Salmon Spotting

Growing up fishing for salmon and steelhead on cold, wet, winter mornings in Oregon helped be develop a sense of awe for these fish. This is partly due to their long journeys to spawning grounds and also because all of those days out fishing I never caught one. So now, I go fishing with my eyes. Salmon spotting. There has been a big push recently in Marin county to restore some of the salmon runs of the past and the fish have returned slowly, but surely.

This past Thursday, after teaching, I drove out to Shafter Bridge on Lagunitas Creek for my first salmon spotting this year. I saw 6 fish (3 Coho and 3 steelhead, my best guess) and happened to get a picture of 2 of them (3 if you enlarge the pic) :
Today, Deb came with me and we saw 5 more fish. Two great days of salmon spotting!

A local non-profit called SPAWN has led the charge with creek restoration and by raising local awareness. It is amazing to see what a small group of people can accomplish.

It makes me wonder what possibilities BAYA could pursue in 2007. Any ideas???

Christmas in Mexico

Just a quick blog post about the family Christmas trip to Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico. It was our first trip to Mexico and we loved it. The weather was perfect (80 and Sunny) every day and the ocean was beautiful. The resort we stayed at was right on the beach and we enjoyed the nightly sunsets on the Pacific. I think the whole family had a great time and we are considering a return trip in a few years. I look forward to that.

One highlight for me: On the last night we got to release baby sea turtles that had hatched on the resort property that morning.

Here are a few pics from the trip: