A Fish & Wildlife worker was seen wading into Beach Drive waters yesterday following the movements from the huge flock of Bonaparte’s gulls. He was using a small rake to sample the extent of the rare herring spawn we experienced along the shoreline a few days back. According to an excellent article from the Kitsap Sun, this type of sampling is used to measure the metric tons of biomass (herring eggs) left behind.

Some long term Beach Drive residents that have fished these local water for over 40 years could not recall ever seeing a herring spawn here. From a wider Puget Sound perspective, 2020 may prove to be the largest spawning season on record. Observers north of Bainbridge in Agate Passage spoke to some old timers for their insights

Oleyar said he’s spoken to tribal members who haven’t seen an event of this size: “Some of them have lived here for 60 years or more and they haven’t seen this before. This is pretty historic.”

For the remaining eggs that survive, let’s cross our fingers for a return visit in about 3 years or so.

Scupper, reporting for the BDB