The alewives were spotted on the mornings of July 31 and August 1 by the Bronx River Conservation Crew, a river restoration team charged with keeping the River healthy. The Crew is an integral part of the Bronx River Alliance, an organization that acts as a coordinating voice for groups restoring the Bronx River. Several years ago, the Alliance came up with the idea to create this unique river and community resource. With funding from our NOAA grant program, they hired people from the local Bronx community, trained them, and employed them full-time in restoration-related activities. Since that time, the Crew has helped remove 13 cars and motorcycles, 1,050 tires, and more than 77 tons of garbage—all from the Bronx River. In addition, they have helped restore hundreds of park acres, often while working with other organizations, schools, and community volunteers. Now they can add confirming the existence of the Bronx River alewives to their long list of successes.
This is exactly what we had hoped for—the first generation of Bronx-born alewives in more than 350 years.
But how do we know that what the Conservation Crew spotted was, indeed, the alewives? Good question. The answer is that their description matched exactly what we had been told to look for: small silvery fish, about 2 inches long, gathered in large schools. This is so specific that it could only mean juvenile alewives if seen on the Bronx River. Also, the Crew had never seen these fish before, and they’ve worked on the river long enough to recognize something new under the sun (or under the water, in this case).
Unfortunately, no member of our regular alewife survey group was there to witness the event. Up until now, we had been looking for fish at dusk, standing on a bridge overlooking the river. The Crew members, on the other hand, were out around 10 in the morning, at a point farther south of our usual survey spot. They also used boats, and did not stand on a bridge. So in other words, the Crew was in a different place at a different time and used a different observation method. They hadn’t even been looking for alewives when they found them! They were conducting their normal activities when they happened upon the fish by accident.
This episode demonstrates some of the joys and frustrations of doing science—the joy of seeing a river return to health, and the frustration of trying to predict how animals will behave. But since the alewives are new to the Bronx River, I won’t blame them for not knowing when and where to be! Just kidding. Actually, the fish know what they’re doing. We need to learn from them. As a result of the Crew’s findings, we have looked for fish in the mornings too, in addition to the dusk surveys. Hopefully, we will spot the alewives again. We also have yet to witness their characteristic “popping” leap out of the water as they feed—something to watch for as the surveys continue.
In the meantime, I am glad the Crew is here to conduct the important work of ensuring the Bronx River’s health. This way, all of us—including the alewives—may enjoy it.
If you would like to learn more about the Bronx River Alliance and the Bronx River Conservation Crew, please visit
www.bronxriver.org.
Fun fish fact of the week:A multiprocessor research program at M.I.T. University is called the “M.I.T. Alewife Project.” Do alewives harbor hidden computer skills? That I don’t know, but the lead researcher named the project after the MBTA Alewife station because it is a transportation hub.
—Marla
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