Jack #82
The alewife Jack is named after Dr. John T. Finn of the University of Massachusetts, and a member of my graduate committee. Dr. Finn has been helpful in analyzing the river herring movements, finding new ways to look at and understand the data, and in helping us understand the habitat data we collected as it relates to the herring. Jack was collected from the Nemasket River on April 30th, then transported to the Ipswich River for stocking. Jack the alewife was last heard by a stationary receiver on May 1 at the Site , and was last heard on our manual receiver at the Ipswich Town Wharf on May 16.
April 30, 12:45 pm: Jack is captured in the fishway at the Nemasket River, tagged, then transported upstate to the Ipswich River. Around 12:45 Jack gets his first taste of the Ipswich.
April 30, 4:39 pm: In just a few hours, Jack has oriented himself and started heading downstream. He is heard by the first receiver downstream of the stocking site, at Site 8. This is in the Audubon Sanctuary. Jack is in the range of the receiver about twenty minutes; he may be swimming around in some of the wetland areas around the receiver, or may have even entered Bunker Meadows for a brief time.
April 30, 7:10 pm: Jack is heard at Site 7, exiting the wetlands area, about two hours after leaving the Audubon Sanctuary. He swims quickly past Site 7 on his way downstream.
April 30, 8:50 pm: Jack reaches the Willowdale Dam, Site 6, and is heard by the upstream antenna there. He remains in the impoundment behind the Willowdale Dam overnight, and descends past the dam early the next morning. His last reading in range of this receiver is at 4:30 am on May 1.
May 1, 5:10 am: Navigating quickly downstream, Jack reaches Site 5 just 40 minutes after passing over the Willowdale Dam. He doesn't stay long in this deep, narrow part of the river, and continues to head downstream.
May 1, 6:02 am: Jack arrives to a fast moving area of the Ipswich River, Site 4, and swims out of range in less than five minutes.
May 1, 7:27 am: After the railroad bridge, the river becomes more slow-flowing. Jack is heard by the receiver at Site 3 for nearly five hours.
May 1, 1:37 pm: Jack is heard at Site 2, at the Ipswich Mills Dam, about an hour after last being picked up by the Site 2 receiver.
May 1, 1:53 pm: After passing the Ipswich Mills dam, just twenty minutes later Jack is found at the furthest downstream receiver, Site 1. He remains in range for only eight minutes, then heads downstream and out of range. This is the last time Jack is heard from on a stationary receiver. But that doesn't mean he's out of the river completely!
May 15, 5:43 pm: Standing on the shore with the manual antenna pointed toward the river, we are surprised to get readings on 11 fish, one of them being Jack, #82. We receive strong signals standing near the Ipswich Town Wharf, and spot fish splashing near the surface of the water...is this spawning activity?
May 16, 11:14 am: Getting into the river with the manual antenna mounted on a kayak, we locate jack again in the area around the Ipswich Town Wharf. This is the last time we hear Jack's signal with any receiver.