend to swim into shallow waters to avoid those low-oxygen levels. A huge mass of low-oxygen water lies in this mid-range area.

Meanwhile, the low-oxygen waters in the middle layers are being pushed upward by heavy seawater coming in from the ocean. That deep ocean water contains more oxygen than the layer above it, as shown by the red line.

To follow these changes in close to real time, go to the Nanoos website and click on “Click here to view all assets” then on “regions” in the left column and “Puget Sound.” You can get information from most of these buoys. Hoodsport is the closest to the action in southern Hood Canal.

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Elwha Dam construction begins. (Click on image for webcam page.)
Olympic National Park photo

Dam removal began Thursday at Glines Canyon Dam, as I traveled to Port Angeles for a conference of more than 350 scientists and other interested persons. This group came together to learn about baseline studies conducted to date and to hear about anticipated changes in the ecosystem. Check out my story in Sunday’s Kitsap Sun.

Meanwhile, a controversy over a fish hatchery operated by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe threatens to erupt into a lawsuit. Several environmental groups have issued a 60-day notice to sue under the Endangered Species Act, saying raising steelhead from another area — Chambers Creek — could imperil the recovery of threatened chinook salmon and bull trout in the Elwha. See reporter Lynda Mapes’ story in the Seattle Times.

Will Stelle of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which oversees federal protections for salmon, said discussions about the hatchery are ongoing, but federal treaties assure the tribes a right to fish, and those rights cannot be ignored. A five-year moratorium on fishing has been imposed, but tribal officials say they may need hatchery-reared fish when fishing resumes.

About a year ago, I briefly described the restoration plan for each species — including salmon and steelhead — in a package of stories for the Kitsap Sun. See “Elwha Project Expected to Blast Open Nature’s Door to Bountiful Fish Runs.”

As for last week’s Elwha River Science Symposium, it was a remarkable group of researchers who discussed all aspects of ecosystem restoration, from physical processes like water and sediment, to all kinds of plants and animals. To get a taste of the presentation, read through the conference abstracts (PDF 584 kb).

I mentioned a few of the presentations in Sunday’s Kitsap Sun, and I could talk about them for hours. There was one presentation about birds that surprised me, and I wanted to share some of the conclusions with you.

John McLaughlin of Huxley College at Western Washington University explored the question of how birds might help restore vegetation in the reservoirs and flood plains associated with the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams.

Of 39 major native plants in the watershed, 23 have their seeds dispersed by birds. That’s 59 percent of the plants of interest. If managers could get the birds working for them, they might not need to plant as much vegetation by hand.

That 59 percent is higher than most temperate regions of the world, where normally birds disperse seeds from 25 to 40 percent of the plants, McLaughlin said. But it’s a lower percentage than for most tropical regions, where birds may disperse up to 90 percent of all the plants in the area.

By watching birds fly from vegetated areas to more barren areas and collecting samples of their scat, McLaughlin found that robins disperse more seeds than all other birds combined. In fact, the total was close to 100 percent for robins. While there are plenty of other bird species in the ecosystem, most typically do not fly from one habitat type to another, McLaughlin told the gathering.

He also found that most of the seeds deposited by robins ended up in and near logjams and piles of woody debris.

“Birds are agents of restoration,” he told the group, “but for them to work with us, you have to give them what they need, and that’s large woody debris.”

If one wants to use birds to replant the forest, the first step is to consider which plants you want to disperse, he said. Then downed trees and limbs could be pulled together into a pile, or one could simply leave existing piles in strategic locations. The woody piles must be located far enough from the desirable plants that the birds can make a difference in dispersing seeds. But if the piles are too far away, the birds may not cooperate with the plan.

As for the concern about birds dispersing invasive plants as well as desirable ones, many of the undesirables were removed from the area around the dams in preparation for dam removal. The concern about invasives is reduced further by understanding that only five of the 20 invasive plants are dispersed by birds.

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Have you see the newest GEICO ad, in which a little girl can’t find her pet goldfish, so she asks her father, who just happens to be eating a plate of sushi?

I try not to analyze humor, but this one is a definite shift away from the silliness of most GEICO commercials. It took me a couple times watching it to enjoy the dark subtlety of the acting.

This commercial goes with a new series called “Geico, a better way to save,” which focuses on ideas for saving money. One involves taking in a new roommate.

The “better way to save” series follows one in which a very serious man in a suit begins by asking a simple question: “Could switching to GEICO really save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.” He follows by asking one of several semi-rhetorical questions:

“Did the little piggy really cry ‘wee wee wee’ all the way home?”

“Do woodchucks chuck wood?”

Do dogs chase cats?

As for water themes, there is one in which the gecko, a mascot for the company, speaks with a jellyfish. The ad was used to promote a gecko exhibit, which traveled to zoos and aquariums as part of a wildlife-conservation campaign by GEICO.

As I said, not all the GEICO commercials are great, but the company proudly displays 39 of the spots that have aired over the past few years.

I don’t get too many comments on these “Amusing Monday” features, but I always like to know what you think about these snippits of American culture.

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