 FRONT PAGE Archive Index Feedback |
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
| |||||
Otter and Spawning Salmon Sighted in Thornton Creek
Spawning sockeye in the south fork of Thornton Creek. |
Spawning coho salmon have also been seen recently in the area, which is on the west side of I-5.
Janet Way of the Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund said, "This is great news for the potential of urban creeks as fish habitat.
Way said it was a hopeful sign for the south fork of the creek, where the wetlands at North Seattle Community College are also on the west side of the freeway.
Otter spotter Patty Crawford said the sleek hunter is probably part of a Kirkland otter family, "But this is great news for our creek, because it means the otters are finding food here, and what they eat is fish. I think he probably came up the creek this far because he was following spawning salmon. He's also been raiding a pond on our property, which is stocked with rainbow trout."
An otter in the north fork of Thornton Creek was captured on video tape by Patty Crawford. |
In the south fork of Thornton Creek near Meadowbrook pond, opposite the bridge that faces Northeast 105th Street, Nun and Mary Ann Kirdnoom report seeing "at least a dozen sockeye in the creek.
"The water was high and very muddy from the rain, but because of their red coloring we could see them thrashing around," Mary Ann said. "Our house bridges Thornton Creek, so we see all the 'happenings' all the time. The kingfisher and blue heron are hanging around too and catching their share of fingerlings, crawdads and smaller fish...really exciting to watch!
Beavers are thriving in the Meadowbrook area, according to Pamela Miller of Seattle Public Utilities. "They keep trying to build a dam to raise the water level in the pond, and we have to keep going back and knocking it down so the water keeps flowing. There are more than 50 beaver living along the banks in that area."
Reader Comments
Discuss this article in the forums!
| Anonymous | Jul 22, 2005 | ||
| was up | |||
