Artful Swimmers

Today was a gloriously sunny Earth Day. I was part of that first celebration in 1971, on the Boston Common, as a college senior. My former kindergarten teaching partner and I took our shared aide out for breakfast to celebrate her 88th birthday. After breakfast we stopped at a local fish ladder, The Historic Pembroke Massachusetts Herring Run to see the fish make their way up a series of fish ladders. There were more  fish than I have ever seen there, swimming milling about and jumping up the ladder in water golden from the reflected sun. It was amazing to see their tenacity, following their instinctive call to spawn.

From A Glimpse of Nature, by 
Lorraine Rubinacci
Naturalist/Educator Ames Free Library, Easton, MA.

"Like salmon, river herring are anadromous fish. They hatch in freshwater, spend most of their adult lives at sea, and migrate up coastal rivers to breed.  My local herring run, on the Herring River in Pembroke, supports two species:  the alewife and the blueback herring. These silver, streamlined fish have laterally compressed bodies about ten inches long and weigh one-half pound.  


The river herrings’ journey is exceedingly difficult, as the fish must swim uphill from sea level to their inland destination.  It can be a very long swim through both calm water and rapids.  


It’s difficult to imagine how any of them survive the trip, but apparently, they do. A factsheet by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife says that “Although the annual spawning migrations are physiologically stressful, most adults survive and are able to repeat the process in subsequent years.”  Unlike salmon, which die after spawning,  river herring have the potential to breed for several years.


Not surprisingly,  all of these fish attract attention from hungry animals.  Gulls, herons, osprey, and more gather at the scene.  During migration, the adult fish become meals for scavengers and predators; subsequently, their eggs and juveniles will support pond animals.  At sea, the river herring supply food for sport fish such as bluefish and striped bass, food fish such as cod and haddock, seals, and sea birds."

More photos in the Extras

For the Record,
This day came in sunny and cool, a perfect  Earth Day

All hands happy