Tag Archives: Salmon

Alaska, feature, Mammals, Science, Wildllife

The Secret Lives of Bears Revealed (?)

February 22, 2020 grizjohnson 2 Comments

Last summer I built a camera trap with one goal in mind – photograph bears in their environments without people. I’m fascinated the insights you can gain into the animals and initially imagined all sorts of dramatic, National Geographic worthy photography. In short, I was convinced that “EPIC!” imagery was a guarantee. While I’m not there yet, I did manage to capture some dramatic moments, some fun ones, and learned a little about managing a camera trap along the way.

Brown Bear, Camera Trap, Alaska — This enormous and scarred Coastal Brown Bear was photographed strolling up river right at dusk. While I love the moodiness of the image created by the fog and the muted colors of the evening, it didn’t take long to realize that I needed to include a dehumidifier inside the camera trap box. Once I installed that I no longer dealt with fog building up on the inside of the camera housing during morning and evening hours.

Fishing Holes

For humans there is a lot of ways to “skin a cat”, for bears there is a lot of ways to catch a salmon. Throughout my images I saw bears perch above to look down in pools, snorkel in pools, and charge up pools. I’m sure each of these techniques had their strengths and their weakness.

Family Time

Family interactions was something I hoped to gather more of. These two cubs with their mother were a special treat with an extra story. I deployed this camera and then walked back to my vehicle along the river and watched with my telephoto lens. About 10 minutes later this mother and cubs strolled down the river and then got spooked by something in the woods – likely a larger bear. They sprinted down river a ways and remarkably went right past my camera trap. Apparently the sow was not too concerned with the larger bear as she permitted her cub to capture a fish.

Bears are very active at dusk and dawn. Next year I’ll be operating a camera with a flash to better capture these bears in the low-light hours. I learned quickly to program my motion trigger to only take images during the daylight hours as to avoid wasting battery on night shots. I do like the context and silhouette of this bear as it strolls in the evening, however

Close Encounters

Bears are curious animals and I knew that could pose a risk to my camera. I housed my camera in an ammo can and that sufficed to keep the bears from wrecking it. There were some funny moments when the bears had to get a closer look though! One time a bear tried to eat the camera and another it walked straight up to the camera to smell it and fogged the glass. Photography can be risky business for your gear as I found out in this separate anecdote that always makes me chuckle.

Moments in the River

There were many, many images of bears being bears. Strolling up river, being observant, smelling out salmon and being gregarious. These are those moments and I challenge you to learn what you can from them.

Looking to Next Year

I simply cannot wait to continue to watch bears through my camera traps! This coming season I’m expanding my arsenal to two camera traps with upgraded capabilities. Two cameras will allow me to diversify my shots and provide new angles. I’m hoping to answer some questions such as “How do bears use hot feet” and “how to do bears use scratch poles” among others. Keep your eyes posted! You can always follow on Instagram or Facebook for the latest content.

feature

The Week the Rains and Salmon Came to Hoonah

August 17, 2018 grizjohnson Leave a comment

When something you expect and love (although sometimes you may not know you love it) is absent for a long time you experience great joy in its return. When the rains returned to Hoonah after the second driest July in 20 years I rejoiced in how quickly it rejuvenated the ecosystem and in the resilience and patience of salmon.

A July Without Rain

In July 2018, there was something very obviously missing from Hoonah, Alaska : rain. Even though this was only my third summer in Hoonah, it was not difficult for me to think back to previous summers and acknowledge how the lack of rain was impacting our local berry patches, rivers, salmon, and forests. The conditions reduced the wet muskegs to patches of brittle sphagnum moss and sedges. There was a noticeable impact on our salmon berries and blueberries. Very few salmon berries ripened, and blueberry barrens normally laden with ripening berries had nearly blank bushes. Our local temperature rainforest ecosystem was struggling without rain.

Bear, Coastal Brown Bear, Hoonah, Alaska, Game Creek — Coastal Brown Bears feed on Chum Salmon that made it into the river despite the low flows. The salmon were easily captured because they lacked the ability to escape.

The lack of rain resulted in a lack of spawning salmon. It is expected in July that Pink and Chum Salmon would fill the holes throughout the rivers. However, the drought-like conditions reduced rivers to minimum baseflows and kept Chum and Pink Salmon from easily returning to rivers. Especially Pink Salmon were almost absent from all of Hoonah’s major rivers because they were trapped in the mouths. Without a large rain event they would remain at the mouths until desperation and time forced them upstream.

Chum Salmon, Dog Salmon, Hoonah, Alaska, Spasski River, Underwater — During July Chum Salmon were able to get into the rivers because they are larger than Pink Salmon and can skirt up the riffles more easily.

Climate Norms

It is easy for time to erase the memory, and for past perceptions about the weather to vary widely. However, I talked to many in Hoonah who could never remember the rivers so low. I was curious to know if that was true or if time had changed the memory. Although Hoonah does not have a river baseflow station I used precipitation data and assumed that low monthly precipitation results in low rivers. The summarized data showed that we received 1.11 inches in July 2018 and that only 2009 was lower with 0.9 inches. 1999 was noteably low with 1.51. inches. As Hoonah is centered in a temperature rainforest each of those years was far different than the average of 3.95 inches of rain that Hoonah would expect in July. These results made July 2018 the 2nd driest in 20 years!

Rain, Analysis, Hoonah, Climate, Weather, Precipitation — Total rainfall accumlation at the Hoonah airport from 1998 to 2018. In the last 20 years there have been two instances where July has been very dry – 1999 and 2009. I would infer in those years that rivers were similarly low as our 2018 July. Data are summarized from the NCDC NOAA Daily Summaries dataset (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datasets#GHCND)

I was struck when summarizing the data in the amount of variation of precipitation over the last 20 years in Hoonah. Even 2018 was an example of that. It was in stark contrast to July 2017 which was noted as the “10th wettest” by Juneau weatherman Rick Fritsch. I needed to keep this summer in perspective : although it was obvious that our rivers, berries, and salmon were stressing from the heat and lack of precipitation, each had been through this before.

The Relief of Rain

In early August the drought came to an end. It rained and poured for nearly a week as an “atmospheric river” brought in moist air from the Gulf of Alaska. I can say with confidence I have never been so relieved to get rain. Overnight the muskeg ponds were filled and returned to the wetlands they were meant to be. The rivers were choked with water and soon after brimming with salmon. Despite the drought and the longer wait at sea they had returned anyway. I could only smile as I watched them in the rivers circling in the holes and splashing up the riffles.

Salmon, Alaska, Hoonah, Pink Salmon, Split Level, Underwater, Go Pro — Pink salmon followed the rain in and filled the upper holes of local rivers.

With global climate change already heavily impacting Alaska the drought felt like a warning knell for times to come. Scientific modeling for the region suggests we will continue to warm drastically but that precipitation amounts will remain about the same. The outlook for salmon in a warming climate has different endings depending on who you will talk to. Certainly there is a lot of variability between glacial systems, snow systems, mountains, rain regimes, and so much else which makes a certain future hard to predict. Global warming will impact each salmon species differently (some potentially positively and some negatively) and there is no scientific concurrence how exactly what the impact of a warming world will be for salmon. My views are generally pessimistic for our salmon in the next 50 years, but their patience and resilience this year give me hope they will find a way to survive in the future, too.

Cascade, Hoonah, Alaska, River, Long Exposure, Waterfall, Lighting — A local stream choked with high-flows from the drought-ending rain.

Future climate models show temperature to increase in Hoonah Alaska over the next 50 years. Data from SNAP community profiles.

Future SNAP precipitation models suggest that rainfall will remain pretty consistent, however, with warming temperatures more winter precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow. That will reduce crucial mountain snowpack that feed salmon streams.

Adventure, Fishing, In Alaska, Landscape Photography, Life Expeiences

The Scoop on an Alaskan Personal Use Fishery

August 15, 2015 grizjohnson Leave a comment

Alaska is famous for its rivers which fill with salmon each summer. Each species comes at an expected time, first the kings (chinoook), then the reds (sockeye), and finally the silvers (coho) and pinks. Anglers throughout the state pursue them by boat, rod-and-reel, and nets depending on the location and intent. A specific section of the Alaska fishery is deemed a “personal use fishery”. Even more so than other fishing regulations, harvest in these regions is meant to fill freezers for the upcoming winter. Alaskan residents are allowed to use a variety of nets on poles to harvest up to 25 salmon each.

Chitina River is a 112 mile tributary of the Copper River. As of July 28th, 2015, 1,341,545 sockeye salmon had made the run upriver (adfg.alaska.gov)!! The abundance of fish attracts hundreds of fishermen each day. The Chitina River is highly braided and variable in depth, and flows out of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park from the Chitina Glacier. Because of the glacier melt, the water is chocolaty brown all year. Chitina drainage is a truly rugged and beautiful area; the banks of the river are renowned by the anglers who walk down them for their steepness.

Chitina River Bluffs — This picture captures the scale of the river size and the sheer banks of the Chitina River. It also shows off the turbid, chocolate-brown water.

Chitina River Bluff View — Looking far up the Chitina River from the bluffs along O’Brien Creek Road

The Technique

I had a lot to learn before hitting the trail to the river. I was lucky that on a Friday evening it was packed wall-to-wall with fisherman. Most were standing around recounting the action of the day, cleaning fish, or planning for the next morning. I heard a group of four guys giving out tips to a fifth guy standing with them, and inched in to listen and then ask a few questions. The first thing the leader of the group emphasized was safety. Fishing in the “canyon” can be particularly treacherous due to the steep walls. Many fisherman choose to tie themselves to the rocks when fishing the canyon. Second, be ready to stay out for awhile because the fish come in pulses based on the flow of the water among other factors. Last thing was to find an eddy behind a bolder or point where the current was headed back up stream. Placing your net in the swirling, upstream current ensured it stayed open for passing fish using the eddy as an energetic rest-stop. Visibility was 0 inches due to the turbid waters from melting glaciers, so it was necessary to wait for the “bump” which signified a fish in the net. As he described the bump I could only hope I would know what he meant the next day.

Chitina River Dipnetting Technique — The eddy behind this boulder proved a perfect eddy. As you can see my net is facing up river (the current is flowing from left to right).

Chitina Shallow Eddy — The hoop on the net is pretty large, and I bottomed out in the river. This eddy provided only two fish while I stayed there.

The Result

Early in the morning we skittered down the steep banks of the Chitina River. I picked an eddy that seemed fitting, and as I dipped my net in the water its pocket billowed out perfectly. I perched expectantly on the shore and leaned lightly on the net to keep it turned open in the rushing current. As it turned out the bump was pretty distinct! Although I could not see the salmon swim into the net, I could imagine its nose hitting the mesh, it becoming disorientated, and lying flat in the mesh bag as it was pushed sideways by the swift current. It was at that moment that I raised the net out of the water to catch my first sockeye from the Chitina. It only took 7 minutes from the time I started fishing, and I had visions of completing my 25 fish limit quickly! However, the second piece of advice became very evident to me as I stood on the banks of the river. The fish only trickled into my net, and then after 4 stopped completely. I did not catch another for the entire day.

The personal use fishery at Chitina River allows you to literally scoop them from the raging waters.

Sockeye Salmon Chitina River — A great looking Sockeye scooped from the cold waters of the Chitina River!

First Chitina Sockeye — My first salmon from the Chitina River!

After two days of fishing I ended with seven beautiful sockeye salmon, and although I did not “catch my limit”, I felt very grateful and blessed to be able to partake in this unique, Alaskan fishery! As important as it is to put what you need away for the winter, it is important to save a couple for the grill too! These fresh salmon on the grill with lemon pepper and olive oil, and grilled sweet potatoes was as good as it gets, and a gratifying way to celebrate a successful trip to the Chitina River.

Grilled Salmon Recipe — Sockey on the grill with olive oil, lemon pepper and a bit of salt. Side of sweet potatoes!

Salmon Grilling Steps — Total time for this salmon on the grill is ~ 13 minutes. 8 minutes on the meat side to keep the moisture in and then 5 minutes on the skin side to finish cooking it!

Life Expeiences, Northern Lights, Photography

The Grand Re-Opening

August 12, 2015 grizjohnson 8 Comments

Hello Everyone!

I’ve been hard at it on the website in the last 2 weeks, and I am very, very excited to give you a tour of the results. I would love to get your feedback on the site. First off, how about the color scheme? Took me awhile to settle on it, and customize it to this point! An untested piece of this site, is to see if all of the email subscriptions were transferred correctly. If you are receiving this via email and could let me know you got it, that would be great!

Videos

The days of hosting videos on my website are over. I have created a YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiqds-5iivj9DMfUWM1cRkA ) which will host all new videos, and I’ll implement them into the blog. If you are on YouTube be sure to follow the channel! I am far from transitioning all video content to YouTube, so please bear with me if content is unavailable. The great thing is that YouTube videos are very easy to share, and are much easier for people to find.

Blog

In the past I have been very frustrated with how quickly content becomes buried once published. I have established a new page which features all blog posts and can be simply scrolled through. Although it is not the 100% ideal situation (which is unattainable as it involves ESP), I hope you will be able to search for and scroll through old posts much more easily here https://ianajohnson.com/posts/

Professionally Geared

This little blog of mine has grown up a lot. It was once a bit of data planted on the internet, and has transformed into a sequoia tree of information, images, and videos. Seeing as I’m proud of all the content post, I have tailored it as a professional website/portfolio. As such you can view a short image portfolio (https://ianajohnson.com/faa/index.php/portfolio/), and my scientific background (https://ianajohnson.com/professional-experience/).

Imagery Sales

An absolutely new realm for me and a very exciting part of this upgrade is the opportunity to sell imagery. By establishing an account through Fine Art America, some of the content featured on this site will be available for purchase. My current galleries there contain ~50 images of the >300 I would like to upload. The images exemplify all themes of this blog including wildlife, aurora, and overall natural beauty. Most galleries are updated daily as I take the time to upload the images. At this time all sales will be used to fund the purchase of a Nikon D810 (perhaps the last camera I will ever need to own). The camera comes with capabilities almost second to none, and will further enhance the products I can offer here. The sales side of my website can be found at https://ianajohnson.com/faa/. Let me know if you find the design user friendly!

In line with imagery sales, and in hopes of funding a camera, I am considering creating a calendar of seasonal images throughout Alaska. Although I have not settled on a final product, I would love to hear if you have interest. Mostly it is so I can determine if there is a market – don’t worry – your interest is a 100% non-committal agreement!

Future Content

The amount of time spent to create this new website has left me with no time to create new posts. So, here is a sneak preview! I was very fortunate to engage in Alaska’s personal-use fishery. I will be writing about my experiences at Chitina River.

Second, my curiosity about the diversity of mushrooms was gratified to have an awesome mycologist connection. I’m going to take you for a walk through a small section of Alaskan fungal diversity!

A short walk through the woods will yield a diversity of mushroom colors and shapes that will boggle the mind. Lots of mushrooms coming your way soon!

Adventure, Alaska, Birding

On the Beaches of Homer

July 21, 2015 grizjohnson 8 Comments

The 18+ foot tides of Homer Alaska define life on the seashore. Its consistency and rhythm are the drumbeat of the ocean. During the summer each day, salmon return to the “Fishing Hole” with the incoming and outgoing tide chasing schools of baitfish, only to be chased by fisherman. Shorebirds feed at the tideline and in the exposed rocks which contain many insects and invertebrates in the crevices. Tide pools contained trapped wonders to because observed with curiosity, and which have evolved to survive the temporarily dry conditions. They often closing up, or shrinking under the sand to conserve water. My time in Homer, Alaska was focused around the seashore, fishing, beach combing, birding, and peering into tide pools. These pictures and experiences are both through my lens, and Kassie’s too.

Tide Pools

Peer into a tidepool, and what shall you see? Small creatures, shells, or an anemone.

As the tide goes out, large boulders hold water and sea creatures – tide pool!

The tentacles of a green anenome reach for the surface in a a tide pool.

This large, lone, mussel displays one of its unique characterists. The strong, hair fibers of its holdfast which secure it to a a rock.

Within a tidepool I watched this tiny hermit crab discover, and then attempt to pry loose this limpet for dinner. For scale, this tiny limpet is half the size of a dime, and the crab even smaller.

This particular anenome in the tide pool was very striking. Wedged between two rocks, I was able to capture it through the surface of the water!

(1) The sand flats in between the rocks may holder larger treasures….

(2)… like this starfish! This large star fish was 10 – 12 inches across. We moved it to a wetter, and safer tide pool.

This image of a dead clam among the rocks, and surrounded in seaweed seemed to imbibe the whole concept of tidal change to me.

Diamond Creek Homer — The tideline in Homer is far, far above the ocean level. By nature’s laws, the ocean and the hill have reach an agreement on who’s domain is who’s.

Birding

As we walked along the beach a northwestern crow began to dig a hole along the surf line. To our astonishment it jerked out a thin, silvery, and wriggling Sandlance from the bottom of the hole. Hopping forward a bit further the crow did it again, and again. Other crows were doing the same thing, and were apparently highly efficient hunters. I relayed this video (below) to a birding group, and was informed this hunting behavior may be specific to Homer crows. Have a watch, and let me know your guesses on how they locate the eels. I have not a clue!

Northwestern Crow, Bishop Beach, Homer, Alaska — A disheveled northwestern crow pecks among the rocks looking for leftovers in the tides. He stopped long enough to shoot me an eye.

Black Turnstone Bishop Beach, Homer, Alaska — A black turnstone moves through the rocks in a shallow tidepool. These birds, along with many others, are sought during the Kachemak Bay Shorbird Festival each year, when tens of thousands of shorebirds stop through the food-rich shores of the Kachemak Bay.

Black-legged Kittiwake, Homer, Alaska — A lone black-legged kittiwake stands on the beach, with just a shade of the mountains of Homer visible in the background.

American Bald Eagle, Homer, Alaska — Nesting eagles are a common sight in Homer. This particular pair nests near the outskirts of Homer, and were constantly bringing fish back to its eaglets.

Homer in Its Place

Lupines and Yellow Paintbrush, Homer, Alaska, — Lupines and yellow paintbrush jut out from the hillside along the beach.

Cow Parsnip Homer, Alaska — As we walked up the Diamond Creek trail, we passed under a large canopy of cow parsnip flowers. I was struck by their contrast against the sky.

Shipping Homer, Alaska — Shipping traffic is a common sight throughout Kachemak Bay. As I fished, Kassie capture this great image that puts the grandeur of the mountains in perspective.

Sailboat, tanker, ship, Homer, Alaska — A subtle shift in that same scene, and the sailboat now dominates the foreground.

Fishing Hole Sunset, Homer, Alaska — I fished for salmon at the fishing hole in the lingering sunset. With a fly rod as my weapon of choice I only wrangled one “dollie”, a dolly varden.

Fishing hole, salmon, homer, alaska — As the tide becomes more ideal, the fishermen stack into the Fishing Hole lagoon in Homer. At this place it is possible, if not likely, to catch silvers, sockeye, and king salmon.

Alaska, Micro 4/3 Photography

2014 in Review : A Good Year!

January 10, 2015 grizjohnson 22 Comments

It’s incredible that one 36th of the year is already gone as I type this. Weren’t we just clinking champagne glasses as the ball dropped in New York just last night? As 2015 begins, I wanted to take the time to thank all who support this blog and my writing. I would not just write to myself; your comments and input are much appreciated!

I am incredibly thankful for my time here in Alaska. My travels have taken me to hundreds of miles south to enjoy the coastal ranges in Anchorage and Seward. In the opposite direction, I have beaten the punishing gravel of the haul road to cross the Brooks Range onto the Northslope three times. Within the Alaskan wilderness I have hunted big game, fished its rivers, and enjoyed bears, fox, and wolves, along with a plethora of bird species. During the dark skies of winter I have been graced by the dancing Northern Lights and cloaked in inky darkness. I have found there is always something to do in Alaska, and I feel that in the last 365 days I have had the adventures worthy of two year. It has indeed been a good year!

Below is a small gallery of the hundreds of photos that have been taken in Alaska during 2014 and featured in the blog. I have opted out of any captions, but if you would like to know more about an image, leave a comment. Thanks again everyone, and here’s to 2015!

January