Just heard on the radio that there will be an opening this afternoon. Fishing is expected to take place between Eastern Channel and Japonski island in Crescent Bay and along Galankin Island. This means there could be quite a bit of activity visible from Totem Park and the beach along Lincoln Street. I’ll probably walk down there and take a look as the opening time comes closer.

The herring fleet has been on two hour notice for the last couple of days. The herring sac roe fishery is often not more than a couple of hours. From first light, spotters are flying small aircraft looking for the large schools of herring. Seiners go out to various place in order to make test sets and check roe percentage. The managers of the fishery try to time it so that the percentage of mature roe is maximized. If they have the fishery too early, the fishermen do not get a good price for their catch. If they wait too long, the herring spawn and there is no roe left.

Yesterday people kept asking, “Has the herring fishery started?” There seems to be a certain amount of excitement about the fishery, even among people who have no direct involvement in it. Many people keep track of the updates in order to watch the fishery. They go out in their boats or, on years when the fishery is closer to town, drive to where they can watch from shore. The opening is usually near shore, and the schools of herring being targeted may not be very spread out, so it can get pretty crowded for the 50 or so boats trying to get all they can in the brief opening.

Activity seems to be higher today. The newspaper had an article last night that indicated there was a good chance of an opening today. I have been hearing the spotting planes flying since around six this morning. I have seen many seiners heading out from our front window. It looks like most of them are going south of town (although a few have been headed in the opposite direction). Perhaps the fishery is scheduled to open soon. Maybe we’ll drive out the road to see if we can see anything.

I woke up to the winter wrens singing before 6am. The birds are definitely getting more vocal. Connor and I went for a walk and made it down to the beach before 7am. While we were there, I got some video of a kingfisher as it was fishing off of the pilings near the hatchery. As I was trying to find a better position for videotaping the kingfisher, a song sparrow flew up to a nearby rock and started singing quietly. I videotaped it as well, but I think its song may be obscured by the noise of the water flowing out of pipes from the hatchery.

After lunch, Melissa, Connor, and I walked by the flume. We heard a dipper singing and stopped to listen. It sang at the top of the falls for a while before flying down below the falls to look for food. It fed much like the dipper I had previously observed along Indian River. We watched as it caught and ate 6 or 7 salmon fry. It seemed to have little difficulty catching the fry. The one I had seen along Indian River appeared to work harder for its food.

Yesterday afternoon and evening a couple of thunderstorms passed near town. I was in class when I heard a rumble that sounded like thunder, but thunder and lightning are fairly uncommon around Sitka, so I thought maybe it had been a jet taking off. After a few moments, I saw a flash and realized that it had been thunder. This is the second time I have seen thunder and lightning since we moved to Sitka last August.