PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

City of Fife officials and Columbia Junior High School students study fish and other wildlife that were collected from a drainage pond in Dacca Park.

One fish, two fish...

By Meghan Erkkinen

City of Fife workers and Columbia Junior High School students have teamed up to examine the fish populations of two ponds in Dacca Park.

The ponds are for stormwater retention, to collect runoff from the Dacca ballfields. Several years ago, the ponds were stocked with fish to control to the mosquito population.

To examine and count the fish, Fife maintenance workers put on fishing waders, hopped in the water and pulled large nets across the pond. They slowly walked toward the shore and, with the help of Columbia students in the after-school Pond Watch program, they collected and examined what they found.

The group found healthy-looking populations of several types of fish and other animals, including blue gills, sticklebacks, snails, bullfrog tadpoles and dragonfly nymphs. Many of the fish were young, suggesting that the populations are reproducing.

The city workers then collected scale samples from some of the fish and had the students help them collect the samples in envelopes. The workers will examine the scales to determine the age of the fish.

This fish count wraps up the Pond Watch program for the school year. The program, which started in September, has students monitor the health of the Dacca Park ponds by performing a variety of tests on the water and habitat.

“We’re learning about how to maintain a freshwater body in an urban setting,” said Columbia science teacher Cindy Swenson, who advises the students. “We want it to stay clean, we want it to stay healthy.”

Overall, the students’ tests have concluded that the ponds are indeed healthy.

Next year, Swenson, in partnership with the city, will continue to have students monitor the health of the pond. Swenson also plans to investigate a program through the University of Washington, which would allow the students to compare the testing they do with results of tests on other ponds in the area.

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