On Saturday September 2nd, ALLARMies new and old traveled to Stuart Park on the Yellow Breaches creek for ALLARM orientation. Each year, ALLARM hosts orientation at the start of the academic year in order to give Watershed Coordinators the opportunity to bond as a team, and to teach new ALLARMies stream monitoring techniques while refreshing the skills of returners. Led by the full-time staff, we learned about the physical, chemical, and biological indicators of stream health. We used transparency tubes and stream viewers to evaluate the physical health of the stream. Looking through a stream viewer for the first time was like putting on glasses – the world under the water suddenly became clear and defined. We also conducted macroinvertebrate testing to evaluate the biological health of the stream. We did this by placing a net in the water before shimmying upstream of the net to knock the macroinvertebrates free so that we could categorize them by type and pollution tolerance. During this macro kick, we managed to catch crayfish (one of which we named Steve) as well as a plethora of additional macros. Unfortunately, a few of the crayfish were rusty crayfish, an invasive species recognizable by their orange tipped claws and a large rust colored spot on their side. We then returned to the pavilion for snacks and reflection where we each set goals for our future here at ALLARM.
I really enjoyed orientation, I felt at home among the team and enjoyed learning about the different forms of monitoring. It was awesome to get out into the water and interact with the natural world that I far to often only get to read about in textbooks. One of my favorite moments during orientation was when Jules Vastine, ALLARM’s director, pointed out plants growing along the streambank and demonstrated the hydrophobic properties of the leaves on jewelweed. When submerged, a shimmering silver color surrounds the leaves due to the distortion of the light. Go try it for yourself next time you see jewelweed by a stream! My Journey with ALLARM has only just begun and I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of stream science and reconnecting with my watershed.
