With snow conditions predicted to degrade rapidly after today, we set out for the TOAS pool to retrieve our vertical fish antenna and any data it might have collected while deployed. Water seeping from our hole left a slushy mess at our site, but only a thin ice layer covered the spot where our antenna lay. A few chops with a wide blade ice scraper and our antenna slipped easily up from the depths. Leaving only our iButton temperature logger behind to gather more data, we eagerly returned to Toolik Field Station with fingers crossed in hopes of fish detection. Downloading the data to our “DuraBook” (total misnomer btw) we found six unique tag detections from Arctic grayling that overwintered under the ice in a pool no larger then a basketball court in a river that dries to a boulder field in summer. Amazing! : )
Cam MacKenzie and I set out for the TOAS pool to retrieve our vertical fish antenna and the fishy data it holds.
Still poised on the snow and ice covered lake where we left it, our vertical fish antenna continues gathering data.
Our simplest antenna yet, this awesome fish finder pulls easily through the ice hole.
Interested in year-round temperature conditions at the TOAS site, I redeploy our iButton data logger using a rock bag and bouy.
Our snow machines, Thumper and Black Beauty, ready for our return to Toolik Field Station with antenna data in hand.
Awesome snow conditions along our frozen riverbed trail provide a fun ride home.
And… We have fish!!! Six of our tagged fish swam close enough to our antenna for us to track them and all six were Arctic grayling!.
Heidi Golden Arctic Research 