Journeys in the Land of Salmon and the Cave of Wonders

As promised earlier, This is a continuation of my summer updates here in Burley, Idaho! So much time has passed, I figured it would be more effective to split my updates into two different posts (the last one is called “Did you know there’s a town named Idahome in Idaho?” if interested, if not – that’s cool too.)

Since leaving the Chicago Botanic Garden, this internship has continued to train me in all sorts of subjects. One subject I did not expect training in the dry, sagebrush steppe of southern Idaho was riparian habitat assessment! The training was brief and only lasted about two days, but was very eye-opening nonetheless. The training revolved around a set of questions meant to make you think and look closely as you assess the chosen riparian habitat. The questions can seem very subjective at first, but when you see the thought process of those with more experience go through the questions, it becomes more clear. This experience was different in that I had to look closely at the world around me in order to spot any clues about the stream’s health and history, instead of relying strictly on collected data alone. I almost felt as if I were a riparian detective! Little clues such as plant species, stream direction and stream bank variation can all play a part in telling you what is going on with that habitat. Even though I am used to a different set of wetlands in the southeast, it was exciting to learn about how to assess the streams and seasonal riparian habitats of the west.

Hera buckmoth we found the other day in the field (not near our riparian assessment training site)

Another critter we stumbled upon in the field – Horny toad!

Another training session that gave me life and enough excitement for at least an entire week, or more, was the salmon redd count training that occurred in early August at the Sawtooth fish hatchery! This was a highly anticipated event not only for the fact that we got some salmon training in, but also there would be camping involved. The region around the Sawtooth fish hatchery is just stunning and this was a really great experience overall. There were so many people from all over the state and all sorts of departments and organizations that came for this training. One of the best parts was getting to know those well-seasoned biologists who have already been counting and identifying redds for many years now. Listening to their experiences during their surveys and how they complete them was inspiring. I can’t even imagine having to do some of the things these folks accomplish when trying to collect data. Sure, rafting sounds fun, but having to identify if you pass a redd while floating down a river? Well, I certainly don’t have enough experience to be confident enough to do that successfully on my own. Now, I see I have failed to explain what a “redd” is, and seeing as this is mostly a botanical internship program, I will. So, a redd is a term used to describe the nest made by female salmon once they have migrated up the streams to spawn. These redds can be, in my novice opinion, extremely inconspicuous if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Even if you do, it still takes a lot of practice, if you ask me. The redds consist of a “pillow” which is a noticeable pile of rocks and gravel that the females have formed by using their tails in order to push the gravel in place and lay their eggs in. These pillows normally have small to medium rocks and the size selection can be quite noticeable when comparing them to the surrounding area. Redds will also have trenches and a pit near the pillow. The pit is indicative of the work the females had to put in to select and move the gravel chosen for her pillow. The trenches are also indicators of all the work the females have pushed through despite nearing the end of their lives. These “trenches” are dug by the females and usually on either side of the “pillow”. They are created in order to direct more stream flow over the pillow full of eggs. This gives the eggs more oxygen and diminishes the chance of the eggs asphyxiating, thus failing to hatch. The act of creating these trenches in order to ensure their eggs get as much oxygen as they need is honestly mind-boggling to me. It’s been truly an honor to receive this training in a field I already had a lot of interest in, especially as a future career. I knew salmon were incredible creatures already.Their resilience and willpower to push through and spawn up streams, far away from the ocean they grew up in, despite the fact that their bodies are starting to fall apart and essentially shut down, is so inspiring. If you have doubts on what animal deserves our admiration for their grit and willpower, I believe salmon are a worthy contender for that admiration.

Chinook salmon at the hatchery.. some seriously huge and beautiful fish!

Part of a trail we managed to fit in after training

Near our campsite

In order to wrap up this blog post, I’d like to end with a summary of another exciting activity that happened at work just this past week. We had the opportunity to work with those in the Shoshone BLM office in order to explore Gypsum Cave, one of the longest lava tubes in the lower 48! It has certainly been a while since the last time I was in a cave, but I believe this was my first time ever entering a lava tube. The entire experience was thrilling. Just being able to feel the temperature difference between the cave entrance and inside the cave was so cool (in an eerie sort of way), that I got goosebumps! If you can’t handle small spaces, even for a short amount of time, I wouldn’t recommend it however, as there were a few times we had to crawl our way through the next large, open pathway. The moment we crawled through the entrance where the cave opened up into a large, rocky hallway, I felt as if I had entered another world. The underground realm still contained some familiar sites, such as rats and frogs and all the excrement that come with them, but the further I walked in, the further away I felt from our world above. There were sections of the cave where the floor and ceiling sparkled with minerals, as if someone had glitter-bombed the cave before we entered. Feces left behind by some unknown guests in the past were covered in fluffy, alien fungi that shone white in the light of our headlamps. We passed by bones of rats that have long since perished and carcasses of rabbits that still appeared intact, untouched by time. My only regret is not having enough time to explore the side passages as we only had enough time to hike straight to the end of the cave. By the end of trip, I definitely felt tired but it was exhaustion in the most rewarding kind of way. We had the opportunity to experience something so unique and after that day, I definitely felt a flame spark within me, urging me to keep this experience in mind and to pursue this new found fascination for caves in the future.