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Salmon merging onto new ‘highway’ in Seattle

Category: article

 Jun 6th, 2019 by Keith Worrall  293

Modified Jun 6th, 2019 at 12:48 PM

By Daniel Beekman
Seattle Times staff reporter

Next time you’re visiting Seattle’s downtown waterfront and gazing out across Elliott Bay toward the majestic Olympic Mountains, look down. You might see a shoal of silvery baby salmon, each about 3 inches long.

You might also see a snorkeler counting fish, because University of Washington researchers are studying habitat improvements built along the city’s $410 million new seawall, which stretches 3,100 feet between the Seattle Aquarium and the Colman Dock ferry terminal.

Their observations are preliminary — yet promising. Since the wall was completed in 2017, the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences researchers have repeatedly witnessed juvenile salmon swimming under the wooden piers that extend out over the waterfront, where they almost never ventured before.

Read More: Salmon merging onto new ‘highway’ in Seattle, complete with rest stops and restaurants

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