Post date: Aug 07, 2013 5:28:42 PM
Last Friday, August 2, I had the opportunity to go with Annie Tran and two other volunteers, Andrew and Russ, on a amphibian survey. We went up Upper Crystal Lake on the east side of Mt. Rainier. There was a large gain in elevation from the trail head and it took us about two hours to get to the lake. Once there, we put on our disinfected waders and started the survey of the lake. We counted amphibians along the shoreline in 50 meter increments and made note of habitats. It was foggy - the air temperature was lower than the water temperature. We stopped occasionally and captured some amphibians to take measurements and to swab them. The swabs will be sent off to a lab to check to see if they are carrying a type of fungus that is decimating frogs and toads in other areas. It was a long day but very rewarding. It was an example of Citizen Science - volunteers helping to gather vital data.