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A caviar day on Hood Canal

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Puget Sound Institute research scientist Tessa Francis reports a "lion country safari" on Hood Canal today. Thousands of spawning herring churned the otherwise calm waters of the canal, while other wildlife gathered to feed on the fish and their eggs.

Puget Sound Institute research scientist Tessa Francis reports a "lion country safari" on Hood Canal today. Thousands of spawning herring churned the otherwise calm waters of the canal, while other wildlife gathered to feed on the fish and their eggs.

 A handful of herring eggs attached to grasses in Hood Canal.  March 2013 by Tessa Francis.

Herring eggs on kelp pulled from Hood Canal today. Photo: Tessa Francis

 
Spotted were hundreds of scoters, dozens of sea lions, big flocks of gulls, tens of bald eagles and herring eggs everywhere (see photo). All under a sunny sky. Francis is collaborating with scientists at NOAA Fisheries and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to study the possible link between eelgrass abundance and herring populations in Puget Sound. See a previous blog about Francis' research.