A Great Day Smelting

Rainbow smelts (Osmeris mordax) are found in a variety of habitats in Maine from well oxygenated lakes to tidal estuaries. They feed mainly on plankton and tiny crustaceans and provide an important food source for a variety of predatory creatures such as landlocked salmon, mink, loons and many more.

A freshly landed sea smelt

The Anglers' Society got out over the weekend at Leighton's Smelt Camps in Dresden chasing sea smelts. "Smelting", as most fishermen refer to it, is a winter tradition in Maine. There are a handful of commercial smelt camps in the vicinity of Merrymeeting Bay where one can rent a shack for a six hour tide in hopes of catching smelts. Lines are usually hung from the ceiling baited with cut sand worms and fish are hand lined in when a sign of a bite is detected. When the fishing is good, it can be hard to keep all of the lines in the water.

Tyler, Amelia, Sierra, and Destiny briefly took their eyes off the lines for a photo. 

The smelts we were chasing are the same species found statewide. However, these "sea smelts" spend part of their lives in a saltwater estuary feeding and growing to a larger average size before running back up river to tributary streams for their spring spawn. Their natural migration from a natal freshwater river to the ocean and back again makes them Anadromous. We have many native anadromous species in Maine including but not limited to atlantic salmon, striped bass, alewives,  lampreys, Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon. Sea smelts spend the winter under the ice of frozen tidal rivers awaiting their spring spawning runs into smaller tributary streams. Mainers have utilized this food source for generations dating back to the Native Americans.

Jake with his first smelt

We fried up and ate some smelts on Saturday and kept some for bait on upcoming outings. We even brought three home alive as the newest addition to Mr. Bryant's touch tank in the Marine Biology classroom. They have adjusted well to the tank and serve as great ambassadors to an often overlooked migratory fish species found in nearly all of Maine's tidal rivers.

The newest additions to the T.A. touch tank

A Winter Walk in the Woods

We wrap up the Maine Fish and Wildlife course with a mini unit on winter survival and ecology. I struggle to express just how amazing it is that creatures are able to survive the rigors of a Maine winter. The adaptations they possess to get them through are truly awe inspiring. With students having wrapped up their final exams, we spent the last classes of the semester in the T.A. forest looking for signs of life in a winter landscape that can seem desolate at first glance. With a lack of fresh snow on the ground and bitter cold keeping everything frozen solid, tracks were not as prevalent as they could have been but there were certainly some prints left over to analyze.

An old fox track preserved in the snow

A pair of coyotes crossed the once slushy venal pool leaving evidence of their travel frozen in the ice

I had hoped to show kids some signs of porcupine activity in a traditionally productive spot. These winter survivors are at home in the trees and prefer large eastern hemlocks in the winter. The tree's naturally thick branches provide a wind break and the hemlock needles are an important winter food source. Fresh cuttings of hemlock twigs and ample oval shaped scat pellets on the ground are a sure sign of porcupine activity in the winter. Individuals can spend days or weeks in the same tree  creating an obvious buildup of scat and twigs. Deer, who yard up for the winter in the same type of habitat, benefit from the hemlock twigs dropped to the forest floor by the porcupines. 

Discarded hemlock twigs and porcupine scat led us to the active trees 

Luckily, we quickly found signs of porcupine activity. I put the kids to work scouring every nook and cranny of the hemlocks with the most sign underneath them. Eventually, we located two porcupines resting in the same tree. After a closer look through binoculars, what initially looked like a nondescript dark blob materialized into a snoozing creature unimpressed by the sudden commotion below. It is not every day that plans involving wildlife work out so perfectly. Just finding the evidence of feeding porcupines would have been great but to locate and observe two felt extra special. I brought my camera with the long lens hoping to get some photos of the porcupines on day two but they were not as cooperative for my maroon day students.

Students gaining an appreciation for the challenges Maine's wildlife face in winter

Special thanks to Allie Gross for freezing her fingers off taking photos for today's entry.