It’s Salmon SEEson again!
Chum salmon are running at Carkeek Park! Students from public and private elementary schools are learning by observing, conversing, and applying their experiences. Park visitors from near and far are visiting the park to watch salmon swim up stream to locate suitable habitat and mates for this annual spawning event.
The first fish were sighted on Oct 27, 2016 by Andrea F. on Piper’s Creek. Look for increasing numbers of live salmon through November with fish still in the creek in the first couple of weeks in December.
To celebrate, come out to Carkeek Park and get to know the salmon!
Remember, please stay on the trails and use the viewing areas to watch for salmon. Keep all of your dog friends leashed and out of the creeks and away from the creek banks.
Here are some of the activities you might want to know about:
Salmon Stewards
Each Saturday & Sunday in November and the 1st weekend in December, 11AM—2PM; Carkeek Park Salmon Stewards are a community of local volunteers trained to welcome, engage, educate, and inspire park visitors drawn by the annual Piper’s Creek salmon run.
Carkeek Salmon Search Program
November through the beginning of December; outdoor workshops each year bring Salmon in the Schools classrooms to the park to learn fish dissection, creek walk discoveries of returning salmon, and the detailed salmon life cycle as it applies to human and natural obstacles to survival. Seattle Public Utilities and local Naturalists partner with teachers to share the exciting salmon run and park resources with hundreds of local youth. Some of the returning adult fish the students see may have been released by their schools 3-5 years earlier as small salmon fry, also part of the Salmon in the Schools program.
Salmon Spawning Survey
Each Saturday in November until the end of the salmon run in December; trained CWCAP volunteers collect data from deceased salmon to determine their numbers and spawning success. This annual survey follows the story of these fish after they are released from the Les Malmgren Imprint Pond 3-5 years earlier.
Salmon egg deliveries
→ Early January
Salmon fry deliveries
→ February
→ March
→ April
Friends of Piper’s Orchard 10th Annual Festival of Fruit
A good time was had by all…
Thank you 2016 EarthKeepers for a summer well done!
Wild Germination Art Exhibition
From July 23 – September 25, 2016, the ongoing Heaven and Earth series of temporary, outdoor environmental art projects in Carkeek Park will feature five environmental art projects that offer various interpretations of “Wild Germination,” a theme chosen by guest-curator Morgan McElfresh, local arts teacher at nearby Viewlands Elementary School.
Historical Landscape Drawing Recently “Rescued”
The Carkeek Gardens were planned and implemented in approximately 1996, based on the drawing of the Gardens by Russell Link, landscape architect and WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife manager. This framed drawing was originally displayed on a wall in the main meeting room of the Annex building at Carkeek Park. When the Annex was going to be rented, in approximately 2011, the drawing was moved to the ELC (Nancy Malmgren Environmental Learning Center). There it was stored between a desk and wall for several years.
The Carkeek Park Advisory Council (CPAC) meets every 4th Monday of the month, 7-9PM at the ELC. The council will next meet on September 26 after a delightful summer break.
→ For more information or to volunteer:
Info@CarkeekPark.org | 206.819.0614