Visa Run - Nicaragua

The opportunity of working in another country is certainly a special privilege. One that I am truly grateful to be having for a second time. For those of you who do not know, this is not my first extended stay abroad. I spent two years living in Mozambique as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During that time, I learned how to speak Portuguese and travelled around the country as a proselytizing missionary. Aside from my flights in and out Mozambique, the extent of my traveling there was limited to in-country transfers. I had yet to cross international borders on land. That chance came in December as I travelled to Nicaragua with Cory Snyder, one of our other field team biologists. Having arrived together on October 1^st, we were fast approaching our 90-day visa limit and needed to leave the country for 3 days. After that time, we could re-enter Costa Rica on a fresh 90-day travel visa. This would provide enough time for us to finish off the season here at Playa Grande and return home in early March.


During our three days in Granada we were able to accomplish some neat activities. We walked the historic streets one morning and tried entering the old fort, only to discover that the inside is a private residence and the outside is for tourists. We wandered past various churches and passed through the open market. One afternoon we embarked on an Isleta Tour. This guided boat tour took us around the cluster of islands in Lake Nicaragua, where we saw an old fort, fishermen, island houses for both the rich and poor, as well as fantastic wildlife. We stopped by monkey island, where a local veterinarian has relocated several white-faced monkeys after treating them for injuries. They have grown fat off of the bananas that visitors feed them, myself included. What impressed me most of all was the population of nesting oropendolas near the end of the trip. I have been reading about these birds over the last year and was very excited to see them in the wild. Our final adventure was a trip to the Masaya Volcano. Cory really wanted to see lava and I didn’t mind going there again. (If you recall from my previous posts, I have been to this part of Nicaragua before and that was one of our activities.) Once again, it was a stunning experience to peer into the heart of the Earth.

Before heading back to Costa Rica, I met up with Juan, my proud Nicaragüense friend. He was one of our drivers during my first visit to Nicaragua and is a resident of Granada. I was glad to see him again. He is a hardworking and jovial man who loves showing off his homeland. Nicaragua is an incredible place with many natural wonders, but we needed to return to our very important turtle work in Playa Grande. 

Night Patrol - Costa Rica

Out of the many tasks and responsibilities we have as field biologists in Playa Grande, the most important job is night patrol. Without night patrol, we would be hard-pressed to actually see a turtle laying her eggs. Although it is possible to find a turtle on the beach during daylight hours, the most opportune time is at night. Sea turtles typically arrive on the beach near the nights high tide. As the tide cycles change with each passing day, so too does our patrol times. Some nights we are on the early shift from 7 pm to midnight, but as the tide comes in later and later we have swing shifts. These shifts start an hour later and last an hour longer until we start late shifts from 11 pm to 5 am. The purpose of this scheduling is to provide the best beach coverage for 3 hours before and after high tide.

Always patrolling in teams of 2 or 3 people, depending on the number of biologists and volunteers we have available, we walk sections of the beach in search of turtles. The 3 sections of beach that we walk include North and South of Playa Grande and Playa Ventanas. We do not always have the staff to patrol Playa Ventanas, however most nests laid there are relatively safe and are accounted for by the Morning Walk team. Each section covers approximately 1.5 kilometers, with Playa Ventanas being the longest. We aim to cover this distance in 20 minutes with a 20-minute break at the end of each sweep. Usually completing 6-8 sweeps per patrol, we walk around 9-12 kilometers each night. That distance is shortened significantly if a turtle comes up the beach.

When we encounter a turtle, the first step is determining what stage she is at in the nesting process. All species follow the same basic routine which consists of emerging, body pitting, digging an egg chamber, laying eggs, covering the nest, and returning to the sea. Leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea) are different in that they undergo an addition stage called camouflaging. This is simply making additional body pits, or largely disturbed areas of sand, which conceal the true location of their clutch of eggs. After we have determined what the turtle is doing, we begin preparations for a host of tasks. Priorities include getting an egg count or catching the eggs in a bag for relocation, inserting a thermocouple into the clutch of eggs for temperature monitoring, and getting ID numbers from the turtle. Turtles are tagged with PIT tags, which is the same method I have used before on Boreal Toads. It is a little computer chip that gets inserted into the shoulder and provides a unique ID number when scanned. These individual turtles can be tracked as they arrive multiple times throughout the season. Some have been encountered on nesting beaches for multiple seasons. We also measure the carapace (shell) length and width for each turtle and report any scars/wounds they may have acquired. Most of this work is done during the egg laying process when the turtle is in a sort of trance and seems relatively unaware of their surroundings. There are additional data collection tasks that we see to, however they are part of ongoing research projects and vary from season to season.

After the excitement of a nesting turtle we continue sweeping the beach looking for others. It makes for a busy night when we have multiple turtles, yet this is a rare occurrence. Sea turtles are not as abundant as they use to be. Due to drastically declining populations of the Eastern Pacific Leatherbacks, we are fortunate to see multiple turtles each week. In fact, we are fortunate to be able to see them at all. 

Hatchery - Costa Rica

From Day 1 in Costa Rica, and likely until the end of the season, hatchery work has been a focus of our Field Biologist team. Since the end of last season, roots and weeds have infiltrated the sand within the enclosed area. This is problematic for young hatchlings as they may get entangled in the fibrous roots and never reach the surface. In order to prevent such a tragedy, our team pulled weeds and dug trenches in the sand to remove the hazardous plants. After several weeks of blistered hands and sore bodies, we had dug one meter deep throughout the hatchery. This process of digging and turning over the sand has also helped to aerate it. Once the sand was prepared, square 1x1 meter plots were marked off in a grid. Separated by a center aisle, one side is reserved solely for relocated nests while the other is punctuated with experimental plots that are testing the effects of shading on sand temperatures. Improvements to the fence are an ongoing endeavor which is aided by Jesús Suárez, our station handy-man. These efforts are being made to dissuade pesky raccoons from entering our hatchery. Until their access is completely restricted, additional fortifications are needed for each relocated nest. We have developed a strategy of covering the nests with a wire mesh, similar to chicken wire, and held in place by short rebar stakes which line the outsides of each plot. Thus far, it has successfully prevented raccoons from getting the eggs within our hatchery. 

A nest will get relocated to the hatchery if it has an increased risk of predation or was laid below the high tide mark and risks being inundated with rising tidal waters. Our hatchery is filling up fast with Olive Ridley nests which are all being relocated due to the shallowness of their nest and subsequent risk of predation. We also have several Leatherback nests and a couple of Green Sea Turtle nests in the hatchery.

Each of the biologists on our team has been tasked with specific duties to perform throughout the season. We have team members who are responsible for collecting nest temperature data, in-situ nest triangulations, managing our research equipment, and managing the hatchery operations. My position is Hatchery Manager. I am responsible for making sure that nest relocation and hatchling emergence data are completely recorded for each nest in the field notebook and then entered on the data computer. Much of the data collection work is accomplished at night by the team of biologists and volunteers who are patrolling the beach when turtles are most active in carrying out their nesting behavior.

Nest Predation - Costa Rica

Raccoon Predation

For millions of years, mother sea turtles have been visiting the terrestrial environment just to lay their eggs. Usually arriving near high tide, most likely in order to reduce the distance traveled on the beach, a female turtle drags herself onto land and finds a suitable place to make her nest. Sometimes such a place is not found and the turtle simply turns around and leaves, this is called a false crawl, or she goes ahead and digs a nest anyway. A turtle may undertake this arduous task multiple times within the same nesting season. Each species undergoes these nesting activities in their own way. Leatherbacks dig deep nests for their eggs and then make several large body pits by disturbing nearby areas in order to conceal the true location of the nest. Olive Ridleys are quicker and dig shallow nests. After laying her eggs, an Olive Ridley will cover the nest by packing sand down on top of it. Alternating her rear flippers in a sort of stomping motion, she rocks side to side and performs what we fondly call the “Ridley Shuffle.” Average nest depth, clutch size, egg size, incubation period, and nest attempts vary widely from species to species. However, they all share some fundamental characteristics. They all must come on land to nest and parental care is non-existent. This life-history strategy has its pros and cons. It allows for more energetic investment in additional offspring, rather than expending that energy in raising young. Millions of eggs are produced with the safe bet that some will survive into adulthood, yet many do not last that long. Many do not even get a taste of the ocean waters.

One of the major quandaries facing sea turtle populations is nest predation. Shallow nests are breached by dogs, raccoons, coatis, crabs and even ants shortly after being laid. Hungry for the nutritious yolk, these animals devour turtle eggs and leave remaining eggs exposed and susceptible to infection. If given sufficient time to incubate, emerging hatchlings are then vulnerable to further predation by those same creatures which now include predatory birds. If they manage to avoid predators as they cross the beach and are not disoriented by human caused light pollution, arrival at the sea introduces a host of new and threatening dangers. This is why turtles invest so much energy into producing as many offspring as possible. The trade-off is that they are unable to care for their young. That is where biologists and conservationists like myself come in. In a form of altruistic behavior, we sacrifice our time and strength for the unrecompensed benefit of sea turtles. Here at Playa Grande we have a turtle hatchery, where nests that have a higher risk of predation or being drowned by rising tidal waters can be relocated. We have developed a system to protect these relocated nests by deterring unwelcome predators. In the hatchery, and under our watchful eyes, turtle eggs are in a safer location and can grow up unmolested by predatory critters. Our work in the hatchery helps minimize the loss of nests by predation and augments the number of hatchlings that enter the ocean.

Predated Nest

Dog Predation

Playa Ventanas - Costa Rica

Last night was the first official patrol on Playa Ventanas. Due to the timing of the ocean tides and our growing staff of biologists (now up to 7), we were able to have 3 teams patrolling the entire beach from 11 PM until 5 AM. Fortunately, I was scheduled to walk Playa Ventanas on its inaugural patrol. On our very first sweep of the beach we came across 2 nesting Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). We collected data from the turtles and then needed to relocate both clutches of eggs due to high risks of predation and tidal inundation. On our trek to the hatchery with bags full of turtle eggs, we were pleasantly surprised to find a bale of hatchlings crawling their way to the sea. We stopped for a while to ensure that all of the hatchlings successfully arrived in the water and began their journey out to sea. As we neared the hatchery, we discovered another sea turtle laying her eggs. That clutch also needed to be relocated and we had the team from North beach arrive to assist in the relocation process. Once the nests were safely buried in the hatchery, we returned to our patrolling activities along Playa Ventanas. The excitement was over, yet we had 3 more hours to patrol the beach. (I will explain patrol activities in greater detail on future posts and I apologize for not having photos of turtles/hatchlings. Due to our permits and regulations within the national park, we are not allowed to take photographs at night.) This night was a little busier than usual, but it had the added bonus of witnessing hatchlings emerge. Finishing as the sun came up, we returned to the station, cleaned up our sandy-selves, and caught up on some much-needed sleep.

Playa Ventanas

Playa Ostional - Costa Rica

Within my first month of being in Costa Rica, I have visited several beaches and become familiarized with part of the countries Pacific coastline. Our research station is on Playa Grande, which is just outside the city of Tamarindo. Past an outcrop of rocks to our north is Playa Ventanas. These two beaches are where our conservation efforts are focused. North of us is the secluded Playa Carbón and farther above that is Playa Flamingo, which is a popular tourist location that is highly developed. Our sister project, in Playa Cabuyal, is the farthest north I have been and also has a team of biologists and volunteers who patrol that remote beach. To the south of Tamarindo lies Playa Langosta, which is studied by another sea turtle organization called Kuemar. Playa Ostional sits even farther to the south and is home to a true Arribada of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). We waited a couple of weeks to hear from a local tour guide in Ostional that the Arribada had started. Once we received word that the turtles were arriving, we made plans to drive down for the afternoon and witness this incredible event. It also happened to be on Alessandra’s birthday. She is one of our field biologists, so she had a very special birthday with sea turtles. Lasting about one week at a time, over a million olive ridley sea turtles come ashore to deposit their eggs across the 7 kilometers of beach. We were fortunate to see them both in the day and at night, because the local tour guide just so happens to be dating Callie, another one of our field biologists. We usually only see between one and four turtles per night at Playa Grande, so it was an amazing experience to see so many turtles coming to nest at the same time. It was estimated that between 60,000-80,000 turtles were on the beach during that day and night we were there. So many turtles were coming and going, we had to be careful not to step on any flippers while walking the beach at night. At each of the water crossings, where water flows out of the mangroves and into the sea, we had to avoid the occasional turtle drifting its way back to the ocean. I had one turtle bump into my legs as I crossed the water. Overall, it was a magnificent display of nature at its best. Thousands of sister turtles, because only the females come on land, arriving synchronously to lay their eggs and provide one more generation to help them endure the calamity that has beset all sea turtle species. However, this visit has also shown me some of the worst nature has to offer. Strewn across the beach were broken egg shells, dead hatchlings, and plastic trash. Topics which are reserved for future posts. For now, just ponder on the multitude of sea turtles that are arriving together this week at Playa Ostional. It was truly an incredible sight.

Arribada - Costa Rica

Field Biologists arrival in Costa Rica

After traveling for almost an entire day, I finally arrived at my new home in Costa Rica. I will be living at the Goldring-Gund Marine Biology Research Station in Las Baulas National Park and will be working for the Leatherback Trust over the course of the next five months. The purpose of my stay is to collect data on nesting sea turtle populations. This location is significant due to the Leatherback sea turtles nesting here, hence the name of the organization I am working under. I will be participating on night patrols and morning walks along the beach, temperature monitoring of nests, and hatchery work with relocated eggs. I will explain more about these projects in future posts; once I am well practiced on the techniques and protocols regarding these studies. As for now, it is orientation time. We are getting familiarized with the research station and surrounding area. Fortunately, we have several key people visiting the station and giving us a warm welcome. Frank Paladino, who is the President and CEO of the Leatherback Trust, as well as Aliki Panagopoulou, the Operations Manager, will be here during the first few weeks. So far, it has been a great and informative start to the turtle season. However, our arrival as scientists does not initiate the nesting behavior of sea turtles. They have already been visiting the beaches of Costa Rica this year. For some species of turtle, they arrive in mass with hundreds of turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs at once. This rare event is called an Arribada. Translated from Spanish to English gives the meaning of “Arrival” and is a fitting word for the start of our work here in Costa Rica.

The Seven Weeks

Non-Native Brown Trout

Although this post is not entirely focused on biological experiences, I thought it would important to write about my experiences these last seven weeks. Since my internship ended with the forest service in August, I have been living at home and preparing for my trip to Costa Rica. It does not take a full seven weeks to pack for a five month trip, so I have found things to keep myself busy. Teaming up with my old supervisor from the Dixie National Forest and the Native Aquatics Biologist from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, I have gone out volunteering on five separate days. I helped out with boreal toad surveys and looked for fish presence in some of the burned areas following the Brian Head fire. The last trip I volunteered with was a rotenone treatment on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. I helped administer the pesticide rotenone, which is used to kill fish. This treatment is part of restoration efforts throughout this region to restore native cutthroat trout to some of their historic ranges. Removal of non-native species which would out compete the natives is necessary to create the space for the natives to inhabit. This practice remains somewhat controversial and I have even been confronted due to my participation in it. However, based on my educated opinion, when managed correctly rotenone treatments are a safe and effective management practice for the removal of unwanted fish species.

Along with volunteering and packing suitcases, I went on vacation to the San Francisco area. Leaving on a Monday morning, I drove up to Brigham City and met my father. We took the last bus that night down to Ogden and managed to time it just right to catch the Frontrunner heading to Salt Lake City. Both the Frontrunner and California Zephyr trains stop at the same station in downtown Salt Lake City, which was the starting point for the next leg in our journey. As the midnight hour approached so to did the train. With it arriving so late, we boarded the train, found our sleeper cabin, and went straight to sleep. It was a small cabin about the size of a closet, yet large enough to fit bunk beds. In the morning we discovered that the bunks could fold up and provide a sitting area within the cabin. We spent the day catching up on sleep, eating in the dinner car, and watching the passing landscape from the observation car. After the 16 hour train ride, we pulled into the final station in San Francisco. It was an enjoyable experience taking the train, but like any form of transportation I was glad to be done with that stretch of the trip. After figuring out the B.A.R.T. system we took the light-rail into Oakland, where we watched two Oakland A's games played against the Los Angeles Angels. This was my first Major League Baseball experience and it was very exciting. We witnessed home runs, a player get ejected, extra innings, and were seated close enough to watch the Angels bullpen warming up. We wrapped up our trip by riding more public transportation to the Golden Gate Bridge where we made the long walk across. It was cold and windy, but I am glad that we made the trek across. We left on Thursday morning by taking a flight to Salt Lake City, where we once again used public transportation en route back to Brigham City. Surprisingly, we made all of our connections in a timely fashion and never really had to sit and wait long for a bus to arrive. Overall, this trip went very well and I am glad that I did it with my father. 

Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness

Now that I am back home in Hurricane for a few weeks, I have been in need of something to do. I spend my time helping out around the house with yard work, reading some interesting books, preparing for the GRE, volunteering with the Forest Service and Division of Wildlife Resources, and going on more adventures. A life-long friend from next door invited me on a backpacking trip with him and his cousin. Starting at the Oak Grove Campground on Pine Valley Mountain, we made the long climb up into the wilderness area. We arrived late that evening and set up camp along the upper ridge. It was a colder night than expected, however the stars above and city lights below were magnificent. That morning we experienced one of the most spectacular wake up views in all of Southern Utah. The first image was taken while I was still in my sleeping bag trying to stay warm. After getting up and moving, we did a little more hiking around on top and somehow missed the trail up to Signal Peak, which is the highest point in Washington County. It was surprising to me how many mushrooms we passed along the trails and in the meadows. I must have seen a dozen different kinds. Unfortunately, I do not know enough about mushroom taxonomy to identify the various species. It was an fun trip and I am glad that I was able to go and see new places.

The land around us has many unique and wonderful components, like pieces that fit together and form the incredible world around us. I am excited to travel to Costa Rica this winter and take part in saving a piece of this planet. Sea Turtles are in dire need of help and I am able to contribute in a big way to their conservation. That is the next step in my journey as a biologist and it begins on October 1st.

Fisheries Technician - Fishlake National Forest

After living in Richfield for three months and working for the Fishlake National Forest, it was time to move on. My internship was cut short by a couple of weeks due to my housing contract reaching its termination date. I tried finding alternative housing options to stick around a little bit longer, but none were available. With seven weeks remaining before the start of my next adventure, I decided to move home and enjoy my time off. It has been another incredible summer working as a Fisheries Technician. While I was there, we completed 40 Fish Population Stations throughout the forest. A Fish Population Station consists of a 100 meter stretch of stream capped on either end by a natural barrier which inhibits fish passage or block nets that we set up in order to restrict the movement of fish in or out of the station. We then perform two or more passes of the stream with an electroshocker that emits a pulsating current into the water and stuns the fish. Most often the fish are stunned by the shock and turn belly up as the stream current caries them downstream. Occasionally, fish will avoid the shock and dart upstream or run past our nets as they flee downstream. We make two passes of the stream to ensure removal of as many fish as possible. The second pass needs to be a small proportion of the total number of fish removed. We weigh and measure each fish and then release them back into the stream. Population size can then be estimated and compared with previous years data to see trends over time for each station, which is a representative sample of a larger stream system. Also, in many of those stations we took measurements of the flow rate, exchanged temperature probe monitors, and measured pebble/rocks sizes to determine the physical conditions of fish habitat in each stream.

Our other primary focus this summer was amphibian monitoring. The methods employed for this project were visual encounter surveys as well as eDNA (environmental DNA) sampling. Water samples was collected on a bi-weekly rotation on two mountain ranges, Thousand Lake Mountain and Monroe Mountain. Filter pads were packaged and shipped to the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Montana where DNA analysis will look for left over genetic material from Boreal Toads. This study relies on the understanding that in aquatic environments, organisms leave behind traces of their DNA in the form of skin, hair, or fecal material. Analyzing water samples and testing against known genetic markers for each species, scientists should be able to determine presence/absence of a given species for that location.

Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata)

While the number of toads found on Thousand Lake Mountain grew each month as new sub-populations were discovered and successful breeding and recruitment was observed, a depressingly low number of Boreal Toads were found on Monroe Mountain this year. Biscuit, the first toad found and PIT tagged on the Fishlake National Forest, was also likely to be our first casualty. We found Biscuit on several occasions below the same pond, but as the summer months disappeared so too did the water in the pond. In the same location, just below the pond, we found a dead toad. Due to the amount of desiccation, it was hard to make a visual identification and we were unable to recover a PIT tag for confirmation. No other toads have been seen in the vicinity since that time. I was fortunate enough to discover the next two toads in separate locations. The fourth and final toad found on Monroe Mountain was spotted by a volunteer from the Hogle Zoo, who came down from Salt Lake City to help with a week-long effort of amphibian surveys. Although, Boreal Toads seem to be suffering throughout the West, Boreal Chorus Frogs and Tiger Salamanders seem to be doing alright. We came across many of them in our surveys.

Overall, this has been an adventure filled summer. I really enjoyed the time I spent living in Richfield and working as a Fisheries Technician on the Fishlake National Forest. There is no other way I would have wanted to spend my first summer out of college!

Bryce Canyon National Park 2017

Chinese Wall

Tower Bridge

After visiting Yellowstone National Park and purchasing a year-long national park pass, I knew I couldn't waste it. Especially when I live in a place surrounded by so many national parks. The cost of one more entrance fee would be enough to make the $80 pass worth it. After spending last summer working on the Paunsaugunt Plateau for the Dixie National Forest and never visiting Bryce Canyon National Park, I decided that is where I would get my money's worth. It was money well spent after making the two-hour drive from Richfield, Utah to Bryce Canyon along with a couple of friends early one Saturday morning. We hit the trails early in an attempt to avoid the crowds, which now pervade our national parks. On our first hike, we followed the Fairyland Loop Trail past the Chinese Wall, down to the Tower Bridge, and back. After the hike back to the top, we took a lunch break on the picnic tables outside the General Store. During this time, I noticed an influx of people in the area. Good thing we arrived early and found a decent parking spot! The next trail was very busy, but contained many spectacular sights along the way. Starting at Sunset Point, we headed down the Navajo Loop past Wall Street. We did find ourselves off course after this and were met by a tour group on horses. The tour guide was nice as he told us how to get back to the correct walking trail. From there, we headed over to the Queens Garden Trail and ended at Sunrise Point. We did not see everything there is to see in the park, but we enjoyed the places we did visit along with the milkshakes in Panguitch on our drive home. In my opinion, Bryce Canyon is a natural wonder of the world, complete with its impressive collection of hoodoos and sandstone cliffs.                                                                                                                                                                          

Bison - Yellowstone National Park

The American Bison (Bison bison), commonly called a buffalo, is the largest living land animal in the United States. It is also recognized as our national mammal. Once inhabiting much of North America, this species has suffered a dramatic reduction in its population. Over hunting and the introduction of bovine diseases from cattle has contributed to this decline. In response to this population crash, there have many conservation programs organized and directed at protecting herds of buffalo. Conservation herds in places like Yellowstone National Park suggest an overall population estimate of nearly 30,000 buffalo. However, commercial herds managed by private ranches have an estimated 500,000 individuals. It is important to note that these commercial herds are not wild free ranging populations. They are used primarily as a food source, offering more protein and less fat than cattle. These ongoing efforts have contributed to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to list the American Bison as Near Threatened. (Information obtained from the IUCN Red List website.) 

American Bison (Bison bison)

It was an incredible opportunity to witness the bison roaming around in Yellowstone, grazing the grasslands and being totally intimidating. The first one I saw on in the park was meandering around in our campsite as we arrived. Thankfully we kept our distance, because this was very irate buffalo who had just lost a confrontation. We were told by campers that after loosing the fight the bison headed towards the trees and began thrashing around in anger. He was leaving the trees and crossing through our campsite as we pulled up. After lingering between the picnic table and fire pit, this imposing creature moved on leaving behind his warm welcoming gift. They are definitely an animal you will regret messing around with. Keep your distance and admire. The American Bison is truly a majestic animal.

Yellowstone National Park 2017

As part of a week long family vacation, we traveled north to the incredible Yellowstone National Park. Despite the crowded campsites and long traffic delays, this was an incredible place. Following my trip to the volcanoes of Nicaragua, I have become more curious about geological features and varying landforms. Yellowstone National Park is home to some unique hydrothermal features; including hot springs, geysers, mudpots, fumaroles, and travertine terraces. A large portion of the park lies within a caldera, which is a cauldron-like depression that results in the settling of the earths crust atop an empty magma chamber. There are rich geological, biological, and political histories to the Yellowstone area. Enough history that I would prefer to leave it all out of this post and let you investigate it yourself. I really enjoyed the two and a half days I had to explore the park. We were able to visit many of the sites within the park and visit Old Faithful on two separate occasions. It was a rush getting through it all in that much time. We definitely missed a fewAs part of a week long family vacation, we traveled north to the incredible Yellowstone National Park. Despite the crowded campsites and long traffic delays, this was an incredible place. Following my trip to the volcanoes of Nicaragua, I have become more curious about geological features and varying landforms. Yellowstone National Park is home to some unique hydrothermal features; including hot springs, geysers, mudpots, fumaroles, and travertine terraces. A large portion of the park lies within a caldera, which is a cauldron-like depression that results in the settling of the earths crust atop an empty magma chamber. There are rich geological, biological, and political histories to the Yellowstone area. Enough history that I would prefer to leave it all out of this post and let you investigate it yourself. I really enjoyed the two and a half days I had to explore the park. We were able to visit many of the sites within the park and visit Old Faithful on two separate occasions. It was a rush getting through it all in that much time. We definitely missed a few things along the way, yet what little wildlife I saw was amazing. I did see plenty of bison, geese, deer, and elk, I just wish there would have been more time to see the iconic wolfs and bears of Yellowstone. We woke up early on our last day and went to Hayden valley to try and find the wolfs, but had no luck. Although, I was able to witness a bald eagle dive down and snatch a fish out of the river. That spectacle was enough to make the morning worth the 5 o'clock wake up. I would have liked to see some more fish, like the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, but without doing any actual fishing myself, I can't complain too much. Fish do not walk around like the bison causing traffic jams of camera happy tourists. I also don't know much about the amphibian species of that region. I would assume that the heated waters and extreme conditions in the hot springs would not be suitable habitat, however there must be ample habitat around the lakes and rivers to support some amphibian life. These are all things that I will have to look up someday. Maybe if I return to Yellowstone National Park, I will know more and be better prepared to find the treasures hidden within.

Yellowstone National Park

Wildfires 2017

This has been a summer of fires. Not only has there been several wildfires nearby, but I have lived with 2 wildland firefighters and worked for someone who fought fires in his younger days. I have been learning a lot about wildfires and how they are managed. I learned more as I followed the progression of one fire in particular and asked questions as new things came up. I first heard about the Brian Head fire on the day it started as I sat down to eat dinner at a local restaurant.  I watched the news report and wondered about how this might affect my work this summer. If I was still working on the Dixie National Forest, like I did last summer, certainly our plans would have been effected. The Brian Head fire burned nearly 72,000 acres. Many of the areas burned or severely threatened were places where we performed fish population surveys last summer. However, I am currently working on the Fishlake National Forest and the fire did little more than occupy our minds. Although our time and resources were not pulled towards our neighboring forest, we did spend one day visiting another fire in our forest boundary. The Choke Cherry fire, located on the south end of the Beaver District, burned 211 acres. A fire retardant drop designated to protect power-lines, happened to fall over a portion of Pine Creek. Our fisheries crew visited the drop site to investigate the damages caused by the retardant in the stream and those caused by the fire itself. Firefighters reported seeing dead fish along the stream, but there was no record of this being a fish bearing stream. We were unsuccessful in finding any evidence of fish during this visit. The ash and debris in the creek made it difficult to look for fish, so it remains undetermined what the population was like prior to the fire.

Smoke from the Brian Head Fire

In learning about fire crews and fire management, I have tried imagining myself fighting wildfires. In thinking about the positive aspects of the job it seems like a worthwhile endeavor, yet the negative aspects creep up and overwhelm all desire to be involved with firefighting. It is not the job for me, but I respect those who do it. Their efforts to save our public lands and private property is greatly appreciated.

Boreal Toads - Fishlake National Forest

Being a Fisheries Technician involves working with not only fish, but amphibians as well. We have been spending many days in search of the elusive Boreal Toad (Anaxyrus boreas). Also known as the Western Toad, this species is distributed throughout the western United States and is found in high elevation wetlands. Last summer, I gained a deep fascination with these creeping critters. My previous experience working with Boreal Toads is what helped me obtain my current seasonal position in Richfield with the Forest Service. Although it can often be boring and uneventful walking around looking for toads, the time spent searching becomes well worth it when you find one. On the Paunsaugunt Plateau, we found a total of 15 adult toads during the entire summer. While on the Fishlake National Forest, I found 10 toads in one day. That was on Thousand Lake Mountain, where they appear to be more abundant. However, Monroe Mountain seems to be experiencing a decreasing population trend. We are implementing PIT tagging as a mark/recapture method to better estimate population size of the Boreal Toads on Monroe Mountain. PIT tags are little ID units that we insert under the skin of toads. Once captured, we will scan a toad with the PIT tag reader. If it is a recapture, we will see their unique ID number on the display screen. If we don't get an ID number from a toad, then we will give it one by PIT tagging. As time passes, the more we find that are not tagged, the greater the population size is estimated to be. Should we continue to find the same toads which are already tagged and fewer new unmarked individuals, a lower population size will be estimated. We can also note their individual movement by recording GPS coordinates each time we encounter a toad. It was a very exciting day when we found the first toad on Monroe Mountain. As a rule, whoever finds the toad gives it a name after it has been PIT tagged. I did not find the first one, but the name given to the first PIT tagged toad on Monroe Mountain was Biscuit.

Manning Meadow Fish Spawn

We headed up to Manning Meadow on Monroe Mountain to help the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources with their annual cutthroat trout spawning. We assisted them for three of the eight days it took to complete what was needed for the spawn. For those of you who do not know, a fish spawn is a breeding event. Fish, along with many other animals, breed only one time each year and that timing varies between species. Environmental conditions and genetic backgrounds trigger a species to exhibit behavior and prepare for this event. For cutthroat trouts on Monroe Mountain, the timing and conditions are happening this week. Males develop spawning colors which consist of a red coloration to their fins and bellies. This is one signal that it is time to breed. The other signal is that the fish begin collecting around the stream inlets of the reservoir. Trout, like their salmon cousins, generally swim upstream for spawning. Structures have been built to prevent these fish from moving upstream, however they will instinctively go as far upstream as they can. This cement structure is where we were able to contain the fish heading upstream. Fish were sorted by gender and the squeezing process began (see video). This is how fish eggs are collected from the wild and taken to be raised in a hatchery. If my understanding is correct, each female can average around 900 eggs and 70-80% of them will be successfully reared in the hatchery. Once grown, these fish will be stocked in the Manning Meadow reservoir and other forest streams and lakes throughout the region.

Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)