Fish Tales On a recent visit to Ludington State Park, I found myself standing on a footbridge spanning the Big Sable River, looking down on a group of large, motionless fish. Probably salmon, guessed several park visitors. Others identified the fish as common carp. For my part, I wasn’t sure. I needed to see a profile, to look at the shape of the dorsal fin and whether or not the fish had that funny adipose fin. (I now know it’s a trait shared by all fish in the salmon and trout family.) A year ago, I wouldn’t have known. That was before our Sea Grant communications and education team began work on two curriculum lessons introducing students to Great Lakes fish and their distinguishing characteristics. As we worked on the lessons, we soon found ourselves immersed in fish anatomy. With the help of several experts, we learned to distinguish some common fish families and use a dichotomous key for identification. Yes, you might say, we were hooked. Not long afterward, team leader Elizabeth LaPorte suggested the information belonged on a poster. As it turned out, the process was more complex than we had imagined. We met first with scientific illustrator Emily Damstra and retired University of Michigan (UM) professor Gerald Smith, editor of Fishes of the Great Lakes Region. Together, they helped us decide which fish species to feature, given space constraints, and gave us a crash course in significant anatomical traits. We also talked with UM fish biologist Paul Webb, who encouraged us to think about the organization of our 21 fish illustrations. Did we intend to show an evolutionary pattern or simply a representative sample of Great Lakes fish? We chose the latter. As we revised text and moved illustrations, we also listened to feedback from Sea Grant education specialists Brandon Schroeder, Rochelle Sturtevant and Steve Stewart. The end result—Fins, Tails and Scales: Learning about Great Lakes Fishes—is an eye-catching poster that provides an intriguing glimpse into the world of fish identification. Shown on the back cover of this issue, the poster complements two curriculum lessons from Fisheries Learning on the Web. We’ve reprinted a combination of the lessons on pages 4 and 5 along with a set of eight fish cards representing eight common families. We hope these educational materials will not only complement classroom learning but also inspire amateur naturalists of all ages to learn about and appreciate the diversity of fish that inhabit our Great Lakes. Over the course of the summer, these activities formed a backdrop to active, hands-on learning events taking place around the region. Notable among them were the first COSEE-Great Lakes educator workshops on Lake Erie and Lake Superior, summer discovery cruises on the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, and the Great Lakes Sea Grant network meeting on the shores of northern Lake Huron. These and other summer events are highlighted in this issue of upwellings. –Joyce Daniels, Editor |