Catch and Release
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Bottom right corner - the phone is taking a dive!
One of my last groups here at Dunes Learning Center was one of my favorites. They were teens from Chicago, coming to experience our Duneversity program, where we let kids experience field work. They explore the ecosystems, come up with a scientific experiment, collect data, analyze it, and then present their findings to their classmates and teachers.
This is my very favorite DLC program. I never had this opportunity as a kid, and I think it really helps kids who are hands-on learners build a better understanding of the relationships between things and promotes the idea that anyone can be a scientist!
It was a rainy day and my group had decided they wanted to do a study on water quality in the Little Calumet River. We finished sampling in our first spot and were heading to the second data collection spot when I was mentioning that in a tributary the day before we had seen two huge northern pikes. One of the kids exclaimed, “Like that big fish?!” I looked over the boardwalk and saw a giant pike stuck in the river, half of its body was exposed to the air, it couldn’t move. The kids asked me if I could save it and of course I said yes!
Fueled by their confidence in me I ran to the rescue. Good thing I had my waders on, the only fish I had ever really touched was a bluegill; this was MUCH bigger. My plan was to escort it down the tributary and back to the river. As I reached down to touch it, one of the kids warned me that they had crazy sharp teeth. I must admit I faltered to grab it for a second after that comment. I quickly found out that our original escape route was not going to be possible, as it was blocked by fallen trees. The river was about a quarter mile from where we currently were, over a field of old ragwood and fallen ash trees. I could carry the fish, but it would be hard with how big and wiggly it was. Pike have this funny ability to create slime all over their skin, to avoid being eaten and swim fast in the water. This pike was sick of my shenanigans and decided to slime itself! I could not hold it and as it was whipping around in my arms, it fell back into the river.
The kids yelled, “You dropped something! Your phone.” As seen in the above picture, my phone did indeed take a swim in the river as well. I started frantically searching for my phone in the river. A kid soon came to my rescue and pulled it out, so I handed the phone off to a chaperone. I needed to complete this pike rescue for the kids.
I asked the kid if he was ready to walk this fish to the river with me, and the kids on the boardwalk clapped. I carried the behemoth for what felt like an eternity, then let it go in the river. We high fived before turning back to reconvene with our group. Though I was covered in smelly pike slime, the kids cheered, and then we finished our data collection. Later that night at dinner, another staff member overheard one of my kids talking about how their naturalist had carried a huge fish - almost as big as their mom - across a field to the river.
Pike Rescue Squad
Sierra was the 2021-22 Naturalist Fellow, supported by global sustainability firm Keramida.
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Sierra Necessary
Keramida Fellow
