For the second time, salmon get a breather in Olaf Strad Creek
ARLINGTON — Olaf Strad Creek is not the thundering mountain river you might picture when you think of salmon runs. There are no rocky rapids with fish jumping their way upstream, no bears waiting nearby for dinner to fling itself from the water.
The creek 5 miles south of downtown Arlington is 600 feet long and only a few feet across, shallow enough in places to walk right over to the other side without soaking too much of your pantlegs. It’s a relatively small chunk of the larger Quilceda Watershed that drains 38 square miles of land north of Everett, but don’t be fooled by its unassuming stature. Since it was built from nothing in 2021, Olaf Strad has provided a crucial rest stop as salmon make the long haul home from the ocean.
The second generation of fish to make use of the stream, created to offer an alternate route to Quilceda Creek from a polluted roadside ditch along 67th Street, is all but gone now, their spawning season having peaked around Christmas Eve. In the second week of January, a lone living salmon swam slowly through the frigid water, passing decaying carcasses resting on the gravel creek bed at regular intervals.
That’s a good sign, really, said Tom Murdoch, director of the Adopt a Stream Foundation, which created the stream almost from scratch with the help of dozens of volunteers. It means the salmon’s jobs are complete, their eggs laid safely and their future secured for another season.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/for-the-second-time-salmon-get-a-breather-in-olaf-strad-creek/