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Thorne Bay School Aquarium Incubator Project
Fish Biologist Jim Beard of the Thorne Bay Ranger District introduced 16 youngsters to the life cycle of salmon during the spring school semester of the Thorne Bay School.
Beard
used a 50-gallon aquarium for the project, filling it with dechlorinated
water and stocking it with approximately 200 coho salmon eyed eggs and
alevins from the Prince of Wales Hatchery at Klawock. The children were
responsible for monitoring the water temperature and chemical balance
in the aquarium, and feeding the fish daily once they reached the fry
stage.
“Watching the salmon develop from the eyed eggs to alevins to
fry stage is a 
great
way to learn firsthand about the life cycle of salmon,” said Beard.
Initially, the aquarium glass had to be totally covered to prevent light from killing the eggs. This simulated the eggs and alevin being buried naturally in stream gravel. The children had to use a flashlight modified with a red lens in order to observe the eggs and alevins during this time. The covering was removed after the alevins absorbed their yolk sacs and began to swim around the aquarium. Beard visited the class several times to talk about the stages of development and to answer questions.
About
thirty percent of the eyes/alevin died during the three-month period.
This afforded an opportunity to simulate losses in nature due to predation
from other animals and poor water quality.
The culmination of the project involved a field trip to release the fish back into the Klawock River. Later, they spent an afternoon on the Thorne River, capturing juvenile coho and pink salmon and steelhead trout. The students learned how to identify the different species of fish and about competition for food and space in the river.
“At
that point, they wanted to know what the fish they had grown would eat
now that they were on their own,” Beard said. This was an opportunity
for Beard to explain how aquatic insects, such as stoneflies, mayflies,
and caddisflies are food sources for the fish, and to talk about the
insects as indicators of stream health. “The kids had a blast sorting
through stream samples to find aquatic insects and identify them,” Beard
added.
Beard has preserved specimens of the different stages of development for the classroom, and plans to repeat the project again. Not only the students in the primary grades, but the rest of the school had an opportunity to watch the fish grow and develop an appreciation and awareness about salmon.
The
project was a joint endeavor between the Forest Service, Thorne Bay School,
and the Prince of Wales Hatchery. Beard worked with Jennifer Waisanen,
who teaches first through third grade at the school.
As for the students, they created a colorful illustrated story chronicling the development of “Freddie the Fry”, entitled “Freddie’s Great Adventure”. They presented a bound copy of the book to Beard, dedicating it to him as “the best fish guy ever.”
USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest
Last Modified: July 11, 2007