West Seattle, Washington
27 Wednesday
If you use Seattle Public Library services, SPL wants you to know that all its branches (and the Central Library downtown) will be closed one week from today, on Wednesday, March 27, for a staff in-service day. Branch book drops will remain open; no materials will be due on that date.
5:06 PM: At midday today, we got a tip about an apparent warrant arrest, with tactical officers, at (corrected) Fauntleroy/Hudson (and the security-camera image above). The operation was wrapping up and everyone was gone by the time we arrived, but officers had told dispatch they had one person in custody. There were also indications that other agencies were involved, so we’ve been following up to try to find out more. SPD just told us, in response to our inquiry, that the West Seattle arrest was one of the suspects mentioned in their newest post:
This morning, at various locations throughout the city, detectives arrested three suspects involved in a series of home invasion robberies.
During one of the robberies, in the Lake City neighborhood, the suspects were armed with handguns and rifles. They allegedly entered the victim’s home while they were sleeping, woke them up, and demanded the victims unlock electronic devices found inside the house.
Over the past several months, Seattle Police Robbery detectives and Mountlake Terrace Police Department detectives have been investigating similar robberies and were able to identify three of the involved suspects.
Today, in a joint arrest operation with Seattle SWAT, North Sound Metro SWAT, all three suspects were placed into custody. During one of the arrests a firearm was recovered.
A 21-year-old male was booked into King County Jail (KCJ) for investigation of robbery. A 20-year-old male was booked for robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. A 27-year-old was booked into Snohomish County jail for robbery.
We’re now trying to find out which suspect was the one arrested here, and exactly which incident(s) he was wanted for.
6:06 PM: Seattle Police say the man arrested at Fauntleroy/Hudson was the 20-year-old they mentioned. He was just booked into King County Jail, where the docket shows other cases in which he is charged; we’ll be reviewing those documents soon as we can download them.
The photo and report are from William:
Someone’s steering-wheel lock, umbrella, and iPhone cable were found on the street this morning at 38th and Juneau; after checking in with the neighbors no one’s car had been stolen, so perhaps the stuff wad dumped here from another stolen car? The stuff is still outside if it’s yours…
(Added: WSB photo of ships at T-5, seen from Jack Block Park viewpoint)
2:21 PM: Thanks to Larry for the tip. As of this afternoon, two cargo ships are in at West Seattle’s Terminal 5 – MSC Julie and MSC Savona – in what may be the official debut of the second modernized berth. We’re checking with the Northwest Seaport Alliance and Port of Seattle for comment. Both berths at T-5 have been modernized in a half-billion-dollar project; the first one to be completed, the north berth, started accepting cargo calls in January 2022.
3:20 PM: NWSA spokesperson Melanie Stambaugh confirms that MSC Julie is the first to call at the modernized south berth. However, NWSA says the project is “currently in the final stages of commissioning”; we’re asking for clarification on what remains to be done.
New on the city’s bidding website: The project to resurface the eastbound lanes of the West Seattle Bridge’s eastern half, formally known as the Spokane Street Viaduct, has just gone out to bid.
(Framegrab from SDOT camera. Eastbound SSV at left, westbound at right)
Bidding opened this morning. SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson tells WSB, “This project will include repaving the eastbound lanes, as well as drainage improvements and bridge deck repair on the westbound lanes.” The city got a $5 million federal grant two years ago to help cover the cost. The (corrected) eastbound (south) side of the Spokane Street Viaduct is the older side, built in the ’40s; the westbound (north) side was built in the late ’00s/early ’10s. It was closed several times for repair work during the 2 1/2-year-long full closure of the rest of the West Seattle Bridge; pothole problems have persisted on both sides, and as SDOT described it in 2022, “The existing concrete deck overlay exhibits significant signs of ‘alligator skin’ cracking and damage.” As part of preparation for this project, a “deck scan” was done in 2021. When will the SSV work start and how long will it last? TBD, says Bergerson: “Once a contractor is selected, we will work with them to determine the exact construction timeline.” It is expected to be complete by the end of the year, though, he added. Bidding is open for three weeks, so a contractor won’t be chosen for more than a month.
11:23 AM: While sun lovers might be sad about the gray sky – here’s a side benefit: It’s easier to see the black fins of orcas slicing through gray water than it is to see them in blue water on a sunny day. And if you can break away, or have a window with a bay view, you can look for some right now: Kersti Muul texted to report, “Large group of transients (10+) just entered Elliott Bay proper, north end, Seattle side, southbound.” Let us know if you see them!
11:33 AM: See Kersti’s update in the comment section below.
(Hyacinths, photographed by Jerry Simmons)
Mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, here’s our list of reminders for the rest of today/tonight:
DROP-IN CREATIVITY: Bring your art/craft project to West Side Presbyterian Church (3605 California SW) 9:30-11:30 am Wednesdays!
TODDLER READING TIME: Wednesdays at 10:30 am at Paper Boat Booksellers (6040 California SW).
FREE TODDLER GYM: 3-5 pm drop-in playspace at the Salvation Army Center in South Delridge (9050 16th SW).
FREE FLUTE CONCERT: Community members welcome as Toujaise Flute Duo performs a spring concert at The Kenney (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW), 1 pm.
LAND USE COMMITTEE: 2 pm, the City Council’s Land Use Committee agenda includes the Connected Communities pilot program, which would change development rules in some areas, including those with historical racially restrictive covenants. Here’s the agenda; the meeting will be streamed as usual via Seattle Channel.
DINE-OUT BENEFIT: Roxhill Elementary benefits if you use this code at Chipotle in The Junction (4730 California SW), 4-8 pm today.
FIX-IT WORKSHOP: Repair your broken item instead of replacing it! Weekly event, 5:30-7:30 pm at West Seattle Tool Library (4408 Delridge Way SW, northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center).
FREE GROUP RUN: Meet at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) for the weekly free group run, 6 pm.
COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP MEETING … for the Fauntleroy ferry-dock project, 6 pm, online. Get the viewing link here.
FREE ART CLASS: Watercolor mixed-media class, at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), 6-8 pm.
TRIVIA x 4: Four places to play tonight. At 6 pm, Locust Cider (2820 Alki SW) offers trivia … Larry’s Tavern (3405 California SW) hosts Wednesday-night trivia starting at 7:30 pm … Quiz Night begins at 8 pm at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW) … and at 8:30 pm, trivia with Phil T at Talarico’s (4718 California SW).
LIVE MUSIC AT THE LOCOL: 6:30 pm. 21+. Rotating performer slate. (7902 35th SW)
MUSIC BINGO: Play weekly at The Good Society (California/Lander), 7 pm.
SKYLARK OPEN MIC: 7:30 pm signups for West Seattle’s longest-running open mic. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
QUEER SKATE PROM: Special event at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW) in White Center, raising money for WC Pride, 8:30 pm.
If you’re planning a presentation, meeting, performance, reading, tour, fundraiser, sale, discussion, etc., and it’s open to the community, please send us info for West Seattle’s only comprehensive event calendar! westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
With Easter just a week and a half away, more than half a dozen local churches have sent info for our seasonal list of services – including Holy Week – and other special events. If yours hasn’t, there’s still time; send the dates/times/brief descriptions to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you! (Here’s what we have so far. Several plan egg hunts, which we’ll be cross-referencing to this separate list too.)
6:01 AM: Good morning! It’s Wednesday, March 20, the first official full day of spring.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Hello again, clouds; the forecast also projects a high in the mid-50s, back to normal for this date. Sunrise will be at 7:10 am, sunset at 7:23 pm.
(Tuesday sunset at Lincoln Park – by Chi K Photography)
TRANSIT NOTES
Metro today – Regular schedule; check advisories here.
Water Taxi today – Regular schedule. Check the real-time map if you need to see where the boat is.
Washington State Ferries today – The usual 2 boats on the Triangle Route. Check WSF alerts for changes. Use the real-time map to see where your ferry is.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Orchard), cameras are also at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, and Delridge/Oregon.
High Bridge – the main camera:
High Bridge – the view from its southwest end (when SDOT points the 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy camera that way):
Low Bridge:
1st Ave. S. Bridge:
Highway 99: – northbound side at Lander:
MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.
BRIDGE INFO: The @SDOTBridges feed on X (ex-Twitter) shows whether the city’s movable bridges are opening for vessel traffic.
If you see a problem on the bridges/streets/paths/water, please text or call us (when you can do that safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene). Thank you!
West Seattle skywatching expert/educator Alice Enevoldsen was looking ahead to eclipses as well as the spring equinox during her change-of-seasons sunset watch tonight at Solstice Park. The upcoming solar eclipse will peak at 20 percent coverage in our area, and unless the day/time (11:29 am Monday, April 8) arrives with heavy rain/fog, she’ll be leading a viewing event somewhere. (Here’s the eclipse-info page on her website.) She brought special viewing glasses to tonight’s event. Alice also talked about an upcoming lunar eclipse, overnight next Sunday to Monday (March 24-25) – explained here by Space.com, which says it’ll be “underwhelming” because it’s a shadow eclipse, not total coverage. Now, back to the spring equinox (which officially arrived less than an hour after tonight’s sunset):
As tonight’s attendees got to see firsthand, Alice hosts her gatherings at Solstice Park because of its unique features – paths and stone markers that line up with the setting sun at equinoxes and solstices, as seen in this photo (which also shows the globe she uses to explain planetary positions at those season-change moments):
The setting sun will be in almost the same path tomorrow night too – but likely not visible, as the forecast says clouds are on their way back.
That’s the notice posted on the doors at the Admiral/California Wells Fargo branch tonight, reminding people that tomorrow (Wednesday, March 20) is its last day – actually half-day, as the notice reminds customers that it will close for good at 11 am. We first reported the impending closure back in December. At the time, a WF spokesperson said they hadn’t decided on the future of the property, which WF owns and which houses several other businesses – all the way to Hoste on the north end – but at last week’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, an attendee announced it would be going on the market. We haven’t seen the listing yet, and we’re still awaiting more information from a WF spokesperson, but in the meantime, if you want to visit this branch one last time, tomorrow morning 9 am-11 am is your last chance.
6:14 PM: If you live/work in Fauntleroy, this event is for you: The Fauntleroy Community Association‘s annual membership meeting, best known as the Food Fest, is happening until ~8 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW). Local food/beverage businesses are here with food samples and local nonprofits/organizations are here with information. Updates to come!
6:22 PM: We’ve taken a quick spin around the room. Food and drink samples are courtesy of local businesses including Wildwood Market, the newly opened bel gatto, The Unsweetened Tooth, Village Green West Seattle, and Nola’s Events. Nonprofits and other organizations you’ll see include not only the FCA itself, which is selling brand-new Fauntleroy sweatshirts ($50):
… but also West Seattle Bike Connections, The Whale Trail, Morgan Community Association, Seattle Public Utilities with information about the Fauntleroy Creek culverts project, and Seattle Police (the mobile precinct is parked out on California SW for an “open house”).
6:40 PM: Also here – the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor), Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, Seal Sitters, and sharing a table on the south side of the room with MoCA, the West Seattle wing of the Emergency Communication Hubs Network, with a practical quick thing you can learn regarding preparedness:
Those props are there so you can learn how to deal with utilities in case of disaster – for your gas meter, how to turn it off, and for your water heater, how to access that water if service is otherwise interrupted. …Meantime, back on the Food Fest side of the event, The Birdhouse is here too, and of course so is Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering, which operates The Hall at Fauntleroy. Coming up at 7 pm-ish, the festivities stop down briefly for the annual FCA officer election. (P.S. Stop by the FCA table to find out more about the 1 pm Sunday, March 24, egg hunt that the organization is presenting!)
8:16 PM: The board was reelected by unanimous voice vote of those gathered; FCA vice president Catherine Bailey led the short business meeting from the stage, in president Mike Dey‘s absence.
(With a few other board members out of town right now, we’ll get the annual group photo at the next board meeting.) She noted a few more big dates on this year’s Fauntleroy calendar – May 21 is the annual Endolyne Joe’s fundraiser for the Fauntleroy Fall Festival. The donations-and-volunteers-powered festival, which also had a presence at tonight’s event, is happening on Sunday, October 20, this year.
Maybe you’ll help find Cameron‘s scooter:
I just moved to West Seattle from Belltown about a week ago and am excited to be in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, within a few days of moving, my scooter was stolen.
Make and model: Genuine Hooligan 170cc
Color: black
Year: 2016
License: 2K8049
We’ll add the police report # when we get it. (Added: It’s 24-069706.)
(WSB photo, Friday night)
The man arrested after Friday night’s standoff at an apartment complex at Delridge/Thistle remains in jail today. He is not yet charged in the domestic-violence case for which officers were seeking him, but he is charged in two other cases for which he had arrest warrants, so we’re identifying him. 27-year-old DeMarco D. Gatterson is a resident of Auburn, according to court documents in those cases. He is charged in separate cases with drive-by shooting and assault for an incident on I-5 in Tukwila and with organized retail theft for an incident in Auburn. In the shooting, prosecutors say he pursued a relative “over many miles of South King County highways and streets … firing numerous rounds” at the relative’s car. The court documents say the relative, a cousin of the suspect, had come here to pick up Gatterson and take him to live in Las Vegas for a fresh start. The incident happened in late January and Gatterson was charged in early February. There was already a warrant out for him because he failed to appear at a probation hearing related to a DUI and hit-run case in Kent. He didn’t show up for hearings in this case either, nor for hearings on other charges filed against him in early February, related to a January theft of iPhones worth more than $4,500 from a T-Mobile retail store in Auburn. At one point during the theft, prosecutors wrote, Gatterson showed his own ID to a store clerk, and that’s part of how he was identified and charged. But until Friday night, he hadn’t been found or arrested in any of this; he does have an extensive criminal record, prosecutors say. What led to his arrest Friday night, according to SPD, was actually an assault one night earlier. Their incident summary adds that a gun was found in the search that followed that arrest. Gatterson’s bail is listed on the jail docket as $100,000.
For those wondering about the big emergency response early this morning on Myers Way: A 60-year-old man was injured and had to be extricated from his RV after a van hit it. The call around 6:20 am on the east side of the 9700 block of Myers Way, across from Camp Second Chance, first came in as an “explosion” – but that turned out to be the sound of the impact. The damaged RV was still there when we went by later in the morning – as was an SPD parking-enforcement officer. SFD tells us the victim was taken to a hospital by private ambulance. The van driver was apparently unhurt (we haven’t yet clarified their status otherwise).
Ten years have passed since the Seattle Preschool Program was announced at an event in High Point. It’s a levy-funded program meant to ensure preschool is available to every family who needs it, with tuition on a sliding scale. Over the years, the program’s marked milestones in West Seattle, too – with a mayoral visit to Delridge six years ago and another visit by city leaders in 2022.
(City photo – Monday SPP expansion announcement at preschool in Central District)
This week, two West Seattle sites were part of the program’s latest expansion announcement (though the photo op was elsewhere this time); some classrooms at Community School of West Seattle and the YMCA’s Early Learning Center at Westwood Village will be part of the SPP next school year, when the program will be serving almost 2,500 children in 151 classrooms at 97 sites citywide. (15 of the current sites are in West Seattle, all over the peninsula, from Arbor Heights to Admiral.) The program is accepting ’24-’25 applications now, too.
Sure sign of spring – Canada Geese families. Steve Bender photographed them at T-107 Park on the Duwamish River. Besides birdwatching, here’s what to do in the hours until spring arrives tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FREE PLAYSPACE: Drop in Tuesday mornings 9 am-noon at West Seattle Church of the Nazarene (42nd/Juneau).
CHESS CLUB: Tuesdays 1:30-3 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). All levels welcome. (Questions? Email conwell@conwelld.net.)
CITY COUNCIL MEETING: Regular weekly meeting of the Seattle City Council, 2 pm. There is a public-comment section – in person or by phone – if there’s something you want to tell the council. The agenda explains how. You can watch live via Seattle Channel.
PARKINSON’S SUPPORT GROUP: “This monthly in-person group is for people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers, spouses and significant others.” 2 pm at Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon)
DEMONSTRATION FOR BLACK LIVES: Long-running weekly sign-waving demonstration continues at 16th/Holden. 5-6 pm. Signs available if you don’t have your own.
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION FOOD FEST: 6-7:30 pm annual meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW), aka the Food Fest – local eateries’ food samples, local nonprofits with info, and the annual FCA board elections (around 7 pm). Come learn about and celebrate your community!
LEARN ASL: Free weekly classes, 6 pm at West Seattle’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (4001 44th SW). Start any Tuesday night! Details in our calendar listing.
SCRABBLE NIGHT: 6-10 pm, you can play Scrabble at The Missing Piece (9456 35th SW).
FREE TRACK RUN: Run with new (or not-so-new) friends! Meet at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) for this free weekly run at 6:15 pm.
SPRING EQUINOX SUNSET WATCH: It’s not a change of seasons without Alice Enevoldsen‘s sunset watch at Solstice Park (7400 Fauntleroy Way SW, uphill), starting tonight at 6:30 pm. Learn what “equinox” really means, and see why the park got its name. Plus: If you need eclipse glasses for the upcoming eclipse, Alice will have some!
TOASTMASTERS 832: Online meeting to grow your leadership and communication skills, 6:30 pm. Our calendar listing has attendance info.
MAKE POTTERY: 6:30-9 pm “girls’ night” at pottery studio The Clay Cauldron (5214 Delridge Way SW), sign up in advance to work on your project(s).
BINGO AT THE SKYLARK: Play – free! – Belle of the Balls Bingo hosted by Cookie Couture, 7 pm Tuesdays. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
TRIVIA X 4: Four places to play Tuesday nights – The Beer Junction (4711 California SW) now has Sporcle Pub Quiz with David at 7 and 8 pm … 7 pm at Ounces (3803 Delridge Way SW), free and hosted by Beat the Geek Trivia; 7 pm at Zeeks Pizza West Seattle (6459 California SW), hosted by Geeks Who Drink; 7 pm at Admiral Pub (2306 California SW).
BINGO AT TALARICO’S: You can play 8 pm bingo every Tuesday. (4718 California SW)
What are you planning? Are community members invited? Tell everyone via our event calendar – please email the info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Even with spring officially arriving tonight, June might seem far off. Think twice before you let that perception prevent you from registering early for this year’s Loop the ‘Lupe obstacle-course 5K (or one of its companion events) – you only have until this Friday to get the early discount. Loop the ‘Lupe is set to unfold over two-plus hours on Saturday, June 8 – starting with the obstacle-course 5K’s Elite Wave at 11 am, continuing with the Family Wave, then the 5K Fun Run, the Senior Saunter, and concluding at 1 pm with the Youth Dash. It’s all one big party on Walt Hundley Playfield, with music, food, and a beer/cider garden, too, Loop the ‘Lupe raises money for Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s social-outreach work. You can register at the lowest prices by going here right now! (WSB is Loop the ‘Lupe’s media sponsor.)
6:00 AM: Good morning! It’s Tuesday, March 19th, and spring arrives at 8:06 pm tonight.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
One more sunny day, according to the forecast, with a high expected in the mid-60s. Sunrise will be at 7:12 am, sunset at 7:21 pm.
(Monday sunset – photo by Jen Popp)
TRANSIT NOTES
Metro today – Regular schedule; check advisories here.
Water Taxi today – Regular schedule. Check the real-time map if you need to see where the boat is.
Washington State Ferries today – The usual 2 boats on the Triangle Route. Check WSF alerts for changes. Use the real-time map to see where your ferry is.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Orchard), cameras are also at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, and Delridge/Oregon.
High Bridge – the main camera:
High Bridge – the view from its southwest end (when SDOT points the 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy camera that way):
Low Bridge:
1st Ave. S. Bridge:
Highway 99: – northbound side at Lander:
MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.
BRIDGE INFO: The @SDOTBridges feed on X (ex-Twitter) shows whether the city’s movable bridges are opening for vessel traffic.
If you see a problem on the bridges/streets/paths/water, please text or call us (when you can do that safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene). Thank you!
Police are investigating a confirmed gunfire incident on Pigeon Point. It was reported shortly before 9 pm in the 4500 block of 21st SW. Responding officers found shell casings; no injuries reported. Whoever fired the shots was in a vehicle; one texter tells us they “saw a blue SUV speed away.” If you have any information, the SPD incident number is 24-074883.
Another community coalition with a lot going on …
That’s a photo by Alki Community Council president Charlotte Starck from last week’s personal-safety seminar, hosted by the ACC and presented by Seattle Police at West Seattle (Admiral) Library. She reports, “SPD Officer German Barreto presented, with Seattle Police instructor Sarah Lawson, who brought experience as a 911 operator and a victim of crime herself. She shared her own experience getting out of an attempted robbery and stabbing when a knife-wielding attacker came at her and she used her metal water bottle to defend herself and her loud commanding voice.” Speaking of loud voices, Starck recounts a memorable moment from the seminar: “There was one point when the basement meeting room at the library was anything but quiet as attendees found their voice in calling for help from police at the top of their lungs.” She also says participants learned about texting 911 and Smart 911, plus the overall importance of contacting 911 when something’s happening. “The message was clear, call 911. They are the experts in determining a response for emergency or non-emergency. Instructors said don’t ever assume that someone else called in any obvious emergency. It is better to have more calls on emergencies than to have few or even none because people thought someone already called.”
COUNCILMEMBER SAKA AT NEXT ACC MEETING: The ACC’s next meeting is this Thursday (March 21), 7 pm at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds), and City Councilmember Rob Saka is the main guest, as he continues making the rounds of community groups. (Here’s our coverage of his three recent West Seattle appearances: District 1 Community Network, Admiral Neighborhood Association, and a small-business mini-roundtable.) Though ACC meetings are usually hybrid, this one is in-person only.
Spring arrives tomorrow night. Spring weather showed up a few days ago. Want to be ready to enjoy all the outdoor fun the warm season offers? Fitness Together West Seattle (longtime WSB sponsor) has reopened its expanded studios (4546 California SW) and is offering deals! The announcement from proprietor Bryan Habas:
We’ve expanded our facility and are thrilled to welcome you to our new space. It’s the perfect time to kickstart your fitness journey with us. Choose from two incredible re-opening deals:
-Get 50% off your first month of membership, or
-Save 15% on packages of 10, 25, or 50 sessionsIf you are thinking about getting back into shape, let us help make your fitness goals a reality!
Fitness Together’s offerings include personal training, either in-studio or online. And small-group classes start next month!
(Photos/video by Tom Trulin)
Shown above is the first outbound salmon smolt of the season spotted in one of Fauntleroy Creek‘s new traps this morning, and released to saltwater moments later. This year’s smolt research will use traps designed, built, and installed as part of an Eagle Scout project. Judy Pickens of the Fauntleroy Watershed Council tells the story:
Every spring, coho smolts leave Fauntleroy Creek to feed in Fauntleroy Cove before heading farther afield for their two years in saltwater, and every year since 2003, volunteers have been counting them as they leave.
This annual research requires designing two soft net traps, building them, installing them in the upper and lower creek, and monitoring them twice daily to count and release the smolts.
Ben Vornbrock ably accomplished three of these tasks for his Eagle Scout project, and being from a family that builds helped (Vornbrock & Sons Construction). After consulting with creek volunteers Dennis Hinton and Tom Trulin about trap design, he reviewed it with dad Dan and granddad Greg and assembled the materials. Other Scouts from Troop 284 joined them creekside last Wednesday (March 13) to assemble and install the traps.
Monitors will check the traps twice daily into mid May. The upper trap will catch smolts from school releases last spring in Fauntleroy Park. The lower trap will catch those coming out of the middle reach of the creek, as well as home hatch from fall 2022 spawning in the lower creek.
“Because this is important research, we ask everyone not to tamper with the traps,” Dennis advised. “If you happen to see one of us checking a trap, we’ll be happy to explain what we’re doing and why.”
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